Here's a stat I've been watching for a while now: Meddling Kids just reached five thousand five-star ratings on Goodreads.
That's...amazing. I get sales reports too, but those numbers only say, "What you do works." These say, "What you do, 5,000 people love."
For context: my debut novel sold less than 1,000 copies. My second, less than 500. Put together, I doubt 5,000 people ever read them, let alone liked them. Of course I'm not comparing markets or perfomances; that would be unfair to both my country and my former self. But still: *knowing* that at least 5,000 people loved one book of mine? My heart bursts. :D