Not that I'm an expert now, or anything... but I was feeling exactly as you are now. I was absolutely perplexed.. "What in the world did I do wrong? Is my site so lousy that it doesn't even deserve a rejection note?"
So, I decided to make the best of it and use the time that I wasn't getting noticed by the search engines, to make my site about Down Syndrome, bigger and better. I figured maybe it was for the best; that maybe I wasn't really ready for that kind of traffic. Who wants a thousand people to look at their site and see missing graphics and busted links? If a lot of people are going to see it, I want them to see it at it's very best!

I decided I would just keep working on making my site better, until the world and the search engines just couldn't help but find me and acknowledge me.

I think that is a lot of what "Art of.." is trying to get across. Make your site hugely valuable to your visitors, rather than just a place to buy something... and people will come back again and again, and they will tell their friends to check it out.

Don't despair, I tried for four months, and like you, never got a single response. Make your website something they just can't ignore!
Good Luck,
Michelle