The Numbers Game
Every author I know checks Amazon and B&N for the ranking of their releases. If someone says he/she never checks, I assume the person is lying. It’s just one of those things authors do. Much like breathing and procrastination.
Not that the rankings actually mean anything, of course. The Wall Street Journal drove that point home in an article yesterday called A Few Sales Tricks Can Launch a Book To Top of Online Lists. This article talks about a PR firm that will, for a good size fee, make your book soar to the top of these rankings. More than likely the book will only stay in that position for an hour (or less), but…
The article describes it this way:
New York public-relations firm Ruder Finn says it can propel unknown titles to the top of rankings on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble with a mass email called the Best-Seller Blast. Popular authors such as Mark Victor Hansen of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series recommend your book in messages to fans, and offer a deal: Buy the book today and you’ll get downloadable “bonuses” supposedly valued at thousands of dollars — such as recordings of motivational speeches and contact information for important people. Orchestrating even 1,000 book purchases in a single day can drive a title from obscurity to the top of the charts.
Critics say it’s bunk. A few throw around the “s” word - scam. I’m thinking scam is a bit strong. The method isn’t exactly new. The problem here is with the result. From what I can tell you pay money for something rather illusory - an online ranking number - rather than for something tangible and helpful such as creating a real buzz. But, I guess if having the lowest possible ranking is your goal (even if it’s for a short period of time), then this option is out there.
March 26th, 2007 at 4:37 am
Actually, I don’t. Really. I don’t care at all. I check out the reviews, though, and I really need to stop doing that. It was a long time before I even knew where the rankings were listed. I thought you had to go to a special page and look at rankings.
After my book was out for about five months, some very helpful and anonymous sicko started sending me my rankings, almost daily, and comparing them to other books in what I’m sure they thought was a kind effort to show me how “poorly” I was doing.
But the rankings mean so very little in the scheme of things that it may be the one authorial thing I don’t obsess about.