Buying bestseller status
2017-08-25 17:51:02.150859+02 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
To all of my author friends getting caught up in the hubbub over "Handbook For Mortals" buying its way onto the NYT Bestseller list: It's been common knowledge for years that the list is gamed. Back in 2012, Mark and Grace Driscoll's Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship, and Life Together, and when that was exposed it came out that a whole bunch of other "Christian" and "inspirational" books used similar tactics. Last year, FEC filings showed that the Trump campaign bought 3500 copies of Crippled America , likely for this purpose. Ted Cruz tried to buy his way onto the list, but got spotted. Sarah Palin's PAC spent $64k to put her on the bestseller list. Ben Carson's PAC spent $150k. It's how "bestsellers" get made, and if you've got $200-250k lying around, is probably a good (and common) investment in marketing.