Posted on 04/11/2005 12:47:08 PM PDT by LS
Freepers, my agent told me he had come across reports that suggested that the Amazon rankings of books are partly (even mostly) driven by "hits" on that book's site as opposed to "scans" of actual sales. I'd appreciate some help testing this: I will list three Freeper books, and ask you each to go to their Amazon site. Let's see if there is a sudden change in the numbers. (PS, if you think I'm going this to bump up my own Amazon ratings, then please ignore my book and JUST do the other two.)
Matthew Bracken, "Enemies, Foreign and Domestic." http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0972831010/qid=1113248489/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-8532284-7986326,
#71,420
Mark Goldblatt, "Africa Speaks," http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157962037X/qid=1113248675/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-8532284-7986326
#811,994
Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen, "A Patriot's History of the United States," http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1595230017/qid=1105121728/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-8532284-7986326?v=glance&s=books
#391
Hey, I'm game for playing a game on Amazon!
bumped all three.
done all 3
Done, I hope this is not true, but let's see.
Clicked your links to help with your experiment! (o;
#71,420
Mark Goldblatt, "Africa Speaks,"
#811,994
Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen, "A Patriot's History of the United States,"
#391
Hit 'em all. Now I need to go buy yours.
Bumped all three. Keep us posted.
OK. I did it. But I ain't gonna buy your book.
Are you insane? WHO
in the world would listen to
what their agent says?!?!
Bumped 'em
Each FReeped.
I hit all three.
So far, no movement. I'll check for multiples of 10s.
Nam Vet
Done for all 3
Bumped
One hit each from here.
bumped all three
All three.
I don't believe it's the hits.
They say it's SALES, and I believe it. There is no incentive for them to lie and count hits instead of sales.
"This list, updated hourly, contains top-selling items that are currently available for purchase."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/new-for-you/top-sellers/-/books/all/ref=b_tn_bh_be/104-1774827-1270358
I think you know it as well, you just want to generate some traffic and publicize the books you mention. This is not very imaginative.
I did it for the 3 of them. I hit the two versions of "Enemies, foreing and domestic".
What passes for Freepers these days seems to include a lot of partially reformed liberals and can in no way be considered supporters of traditional conservative ideals.
Ba-da-bump-bump-bump!
People who bought this book also bought:
Earth in the Balance by Al Gore
Steal this Book by Abbie Hoffman
How to Represent Yourself in the Supreme Court by Larry Flynt
My Road to the Dictatorship by Hillary Clinton
Um, maybe someone who actually has an agent?
For ex---this applies to the Times---my agent has had a book sell 90,000 and not get on, and one sell 25,000 and get on. Now, some of that is competitor sales at the time . . . but much of it has to do with which stores they take their data from.
bump
A minister, a doctor, and a literary agent are all playing golf. As they approach the third tee, they notice that the foursome in front of them is playing very slowly. These guys are helping each other line up their putts, they all stand around while each other hits, and they're generally taking far too long to play golf.
By the time the minister, doctor, and agent make the turn, they've had enough, and complain to the ranger about the slow play. Patiently, the ranger reveals that the foursome is a team of blind firemen who lost their vision while entering a burning house to save an entire family, and their eyes were singed. "We let them play for free," he explains, and asks the group to be understanding.
The minister feels terrible, and insists, "I'll offer a prayer for each of them and their families."
The doctor says, "I'm going to give them free medical treatment for their bravery."
The agent screams, "CAN'T THEY PLAY AT NIGHT?"
bumped all three...
visited all three
did all 3
Just did all 3.
Bump & run completed....
Perhaps it only counts hits by those logged in to Amazon?
Please accept my apology. I am very sorry for jumping to conclusions. I don't normally do that. After I posted my post, I regretted the way I phrased it too.
I AM SORRY.
Thank you for being very kind in responding.
Pick 3 books by liberals, post some really neg comments - not nasty, just bad...and then see how long your comment stays there...wish I could remember the book someone told me about that this happened with
No prob. I wanted to offer several books by Freepers so we had a big enough "sample" to see if anything happened. Unfortunately, last I looked, my book improved (about 10 spots) and the other guys' books actually FELL. Ugh.
The review thing is interesting. Two days ago, I had 26 reviews; today, 24. I can't really figure out which ones were removed.
Maybe they remove really bad ones for the sake of sales.
Be interesting to know which reason - sales or politics?
Matt's book is up to #60,000 now. That's a pretty good leap. Mark's is up 2000. I think there is something to this. Obviously, the further up the rankings you are, the more "hits" it takes to move it further up, so I don't expect to see as much movement with my book.
All three hit.
I hit 'em all. Good luck with your experiment.
After I passed this info along to my agent, he said it didn't make sense---Marks' book (the lowest one) should have moved the most with just a couple of hits.
He also said once he had a guy try to "jimmy" his Amazon rating by having 1700 people on his newsletter list buy the book, and he reimbursed them. He got #2, but it cost him more than he made :)
clicked on all three. Hope it helps.
See post 46.
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