Posted on 02/25/2016 2:16:49 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
I would like to tell you about the biggest lie in book publishing. It appears in the biographies and social media profiles of almost every working "author" today. It’s the word "best seller."
This isn’t about how The New York Times list is biased (though it is). This isn’t about how authors buy their way onto various national best-seller lists by buying their own books in bulk (though they do). No, this is about the far more insidious title of "Amazon Bestseller"-and how it’s complete and utter nonsense.
Here's what happened in the book industry over the last few years: As Amazon has become the big dog in the book world, the "Amazon Bestseller" status has come to be synonymous with being an actual bestseller. This is not true, and I can prove it.
Last week, I put up a fake book on Amazon. I took a photo of my foot, uploaded to Amazon, and in a matter of hours, had achieved "No. 1 Best Seller" status, complete with the orange banner and everything.
(Excerpt) Read more at observer.com ...
I have been working on a trilogy for several years. It’s an action/love story, the protagonist is the 3rd Muslim expansion. People who have read excerpts like it but no publisher or agent will touch it. “Islam is peaceful.â€
I self published my autobiography years ago but was not a very good agent. I have avoided scam publishers and would like to find a conservative agent. No luck so far.
Hitlary was a trendsetter.
Indeed - an eye opener.
A lot of reviews in the media seem quite fake also.
Ping
If you are a conservative, Baen is about the only publisher that will touch you. Look at the dreck that ‘real publishers’ take because it is PC. They have their biases.
At the same time, brick-and-mortar book stores are dwindling because e-publishing is the real way now...and the author doesn’t like seeing his job go away.
Interesting. I too am working on a story. Time travel. It has a solidly Christian frame of reference but without being preachy. At least that’s the theory. I’ve wondered where it might be published due to the PC barrier. Looking at Amazon. I’ve also heard of folks who set up their own publishing business on a shoestring so they can get access to resources usually only a publisher can reach.
Anyway, fun topic.
Networking is also helpful. I am using Stage32.com. They are like LinkedIn for writers, editors, actors, agents, directors, producers, etc. Think big.
Peace,
SR
There. Fixed it. Available on Amazon.
Mine is . . .
Prison of the Soul
You know, in case you'd want to return the favor.
You’re right about Baen. The funny thing is, Eric Flint, the fellow who took over for Jim Baen after he passed is an admitted socialist.
At one time I was President of the local Library Board. To my shock, the “professional” librarians in our employ refused to purchase any media that had not been reviewed favorably by the NYT or the NY Literary Review, despite thecrap that they recommend. This, of course, eliminated a lot of conservative — especially Christian — literature, no matter how well researched.
There was a set of videos that patrons and board members specifically wanted — the Wall Builders series on the Founding Fathers and their opinions on the separation of church and state. Everybody on the board reviewd the videos and liked them — thought that they’d be good research material for the high school forensics and government students. Librarians wouldn’t budge and even threatened to quite.
Finally, one of our board members purchased the videos himself and gifted them to the library. I would bet that they didn’t last 2 minutes after I left the board. Probably got checked out and “lost”.
I’ve had a lot of skepticism about libraries, librarians, and the NY “Reviews” ever since.
Several hundred bought my book when I quit pushing it.
Have you read Guns of the South?
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