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Thursday, May 9, 2013

3 SURE WAYS TO HAVE YOUR NOVEL BECOME A BESTSELLER

 
{The Audio Book of Hibbs' tales is coming}
 
WAY ONE:

Be endorsed by Oprah Winfrey.

WAY TWO:

Get a film deal with JJ Abrams.

WAY THREE:

Debut at the top of THE NEW YORK TIMES Bestsellers List.

Now, ONE and TWO are in the hands of the Great Mystery, and He gets His Name honestly, so there is no telling there.

WAY THREE is another matter:

All you need is to write a big enough check.  We're talking about BIG here --

Selling the kidneys of your whole family BIG.

ResultSource, a San Diego-based marketing consultancy, specializes in getting books onto bestseller lists, according to The Wall Street Journal.

For clients willing to pay enough, it will even guarantee a No. 1 spot.

HOW?

It does this by taking bulk sales and breaking them up into more organic-looking individual purchases, defeating safeguards that are supposed to make it impossible to “buy” bestseller status.

And it’s not cheap.

Soren Kaplan, a business consultant and speaker,

hired ResultSource to promote his book “Leapfrogging.”

Responding to the WSJ article on his website,

Kaplan breaks out the economics of making the list.

"With a $27.95 list price, I was told that the cost of each book would total about $23.50 after various retail discounts and including $3.99 for tax, handling and shipping. 
 
To ensure a spot on The Wall Street Journal’s bestseller list, I needed to obtain commitments from my clients for a minimum of 3000 books at about $23.50, a total of about $70,500. I would need to multiply these numbers by a factor of about three to hit The New York Times list.
 
So it would’ve cost more than $211,000, and that’s before ResultSource’s fee, which is typically more than $20,000."

Not too surprisingly, Kaplan settled for making it on THE WALL STREET JOURNAL's bestsellers list!

Amazon disapproves strongly enough of ResultSource’s methods that it told WSJ it will no longer do business with the company.

So what do you think?  Have $211,000 to invest in getting on THE NEW YORK TIMES Bestsellers List?

11 comments:

  1. if only i knew someone or someone who knew someone... solid advice master jedi roland... another is to be talented and have a great read as you always do... and you have fun while you do it.

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  2. Does this mean it is a questionable validity to get on the NY Times Bestseller list? With interviews that can be bought, greasing of palms, etc. I wouldn't trust too many lists these days.

    It also brings into question the ethics of any newspaper that supports such a list. Money can buy almost anything if you look and spend hard enough.

    It appears that ethics aren't high up on the priorities of some authors.

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  3. That's cray cray that you can "buy" a bestseller! Thanks for sharing that.

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  4. Really? Even if I had that money to blow, I'd feel like such a cheater!

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  5. I wish I had that much money. Probably would be cheaper just to bribe a big chain's buyer than blow it all to get on the NYT list.

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  6. Sadly, money can buy anything ... well, with the exception of talent. Which you have, Roland!

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  7. huh. now i wonder about those books that 'debut' at the #1 spot... and it just seems wrong. i can think of a few #1's that aren't that great and they're potentially knocking down a book that's better written and maybe by a struggling writer...

    kirkus reviews can be bought, too...

    thanks for the info!

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  8. Jeremy:
    I try to make my cyber home fun for my visitors. Thanks for the nice words.

    D.G.:
    Ethics appears to yet another thing that many people jettison on their way to success. Sad.

    Jennifer:
    I always wondered if you could buy a best seller -- now, I know -- and I am not much pleased by the info!

    Lydia:
    It does seem like cheating, doesn't it? Yet, I bet those who have done it feel it is the only way to get what they feel is a good book the attention it deserves. :-(

    Alex:
    Fair is not something usually found in any kind of business these days. Sigh.

    Steven:
    Bribing a big chain's buyer would be illegal while apparently this method is not. Crazy world as Jennifer Lane says.

    Wendy:
    Thanks for the praise. But it does seem as though those who have the gold make the rule!

    Words Crafter:
    Yes, when you buy the judge, the true winner ends up losing. Kirkus reveiws, too? Wow. Now, I am bummed. Have a great weekend, Roland

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  9. Hi Roland .. I didn't know who JJ Abrams was .. but there's a Culture Show tv prog on tonight and I thought I'd watch it .. so up he pops here - interesting!

    Well I got my Kindle working and put three of your books on for now ... so I'll find out about Hibbs ...

    Incredible the lengths people go to .. the latest hot thing here .. is a farmer, who was endorsed by Richard and Judy Book Club - per Oprah, but British .. he was self-published and penniless for years - how exactly he got picked for the Book Club I've no idea ...

    Cheers - this was an interesting read .. Hilary

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  10. Hillary:
    Old JJ is the new Steven Spielberg ... for awhile at least! :-)

    I like to think that sometimes lightning just strikes to help those in need like that farmer. That thought gives each of us a little hope.

    Hibbs speaks of God as the Great Mystery, for what He is up to and why He does it is a mystery to my Grizzly Bear!

    Thanks for caring to read my books. It means a lot to me! :-)

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