Local #amazonfail
Sadie at ExtremelyGraphic blog does a very good job of explaining the mystifying disappearing Amazon sales rankings for certain titles. But here’s an example of what it does to one of our local authors. Jaci Burton has had her books “delisted”, and she explains what this can mean to her sales.
Jaci said, “For those who don’t understand what it means, let me explain. The sales # associated with a book is no great shakes. It’s just that that sales # affects a book’s visibility on the various Amazon bestseller lists (of which there are many), and the “If you like ___, then you’ll like ____” comparison, which also increases a book’s visibility. ”
So when you are delisted you don’t come up on these bestseller lists, even if you are a Bestseller.
Perhaps it’s time to try some other online book sellers, how about Powells. And I’m sure if Jaci’s books are delisted there are other Oklahoma authors that have been delisted also. Apparently all the tweeting
RunnerJenny/Flickr Creative Commo
has caused Amazon to re-think this silliness.
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Comments
As one person put it – They deranked Joy of Sex but left Anarchist Cookbook, they would rather we make napalm instead of love!!!
[...] 2009 1:32 pm Kitty Uncategorized Kitty over at Okie Reads reports that some great Oklahoma authors have been affected by the Amazon deranking [...]
It all reminds me of the time Sports Illustrated decided to NOT send libraries the swimsuit issue. (I guess they were protecting our patrons from scantily clad models on beaches?) Never mind the fact that libraries have standing order subscriptions to their journals and were mightily angry that SI would decide not to send an issue that was already paid for, and make the assumption they knew what was best for our customers. Well librarians tend to be an angry lot and soon all the emails and complaints caused SI to act like Amazon and start blaming this person and that person and guess what…..We now get our swimsuit issue and Sports Illustrated backed down and realized they aren’t the moral compass for swimsuit wearers and admirers or librarians. Well Amazon take a lesson from SI.
If you read the stories on the web, it appears that it is sexual content that is the main rule stick for determining books should be delisted. We can buy all of the assault weapons we want (that exist expressly for the purposes of blowing people away), but please, for goodness sake, don’t talk about the very natural process that keeps the species alive. Good grief!