Be Wary of Bestseller Claims
Overly generic ones engender the same suspicions as their overly specific counterparts.
What does it mean when a book attains this bestseller status? In some cases, it truly blows up. The Let Them Theory is a case in point. In others, though, the bestseller label is meaningless, misleading, or even downright fabricated. Authors, publishers, or both are playing fast and loose with the truth.
In today's post, I'll cover two common sleights of hand.
Get your popcorn ready for today's rant.
Author X: Vague Declarations and Funky Math
A few years back, a prominent author claimed that hus latest release had reached national bestseller status.1 I'll intentionally omit the individuals's name and the title of his book.
I was skeptical for several reasons. For starters, Author X repeatedly claimed that his previous releases had won awards, but he never provided any detail. This wasn't just a matter of website neglect. I checked. Google searches confirmed as much. He was misleading others.
As for Author X's current release, its generic national bestseller assertion lacked an affiliation. I wanted to know: According to whom?
If his title really made the Wall Street Journal list like this book did, then why not flex a little? Make that impressive achievement abundantly clear to consumers and your adoring fans.
The absence puzzled me. I'm no lawyer, but copyright or trademark issues wouldn't apply. Making a factual claim on the cover of a book is legal. (Case in point: See the cover of The Let Them Theory.)
Errors of Omission From Those Who Should Know Better
Even worse, Author X's publisher isn't a new kid on the block. On the contrary, it's been operating for decades. Its post-publication addition of the words national bestseller on the (revised) cover was at best sloppy and at worst deceptive.
If a bestseller claim lacks a specific affiliation, be very suspicious of its veracity.
The book's Amazon page was also deficient. It omitted any additional information about the source of the assertionāagain, something any sane author and publisher would eagerly promote. Riddle me this: Why would the latter change the physical cover of the book after its release, but leave the text on its Amazon page unchanged?
Let's Talk About Amazon Reviews
Author X's newest release sported a paltry 30 Amazon reviews a full year after it dropped.2 Could a book with so few of them had organically landed on a reputable bestseller list?
With a solid book launch, the answer is yes, but here's the key point: its dearth of Amazon reviews also raised massive red flags. At best, Author X's title spent a week on a real bestseller list. (Pro tip: In this case, with all due respect to Neil Young, it's actually better to fade away than burn out.)
Consider the following stats from my book Zoom For Dummies: Within a year of its publication, more than 700 people had reviewed the English version on Amazon. That number didn't surprise me. It had sold a boatload of copies, including nearly 1,000 in a single week after the inimitable Ron Charles of CBS filmed a nationally televised segment with me.
