WND touts WTBC? sales

WorldNetDaily continues to make lemonade¹ in their new article, subtitled: Birth certificate book continues high flight on New York Times list. Another way to look at it is that the book opened at #6 among hardcover non-fiction and dropped to #14 in the second week (ending May 28, 2011). Where’s the Birth Certificate? also continues to be the only book on the list carrying the “†” symbol denoting reports of bulk orders, an indicator of possible manipulation of sales.

Here are results from two major online booksellers.

WTBC? sales rank among all books

The “off the chart” ranking at BN was #5,062.

WTBC’s raking among non-fiction at Amazon was #29 today; #90 overall.

[hr]

¹A popular saying is: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

 

About Dr. Conspiracy

I'm not a real doctor, but I have a master's degree.
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22 Responses to WND touts WTBC? sales

  1. Chris says:

    K —I’ll bite. One would think that artificially inflating the books position on the Times bestseller list by conducting bulk buys would cost a lot of money… could it really be the case that they stand to make money by this tactic? or is this more about saving face, would one think?

  2. Chris:
    K — I’ll bite.One would think that artificially inflating the books position on the Times bestseller list by conducting bulk buys would cost a lot of money…could it really be the case that they stand to make money by this tactic?or is this more about saving face, would one think?

    First off, it does happen. A particular scandal involving inflating the ratings is what prompted the NY Times to start reporting bulk orders with their list.

    If a publisher buys his own book, he essentially pays the book store’s markup because the publisher can just turn around and ship out the same books to be sold again. If he intends to do this stunt, he needn’t print as many books unless sales pick up.

    Think of it as an advertising campaign. The book gets more attention because it’s a bestseller.

    See:

    http://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/14/us/panel-investigating-bulk-sales-of-gingrich-book.html
    http://edwardn2.blogspot.com/2008/08/swift-boat-hack-targets-obama-as-commie.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/23/business/book-agent-s-buying-fuels-concern-on-influencing-best-seller-lists.html
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/jerome-corsis-nonfiction_b_120246.html

  3. AdrianInEngland says:

    Lies and deceit. Farah’s M.O. from the beginning.

  4. John Potter says:

    Awful lot of ludicrous, glowing reviews over there on Amazon as well. At first it was pretty balanced, but as time passes, and sane people drift away, fewer and fewer voices are noting the true nature of this drivel. This worries me as casual passersby may see these positive reviews and be sucked in. Please take the time to hop over and contribute an opinion. And vote up reviews that you agree with. Mine can be found in the “1-star” section. With enough positve votes, it will appear on the front page under Corsi’s photo. 😀 Every time that happens, it quickly gains a few negative votes. Please help me out, and if you can make a better case, please do!

    http://www.amazon.com/review/RLYUP3GVPA5N7/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#RLYUP3GVPA5N7

  5. Majority Will says:

    John Potter: Awful lot of ludicrous, glowing reviews over there on Amazon as well.

    From WND staff and interns? Or a handful of hardcore birthers and bigots?

    (not that there’s any real difference among the groups)

    Farah is probably astroturfing.

  6. Majority Will says:

    Majority Will: Farah is probably astroturfing.*

    *It’s a warfare like PR tactic used by unethical companies like Microsoft who used the names of dead people in letter writing campaigns to politicians about unfair treatment of monopoly charges, surreptitiously paying independent research firms to write glowing reviews and encouraging employees strongly and routinely to flood online discussions with positive comments along with many other similar strategies.

  7. Dr Kenneth Noisewater (Bob Ross) says:

    Majority Will: From WND staff and interns? Or a handful of hardcore birthers and bigots? (not that there’s any real difference among the groups)Farah is probably astroturfing.

    I wish you could check the account creation dates on Amazon. It makes me wonder how many accounts were just created.

  8. AnotherBird says:

    Dr Kenneth Noisewater (Bob Ross): I wish you could check the account creation dates on Amazon.It makes me wonder how many accounts were just created.

    My feeling is that their are just enough people who people who hate the president enough who are happy that a book that supports their believe is listed as a “non-fiction” to leave a positive review. Reading some of the 5 star reviews seem more like they are professional advertisements than actual reviews. However, that in only my opinion.

    I will say all of the Above to Majority Will’s list.

  9. Majority Will says:

    Dr Kenneth Noisewater (Bob Ross): I wish you could check the account creation dates on Amazon.It makes me wonder how many accounts were just created.

    To Dr Kenneth Noisewater (Bob Ross) and AnotherBird:

    I picture Jerome and his buddies Bob Unruh, Joe Kovacs, Aaron Klein, et al. huddled around laptops in the WND break room and giggling and snickering while creating new accounts and submitting five star reviews. Uncle Joe periodically steps in, grins and tosses a Snausage to each one of his loyal pets.

  10. aarrgghh says:

    Majority Will: … Uncle Joe periodically steps in, grins and tosses a Snausage to each one of his loyal pets.

    mental image of the day award

  11. BouquetofRoses says:

    Book is at #150 today

  12. BouquetofRoses: Book is at #150 today

    And # 6,393 ❗ at Barnes & Noble.

  13. BouquetofRoses says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: And # 6,393 at Barnes & Noble.

    I forgot to put “at Amazon.” This book is losing steam!

  14. John Potter says:

    Majority Will: From WND staff and interns? Or a handful of hardcore birthers and bigots?

    (not that there’s any real difference among the groups)

    Farah is probably astroturfing.

    I assume all of the above! Some of the accounts have no other activity, which is either suspicious, or indicates the person may have been directed there? Or just never felt lead to review/comment before. Others are accounts with long histories, concering the material you would expect.

    Again, I am there because Amazon is the online Wal-Mart. Who cares about the birthers; I am worried about the merely curious who are only vaguely aware of the issue (as I was not long ago!), who get hooked by what they see there. This kind of propaganda, a new level of evolution in spin (Rush to FOX to WND), is creating a cult, urinating in the pool of public discourse, and possibly permanently damaging a section of the electorate. Amusing as it is, it can’t be taken lightly. Remember, this is all a battle for a few percentage points. If Corsi, Farah, Ailes, etc., can get a lock on just 1-2% of the electorate, and a level of influence on 5-10%, that is an enormous victory in a two-party system.

  15. John Potter says:

    …all that, and Amazon is important because birthers aren’t aware of any other bookstores. Similar to the way in which Wal-Mart is the only grocery store to ever have existed.

  16. G says:

    John Potter: Again, I am there because Amazon is the online Wal-Mart. Who cares about the birthers; I am worried about the merely curious who are only vaguely aware of the issue (as I was not long ago!), who get hooked by what they see there. This kind of propaganda, a new level of evolution in spin (Rush to FOX to WND), is creating a cult, urinating in the pool of public discourse, and possibly permanently damaging a section of the electorate. Amusing as it is, it can’t be taken lightly. Remember, this is all a battle for a few percentage points. If Corsi, Farah, Ailes, etc., can get a lock on just 1-2% of the electorate, and a level of influence on 5-10%, that is an enormous victory in a two-party system.

    For the most part, I strongly agree with the points you’ve made. Although I am very skeptical about the portion of the electorate that is susceptible to this thing in the first place. By that, I mean that I strongly doubt any one who can fall for this BS voted for Obama last time or would consider voting for him in the future. In other words, I think they are only able to poison a percentage of an electorate that was already locked-in to vote a certain way, regardless.

  17. John Potter says:

    G: For the most part, I strongly agree with the points you’ve made.Although I am very skeptical about the portion of the electorate that is susceptible to this thing in the first place.By that, I mean that I strongly doubt any one who can fall for this BS voted for Obama last time or would consider voting for him in the future.In other words, I think they are only able to poison a percentage of an electorate that was already locked-in to vote a certain way, regardless.

    G, the battle is always over the undecided. Propaganda is very appealing, going straight to the emotional mind, bypassing the rational. Right or left, this type of swill interferes with people’s ability to analyze new information. In this case, they didn’t wake up one day as birthers. Once upon a time, I was a fundamentalist pentecostal, believe me, it didn’t happen overnight, and it took a lot of unwinding.

    Finally, when Bush announced he would run in way back when, I laughed. The general reaction (at least in my circles, people from OK, familiar with regional politics) was, “He must be joking.” After a year of heavy propaganda (capped by a premature election call by a Bush family member on FOX), he was in. People can be lead to vote for stupid.

    Thankfully, there ARE limits. The McCain campaign nuked itself with Palin. Third time was not the charm with stupid.

    Anyway, back to book sales. This thing can be a starter drug down the road to delusion. It should not be taken with complacency.

  18. G says:

    John Potter: G, the battle is always over the undecided. Propaganda is very appealing, going straight to the emotional mind, bypassing the rational. Right or left, this type of swill interferes with people’s ability to analyze new information. In this case, they didn’t wake up one day as birthers. Once upon a time, I was a fundamentalist pentecostal, believe me, it didn’t happen overnight, and it took a lot of unwinding.Finally, when Bush announced he would run in way back when, I laughed. The general reaction (at least in my circles, people from OK, familiar with regional politics) was, “He must be joking.” After a year of heavy propaganda (capped by a premature election call by a Bush family member on FOX), he was in. People can be lead to vote for stupid. Thankfully, there ARE limits. The McCain campaign nuked itself with Palin. Third time was not the charm with stupid.Anyway, back to book sales. This thing can be a starter drug down the road to delusion. It should not be taken with complacency.

    You state your points and positions well. I appreciate your insights and I’m fully onboard with your summary conclusion – “This thing can be a starter drug down the road to delusion. It should not be taken with complacency”.

    Thank you for your contributions here.

  19. John Potter says:

    Thanks, I try …. and let’s keep the part about my having been a holy roller just between us, OK? LOL

  20. John Potter says:

    Holeeeeee Kee-rap.

    About those bulk orders …. WND ran a one-day sale yesterday! LOL

    DEAL OF THE DAY
    Today only! ‘Where’s The Birth Certificate?’ just $4.95
    Get Jerome Corsi’s autographed best-seller for lowest price anywhere

    http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=308221

    So predictable.

  21. John Potter says:

    Encourage the faithful to run out and pay full price, but it up on the back end, and then dump it as soon as the “sales” slip. A 3-week old “bestseller” for 75% off? What expletives! I can hear the secondary market collapsing now.

    Also note … this special ends at 10pm PT …. it is now 11:20pm PT LOL

    no matter, they persist in cranking out crap….new ‘headlines’ everyday. Now insinuating Obama was illegitimate. Anything to stoke the flames.

  22. Rickey says:

    John Potter:
    Holeeeeee Kee-rap.

    About those bulk orders …. WND ran a one-day sale yesterday!LOL

    And still taking orders as of a few minutes ago. Of course, you also have to agree to take out a three-issue trial subscription to a WND newsletter, and the trial subscription becomes a paid subscription if you forget to cancel before the end of the trial period.

    I’m guessing that WND at least breaks even on the bulk sales. Amazon sells it for $15. How much of that is markup? $5? So the publisher gets $10 from the original sale, then sells it again for $5, and essentially breaks even,

    It is now #158 at Amazon and #1411 at Barnes & Noble. My guess is that it will disappear from the NY Times bestseller list soon.

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