I have no clue who KKR is. But I did check out that suppose romance book under a pen name and just form my romance reader perspective and friends on goodreads and such, it wasn't really a romance. So that might have been the issue with the sales issue or whatever.
Are the best selling lists really this different today than they were before the self publisher came along? Weren't they always a list of not just sales but also placement bla bla. Even I knew that as a reader to be honest. Some buyers only get books here and there when they go to a big store, be it Sam's or Costco and if they see a best seller this or that, they might buy it. I don't really think that has changed much.
What has changed for me though is that the term "bestseller" has lost all its importance. So many self publishers put these box sets out now and hit a list and suddenly everyone in the kindle store is suddenly a best seller
I never cared before, I still don't care. I read what I want to read. I don't really give a fig how much it sells. Most of what sells in my favorite genre right now is not what I want to read anyway.
Bestseller lists like NYT and such still matter to those buying a handful of books a year. Those of us that read 100's of books a year already know what we like and most of us don't care about sales.
The amount of choices though is staggering today though.
I am just happy to be able to read what I like and although its still mostly trade stuff, I have found a few great self published authors. Sales as always are not a indicator or quality or what ones taste is like.