The Truth about "bestseller" lists

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Alpha o

I've also read H.L. Mencken's "The American Language" for pleasure, so what kind of genre is that?

Liguistics. More specifically, sociolinguistics. It was written to be read for pleasure; it's not an academic text .

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

The US anti-intellectual streak is heavily laced with luddism and anti-tech and has been the foundation of populist politics going back to the nineteenth century.

Sort of an anti-steampunk movement.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Sort of an anti-steampunk movement.

Yup. Some are still fighting the railroad.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've always understood anti-intellectualism to be the type of person who actively takes pride in the fact that they never read a book, or are completely ignorant of maths, science, or whatever other topic it might be. Unfortunately this is a genuine phenomenon in the UK - I've encountered it personally.

Sadly, I have personal experience with a couple of relatives just like this. My sister points out that stupid people don't know that they are stupid.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Yup. Some are still fighting the railroad.

And losing badly.
For those that don't know what a railroad is, it has several long heavy things in front. These things have lights on the front. If you see said light coming at you, get off the wood connecting long metal tracks. The long thing does not have the ability to stop quickly.
Also if the bars are blocking the road or you see red lights flashing, it means the train is too close to stop.
No they are not flashing so a parade can go over the tracks.
This has been a public service announcement so maybe people will quit abusing the railroad.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

To readers I'd say, "take the rankings with a pound of salt and consider an unusually high ranking as more of a warning than a recommendation".

It's neither a warning nor a recommendation -- it's news, just like articles on what television shows receive high ratings are news.

Is it a form of news where newsmakers play the system to get more coverage? Yes. It you pay individuals to walk into bookstores and buy your title one at a time, that can, according to the OP article, make your book a bestseller, at least for one week. It is impossible to completely prevent this.

Of course, something similar is true of the front page news as well. If someone with high name recognition runs for president, and comes out in favor of torture, and then flip-flops on it, all to get free publicity, I don't see how it isn't news.

Search engine optimization is broadly comparable. Is it less bad to manipulate Google than the New York Times? I guess, although I'm not quite sure why I think that.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

It's neither a warning nor a recommendation -- it's news, just like articles on what television shows receive high ratings are news.

Is it a form of news where newsmakers play the system to get more coverage? Yes. It you pay individuals to walk into bookstores and buy your title one at a time, that can, according to the OP article, make your book a bestseller, at least for one week. It is impossible to completely prevent this.

Of course, something similar is true of the front page news as well. If someone with high name recognition runs for president, and comes out in favor of torture, and then flip-flops on it, all to get free publicity, I don't see how it isn't news.

Search engine optimization is broadly comparable. Is it less bad to manipulate Google than the New York Times? I guess, although I'm not quite sure why I think that.

Actually, if you "manipulate Google" there's a good chance that you will get caught. Google is also constantly changing the way they rank pages, and what works today might not work next week.

Google has also been known to punish websites that it perceives as trying to cheat the system. Do the major bestseller lists do the same?

Shari

[murg]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Sort of an anti-steampunk movement.

Wouldn't this be icepunk?