9/21 Blog - Bestsellers List

[TheConfessor]

Oh, almost forgot: Brainiac can now have the iffy “New York Times Bestseller!” banner on its paperback cover, since it made it to #27 (the Extended List, i.e. not the real list but still very flattering) in its first week. Thanks to everybody who helped make that possible! Please buy ten more, Scientologist-style, this coming week. That is all.

Another effective strategy would be for you to somehow get Hugo Chavez to mention your book. Hugo singlehandedly boosted Noam Chomsky from obscurity to #4 on Amazon. You should have your people talk to his people and work something out. Maybe offer Chavez a role in the movie adaptation of the book. I think he'd go for that.

[Ken Jennings]

"I can still smell sulfur at the leftmost Jeopardy podium!"

[TomK]

That would make sure that the New York Post and all the other Murdoch outlets REALLLY go after Ken.

O'Reilly: "So, when did Ken Jennings begin to hate America?"

[bwouns]

Hugo singlehandedly boosted Noam Chomsky from obscurity to #4 on Amazon. You should have your people talk to his people and work something out. Maybe offer Chavez a role in the movie adaptation of the book. I think he'd go for that.

I don't think Noam Chomsky would have been considered obscure.

[TheConfessor]

Hugo singlehandedly boosted Noam Chomsky from obscurity to #4 on Amazon. You should have your people talk to his people and work something out. Maybe offer Chavez a role in the movie adaptation of the book. I think he'd go for that.

I don't think Noam Chomsky would have been considered obscure.

I stand corrected. What is your approved adjective for #20,664 on the bestsellers list? According to the article I linked, that was Chomsky's ranking before Chavez touted the book.

[Ken Jennings]

Well, the most common edition of Dickens' The Pickwick Papers sits at #33,000. A five-digit Amazon ranking isn't uncommon for well-known titles.

[gameshowcongress]

Well, the most common edition of Dickens' The Pickwick Papers sits at #33,000. A five-digit Amazon ranking isn't uncommon for well-known titles.

I suppose the measurement here is a "public conciousness" in a temporal sense -what is hot now, as contrasted with what has been hot in the past and flares up again.

Similar to when a new movie uses an older song in the soundtrack, such as when "The Sting" uses Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" (set in a different era) or "Pulp Fiction" uses Kool & the Gang's "Jungle Boogie".

[TheConfessor]

Well, the most common edition of Dickens' The Pickwick Papers sits at #33,000. A five-digit Amazon ranking isn't uncommon for well-known titles.

The Pickwick book sounds even more obscure than Chomsky's was, pre-Chavez bump. That Dickens fellow probably should try to appear on The Early Show or The Colbert Report. Or maybe change the book's title. Many customers may not realize that they can buy it as a bound copy, and not just as a collection of loose "papers."

Speaking of obscure people on current lists, all game show millionaires continue to fall behind on the Forbes 400 list. This year for the first time, one must be a billionaire to rank in the top 400. Jeopardy needs to up the ante. At Ken's average earnings rate, he would have had to win 29,334 consecutive games to make the Forbes 400 list (not counting taxes). Merv used to be on the list but I'm not sure whether he made it this year.