An author bought his own book to get higher on bestseller lists. Is that fair?

Author Mark Dawson has attracted criticism after bulk buying his own book gave him a high chart position. But that isn’t breaking any rulesFor any author, being able to describe yourself as a bona fide bestseller is key to conferring your career with a certain gravitas – and will often bring you even more sales. In the UK, while most book charts are tallied by Nielsen BookScan, the Sunday Times bestseller list – like the New York Times chart in the US – has become the gold standard. But making the bestseller list isn’t necessarily as straightforward as tallying sales. Not all is fair in romance and war (and other genres) when it comes to getting to the top of the charts.Take the case of Mark Dawson, a British writer who just over a week ago hit No 8 on the Sunday Times hardback list with his thriller The Cleaner, released by the independent publisher Welbeck at the end of June. This is a great achievement for any author or small publishing house, but Dawson had done something remarkable: he bought 400 copies of his own book, at a cost of £3,600, to push his sales high enough to make the top 10. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-07-20 15:59:35 UTC ]

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AIE: Italy’s Trade Book Publishing Sales Grow 2.4 Percent in 2020

Overall in 2020, the AIE and ALI with Nielsen have reported, Italians purchased 104.5 million book in 2020. The post AIE: Italy’s Trade Book Publishing Sales Grow 2.4 Percent in 2020 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-01-29 21:50:15 UTC ]
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Up, up and awry

Last week, Nielsen reported that based on estimated data the UK print book market grew 5.2% by volume in 2020, and rose 5.5% by value, to £1.76bn. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-29 03:09:12 UTC ]
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Amanda Gorman books top bestselling lists after soul-stirring inaugural poem

Two upcoming books on Amazon’s bestseller list within hours after the resounding delivery of her poem at the swearing-inAmanda Gorman’s star continued its remarkable climb Thursday following the presidential laureate’s resounding delivery of her poem during the US presidential... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-01-22 19:09:20 UTC ]
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Cannes Lions finalizes in-person jury presidents, and Facebook outsources Trump ban verdict: Friday Wake-Up Call

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[ Advertising Age | 2021-01-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
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BookScan estimates 2020 full-year print market up 5.5%

Nielsen BookScan has estimated the full-year print market for 2020 at 202 million books sold for £1.76bn, a 5.2% rise in volume and a 5.5% increase in value compared to 2019. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-22 10:32:48 UTC ]
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Ozark and The Office Are Among 2020’s Most-Streamed Shows

U.S. viewers spent nearly 30.5 billion minutes streaming Netflix's original drama Ozark in 2020, making it the most-watched original series on a streaming service last year. But library titles like The Office and Grey's Anatomy still deliver the biggest streaming audiences by far, according to... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2021-01-12 20:15:00 UTC ]
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Mackesy's title tops the 2020 sales chart

Charlie Mackesy's The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse (Ebury) was the bestselling book of 2020 through Nielsen BookScan's UK Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-12 01:12:31 UTC ]
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Germany’s Bestselling Books of 2020: Serious Themes and Escapism

The 2020 bestseller lists from Germany reflect readers' interest in both engaging with current affairs and escaping into great stories. The post Germany’s Bestselling Books of 2020: Serious Themes and Escapism appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-01-08 15:55:19 UTC ]
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Comscore's new investors will leave once embattled company is 'essentially debt free'

CEO Bill Livek alludes to bigger, but debt-laden, rival Nielsen with analogy to how Netflix overtook Blockbuster. Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2021-01-08 00:41:20 UTC ]
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Child's Play picks up two more from Romani author Richard O’Neill

Independent publisher Child's Play will publish two more picture books by Romani author Richard O’Neill, as part of his Romani Tales series.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-06 20:26:51 UTC ]
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2020: an indie publisher's A-Z

As a new independent publisher launching our first list in 2020, here at BAD PRESS iNK the year has been, well let’s just go with… a learning experience. So what have we learnt? In fact we’ve learnt a whole alphabet full: A is for Authors, and a need to recruit hustlers up for the sales... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-29 01:23:40 UTC ]
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Richard Osman becomes first debut author to land Christmas No 1

The Thursday Murder Club sees off titles by Barack Obama and David Walliams in chaotic week for Britain’s book tradeRichard Osman’s cosy mystery about a group of elderly sleuths, The Thursday Murder Club, has become the first debut novel ever to become the Christmas No 1, selling a remarkable... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-12-22 15:00:18 UTC ]
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Penned in the Margins bags Acts of Resistance

Independent publisher Penned in the Margins has acquired an "inspirational" creative non-fiction book by writer and arts professional Amber Massie-Blomfield. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-21 22:14:34 UTC ]
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Print market soars following second lockdown

For the first full week following the lifting of lockdown restrictions in early December, the print market sold 9.17 million books for £84.7m through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market—15% up in volume and 17% in value against the same week in 2019. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-20 21:38:05 UTC ]
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A year to turn the page

The year 2020 has been humbling in the face of nature. The coronavirus pandemic rattled the earth and revealed just how unstable the ground beneath us was. For journalists, the avalanche of life-or-death news crashed into an industry already beset by acute financial strain, the warping effects... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-12-18 13:00:43 UTC ]
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'I've never felt less festive': the art of writing Christmas novels, 365 days a year

Drinking sherry, bingeing Downton Abbey ... how authors keep up the spirit of the season, even when writing during heatwaves and a nightmarish ChristmasChristmas novels are not a new phenomenon. Charles Dickens sold out of his first print run of A Christmas Carol in days in December 1843, while... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-12-17 15:22:04 UTC ]
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'It’s been a rollercoaster': how indie publishers survived - and thrived - in 2020

When lockdown came in March, many small presses feared they would go out of business. But then came an outpouring of support from the publicThe best books from indie publishers in 2020Six months ago, independent publishers Jacaranda and Knights Of were warning publicly that their income had... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-12-16 08:00:30 UTC ]
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Amazon Charts: A Promised Land puts down roots at the top

Barack Obama's A Promised Land (Penguin) has once again charted top of both the Amazon Most-Sold and Most-Read: Non-Fiction charts, as it claimed a third week as the UK Official Top 50 number one through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-08 21:17:24 UTC ]
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Nielsen Will Overhaul Video Measurement, Creating Single, Cross-Media Offering

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[ AdWeek | 2020-12-08 11:00:33 UTC ]
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Rachel Piercey & Freya Hartas | 'We wanted the seasons to be accurately represented'

Poetry and woodland creatures, along with a dose of nostalgia and a nod to Jill Barklem’s Brambly Hedge books, all feature in the big search-and-find spring release from the new independent publisher Magic Cat, which brought together poet Rachel Piercey (above right) and illustrator Freya Hartas... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-03 15:11:53 UTC ]
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