Malkin Thinks That Entering A Contest Will Hurt Her Book Sales

Previously, I have spoken at length about the real reason that conservative books are consistantly on the top of the NY Times Best-Seller List. And it certainly isn't due to the fact that these books are well written, accurately researched, remotely factual, or have even the most minute bearing on where the real-world is at the particular time that the book(s) is published.

That being said, enter Michelle "Mouth WIDE Open" Malkin.

One of her latest posts begins as such:

The national media doesn’t want to talk about the dominance of conservative books atop the New York Times best-seller list and other national lists.

But it’s clearly getting under the Left’s skin.

Of course the media isn't talking about it, considering that the NY Times list considers bulk orders by retailers as "sales" and places like Townhall.com and various other conservative websites, think-tanks, and businesses buy up clap-trap such as yours to give away when eager conservatives feed at their slop jars. The game is fixed from day 1.

At HuffPo, a Soros-tied co-author has launched a bid to dislodge conservative authors — and he’s asking for help from every last nutroots activist out there.

Are the conservatives ever going the stop with the "Soros owns everything" meme? Sure, the man has billions to throw around, but there are many people with billions and billions to hand over to publishing houses, political candidates, networks, magazines, websites, and businesses. But, is she complaining because there isn't a Soros equal in the conservative camp? Actually, there is, just as there are many "Soros' that donate to Democratic causes. Soros has as much control over the Democratic party as any other philanthropist with cash to throw away. The meme is more a falicy that conservatives are willing to claim.

But Malkin's primary beef with this book, there's a prize for those that submit their original thoughts on how to better America. HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!

It's just like any other competition. From school writing programs, to contests shown on TV commercials from everywhere like Bass Pro Shop to cosmetic businesses, on down to sending off box tops from Hannah Montana cereal boxes, there are places EVERYWHERE where people can win big prizes as long as you buy their product. It seems that Malkin has her knickers in a twists because she didn't think of this first so that her readers could win a cruise with Hugh Hewitt or something.

In essence, Malkin is creating something out of nothing. But this is nothing new.

Michelle Malkin's Asterisk

I'm sure most of you remember Barry Bond's alleged shattering of the home-run record some short years ago. Sports fans and stats keepers were either for it or against it for obvious reasons. That is why there remains the ever present asterisk next to the home-run number.

Best selling books are the same in many respects. And when you are talking about right-wing fringe material written by the likes of Jerome Corsi, Sean Hannity, Dick Morris, or Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin, the asterisk should be glowing red-hot.

The reason for this is because bookstores will purchase bulk quantities and right-wing websites will purchase bulk as well to give away to website subscribers. Just take a look at townhall.com and you'll likely see a pop-up that offers Glenn Beck's latest nonsensical piece that allegedly is a re-write of "Common Sense".

One, more recent, example of inflated right-wing book sales is Jerome Corsi's work of fiction "Obama Nation"

Several anti-Obama books have recently arrived in bookstores, but Obama Nation is getting the most attention, in large part because it is so inflammatory and is being heavily marketed. The book's publisher has 475,000 copies in print, according to a company spokesperson. In contrast, the first serious liberal book about the Democratic candidate -- Robert Kuttner's Obama's Challenge -- is being released August 25 with a first printing of 75,000.

What responsibility, if any, do publishers and booksellers have in calling the book a "best-seller" when that label may be as fictitious as the information contained in the book itself?

Indeed, the New York Times currently lists Obama Nation as its #1 "best seller" even though the paper acknowledges that sales of the book have been influenced by "bulk orders." Does the paper have a responsibility to find out whether these included large purchases by the author or by right-wing organizations?

But even after all of this, Malkin's book isn't even listed on the current Best Seller List in the current issue of the NY Times. It's not going to show up on the list until Aug. 16th. That's 10 days from now, so how do people like Sean Hannity know this ahead of time?

The New York Times puts a dagger next to some books, indicating that "some bookstores report receiving bulk orders." Among the Times' top 16 non-fiction books for August 24, three others -- Stori Telling, a memoir by actress Tori Spelling (#3), The Case Against Barack Obama by David Freddoso, published by Regnery (#5), and Fleeced, another anti-Obama book by conservative political operative and pundit Dick Morris and coauthor Eileen McGann (#8) -- have similar daggers.

The other major best-seller lists don't have comparable designations, but the sales figures reported by their sample of booksellers can also be influenced by bulk orders.

The New York Times best-seller list, the most prestigious, is based on weekly sales reports from national samples of independent and chain bookstores, online booksellers, as well as wholesalers that provide books to other retailers like department stores and supermarkets. The Times' list of 4,000 sellers is a closely-guarded secret. Other best-seller lists use a different mix of chains, independents, on-line sellers, and wholesalers.

With all the subterfuge surrounding not only the actual number of copies purchased by the end user as well as the list of sellers, who is to say what books are and aren't, in fact, "best sellers"?

More to the point, who's to say what books will and won't sell more copies than Malkin's in the next 10 days. Is there some written agreement between Regnery Publishing and the mysterious list of sellers that this book will be purchased in bulk at a higher volume than any other they sell or their competition sells?

And this will obviously extend to not just other authors in the conservative realm, but it may very well apply to the likes of mainstream fiction authors, biographers, and hundreds of other writers in various catagories.

It would seem that just because you are #1 on the pile that that doesn't necessarily mean that you are a superior writer, just that your publishing house is ready to market whatever gimmick is hot at the moment.