A thank you, and one more push
Whatever you guys did yesterday, it’s working -- and I’m deeply, deeply grateful. The book is shooting up in the rankings, which means that bookers and producers and reviewers are now giving it a close look. I would have preferred that Bob Mueller check with me first on the timing of his announcement that he has nothing more to announce, but such are the vicissitudes of publishing.
Still, it’s unheard of for a paperback from an indie publisher with no marketing budget and no appearances (yet) on NPR or cable to punch into the top of the rankings in the first week like this.
To let you inside the process a bit: There are a few different milestones a book can hit on the Amazon rankings – and, sadly, it’s Amazon that the entire industry follows. The first is to crack 10,000, which is a respectable showing for a book, but it still means that some 9,000 books are selling better. The next threshold to push through is 1,000, then 500, then 300, all of which we busted through yesterday, and we’re now hovering at that spot. With a last push, we can drive into the top 100 and maybe even the top 10.
From there, the organic process takes over, and people start learning about the book, buying it, and it becomes a self-affirming cycle. Today and the rest of this week is key, so if you haven’t bought yet, please hit it now. And if you have, get one as a gift for somebody. (I’m happy to sign and inscribe it; email me and I’ll give you my address, sign it and mail it back to you.)
The momentum the book has now isn’t only from this newsletter, but shows that consumers of alternative media read books, which to me is obvious, but is something the publishing industry has long doubted. On that front, I’m on the podcast Intercepted with Jeremy Scahill, which just went up today, and he and his team found reams of fun archival audio of Jesse Jackson and others to go with the interview. It’s very much worth a listen.
I also appeared yesterday evening with Elaine Quijano on CBS News, and we had a fun conversation about Jesse Jackson, Rahm Emanuel, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
If you’re in Brooklyn tonight (Dumbo) I’ll be speaking at 6:30 at Powerhouse Arena, 28 Adams Street. Hope to see you there.
Also, some folks had asked how they could buy the book and avoid the Amazon beast. You can do that directly through the publisher here.