IMPORTANT: Barnes and Noble appears to be manipulating its best seller lists
I've posted about this on Facebook, but I wanted to write something slightly more coherent and complete. This is a very important issue for both romance readers and writers, so please, share this post with your friends. Shout it from the roof tops. Barnes and Noble aren't replying to my emails, so we need to make a lot of noise for this to get heard.
For those that don't want to read the whole thing, the situation in a nutshell:
Barnes and Noble appear to be manipulating their Nook bestseller list. They seem to have issue with either self published books or books containing erotic content, or both, and they don't want them being too visible on their site. From what we can gather, there seems to be an artificial wall in their rankings, somewhere around #125, and any books they deem unworthy cannot rank higher, no matter how many copies they sell. My two titles are both currently affected by this, as are Cassia Leo's USA today best selling Shattered Hearts books, and several other works.
To give you the long form and explain how I know this:
My second book, Lockout, was doing astoundingly well on B&N. It was #5 in the whole store yesterday, right up between Dan Brown and James Patterson. I was over the moon.
But something weird was happening with the first book in my series, Locked. It rose when book two launched, but once it hit #126 in the overall store, it stuck in place. It kept selling more books, but wouldn't move. Not even a single ranking place. And it held that position for 48 hours. Now, it's almost impossible for a book to not shift even a few places in a given day. Most books change rank every hour, so obviously this wasn't normal. It felt like it had been pinned in place.
Then, this morning, the same thing happened to Lockout. It went from #5 in the whole Nook store, to #126, in the blink of an eye. This makes no sense. It's all but totally impossible for book sales to plummet that dramatically of their own accord.
I know that this might seem like me just complaining because I'm not doing as well as I'd like, but it's not. Look at this. Locked and Lockout are currently sitting at exactly #126 and #127 in the B&N store. You can see it here:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?dref=...
What do you think the chances of that happening are? Two books by the same author next to one another in the rankings, out of hundreds of thousands of titles. And it's been like that all morning. Add in the fact that Locked has been at #126 for the last two days (I have screenshots, emails and sales figures to show this), and it's pretty clear that this isn't an accurate reflection of the book's sales.
If you look at the charts there, you can also see Cassia Leo's books are just behind mine. I have screenshots of these charts from all last night and this morning, and in every one, our books hold position while everything else shifts around them. I also have word from a much bigger name in the romance community, Liliana Hart, that the same thing happened to her last week. She had a sale, her title rose to #126, then just stopped.
Now, they have yet to actually comment on this, so we have no concrete idea what is going on, but if all this is true, then it's blatant censorship. Their 'best seller' charts aren't best seller charts at all, it's just a list of pre-approved books. The romance community is one of the most voracious in the world, and they're hiding the books you want to read from you. This is worth making some noise over. They're hurting you and your ability to find books, and they're hurting authors you love and their ability to make a living. My sales have plummeted since this happened.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind the policy. Cassia's books are much less steamy than mine, and other erotic titles continue to sit in the top 100. I don't know exactly what they're trying to achieve, but the whole thing is inconsistent and grossly unfair. This isn't just about my books, or Cassia's books, it's about B&N thinking they know what their readers want better than readers themselves.
So I'd love it if you helped get the word out about this. Comment on this post so your GR friends see it, share it around your social networks, and let B&N know what you think about this policy. I'm not sure it will do much good, but it's worth making our voices heard nonetheless. Maybe we can get them to at least fill us in on their policy so we can understand what is happening.
EDIT 5/27/13: Just to update this for people only reading now, it is no longer true that my two books are side by side on the Nook store. B&N's blockade has done its job and has killed the sales on my first book by destroying the visibility. It will only be a matter of time before the second starts to fall.
But now that we know what we're looking for, you can now see other books up against the wall. Currently there's Tangled by Emma Chase, Selling Scarlet by Ella James, and then my book, Lockout. Tangled is a great example. It's getting crazy good reviews everywhere, is inside the top 10 on Amazon, but suspiciously won't budge from #126 on the B&N store. The exact rank we've all been complaining about. Doesn't that seem odd?
For those that don't want to read the whole thing, the situation in a nutshell:
Barnes and Noble appear to be manipulating their Nook bestseller list. They seem to have issue with either self published books or books containing erotic content, or both, and they don't want them being too visible on their site. From what we can gather, there seems to be an artificial wall in their rankings, somewhere around #125, and any books they deem unworthy cannot rank higher, no matter how many copies they sell. My two titles are both currently affected by this, as are Cassia Leo's USA today best selling Shattered Hearts books, and several other works.
To give you the long form and explain how I know this:
My second book, Lockout, was doing astoundingly well on B&N. It was #5 in the whole store yesterday, right up between Dan Brown and James Patterson. I was over the moon.
But something weird was happening with the first book in my series, Locked. It rose when book two launched, but once it hit #126 in the overall store, it stuck in place. It kept selling more books, but wouldn't move. Not even a single ranking place. And it held that position for 48 hours. Now, it's almost impossible for a book to not shift even a few places in a given day. Most books change rank every hour, so obviously this wasn't normal. It felt like it had been pinned in place.
Then, this morning, the same thing happened to Lockout. It went from #5 in the whole Nook store, to #126, in the blink of an eye. This makes no sense. It's all but totally impossible for book sales to plummet that dramatically of their own accord.
I know that this might seem like me just complaining because I'm not doing as well as I'd like, but it's not. Look at this. Locked and Lockout are currently sitting at exactly #126 and #127 in the B&N store. You can see it here:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?dref=...
What do you think the chances of that happening are? Two books by the same author next to one another in the rankings, out of hundreds of thousands of titles. And it's been like that all morning. Add in the fact that Locked has been at #126 for the last two days (I have screenshots, emails and sales figures to show this), and it's pretty clear that this isn't an accurate reflection of the book's sales.
If you look at the charts there, you can also see Cassia Leo's books are just behind mine. I have screenshots of these charts from all last night and this morning, and in every one, our books hold position while everything else shifts around them. I also have word from a much bigger name in the romance community, Liliana Hart, that the same thing happened to her last week. She had a sale, her title rose to #126, then just stopped.
Now, they have yet to actually comment on this, so we have no concrete idea what is going on, but if all this is true, then it's blatant censorship. Their 'best seller' charts aren't best seller charts at all, it's just a list of pre-approved books. The romance community is one of the most voracious in the world, and they're hiding the books you want to read from you. This is worth making some noise over. They're hurting you and your ability to find books, and they're hurting authors you love and their ability to make a living. My sales have plummeted since this happened.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind the policy. Cassia's books are much less steamy than mine, and other erotic titles continue to sit in the top 100. I don't know exactly what they're trying to achieve, but the whole thing is inconsistent and grossly unfair. This isn't just about my books, or Cassia's books, it's about B&N thinking they know what their readers want better than readers themselves.
So I'd love it if you helped get the word out about this. Comment on this post so your GR friends see it, share it around your social networks, and let B&N know what you think about this policy. I'm not sure it will do much good, but it's worth making our voices heard nonetheless. Maybe we can get them to at least fill us in on their policy so we can understand what is happening.
EDIT 5/27/13: Just to update this for people only reading now, it is no longer true that my two books are side by side on the Nook store. B&N's blockade has done its job and has killed the sales on my first book by destroying the visibility. It will only be a matter of time before the second starts to fall.
But now that we know what we're looking for, you can now see other books up against the wall. Currently there's Tangled by Emma Chase, Selling Scarlet by Ella James, and then my book, Lockout. Tangled is a great example. It's getting crazy good reviews everywhere, is inside the top 10 on Amazon, but suspiciously won't budge from #126 on the B&N store. The exact rank we've all been complaining about. Doesn't that seem odd?
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Also, now that we know the magic number, we can just sit here and watch books pile up. Ella James' book, Selling Scarlet, just took over the number one spot against the wall. You can see it here:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?dref=...
Who wants to bet it stays in that row with Cassia and I while everything else in the store shifts around it?
So some books DO get above the ceiling for a while and then plummet. But other books never rise above it despite sales that should have put them up there. Is that right?It seems like they are hand-crafting the top 100 to keep FSoG and a few others up there while others are dumped down or prevented from rising. It sounds to me like the spots can be bought or used as part of a marketing plan, just like the front table spaces can be in the stores.
Or, they could be adding in print book sales artificially to keep the Nook Sales store aligned with the print books sales. So right after they dump those sales in, the titles without paper sales get stuck below the 100 or so that they added sales to. As time passes between the inflations, a few ebooks puncture it and get through, but when they add them in again, the digital-only titles get dumped again.
This would match the "flush" a number of erotica writers have noticed, where despite their sales being strong, they get dumped.
It's interesting to speculate. I'm sure BN won't talk, any more than NYT will ever reveal their exact formula or reporting stores.
Jessie wrote: "Eli wrote: "Maybe they realized that this genre of books has been done a million times over and that all your books are the same story ..."Wow. Just wow. That's your comment to obvious discrimina..."
Plots are one thing. But this copy paste stuff has to stop.
Okay, Eli.We will all write different things to please you.
Anything else?
Maya...you can watch the books behind you too. It's becoming an interesting line. I know I've had that lovely #126 position after being #6 on the list. I went from #6 to #126 in about 5 seconds. So I'm right there with ya. I'm actually a very reasonable person and I don't own a pitchfork or a torch. And I wouldn't be one of the first in line to push B & N under the bus had they not nearly killed me by shoving me under the bus first.
The Amazon issue of censoring or stamping an erotica book as "adult" is concerning, but not really the same issue. At least Amazon will actually answer your email within 24 hrs and tell you that you have been given an adult filter. It has been over a month and I have not had my emails answered by B & N. If there is a reasonable explanation for this happening, why can't any of us get an answer? I don't think we are being a bunch of radicals just because we are looking for answers. And as Cassia and Maya have already mentioned...the numbers don't lie.
This is my experience as well. All three of my books were recently at 126, 127 and 128. All box sets:
I was selling MORE than enough to push me into the top 100 but my books wouldn't move past the anchor point.
Fifty Shades has it's own page, but erotic romance Indie writers get shafted?
And they're out and out lying to customers.
This isn't how the free market is supposed to work.
I posted this on BANNED EROTIC BOOKS on Facebook.
Feel free to share your experience there! The more people who know about it, the better!
Very interesting information. I'll be following to see what happens.
I am a B&N member, have bought 4 Nooks over the last two years, including a brand new shiny Nook HD+ this month. I review books and am a fan of paranormal/urban fantasy as well as romance. I'm working on my own series and hoped to be able to market it through B&N rather than Amazon (because of a lot of the crap I hear about them). Now I'm very discouraged. I sent them a letter to Customer Service demanding to know what the heck is going on and referencing this page. If I get an answer, I'll share it.
Thank you Charlayne. Reader response is going to carry FAR more weight than Indie author complaints. We just sound like we're whining. :)
At the risk of everyone's ire, I would like to make a few points, some of which have already been made, some are new, and some may only be on the top of my head, we shall see!1. B & N is a privately owned business, therefore what they are doing is a course of business and their choice to make. It is no more or less fair than the owner of Chic fil-a spending his money for causes that he believes in. That being said, as consumers, we have the right to complain, boycott, etc.
2. We do not know the ins and outs or reasoning for the decisions that they are making. It could very well be a glitch in the system, or that they are calculating paperback sales in with e-book sales at the end of a business day, or that they are fudging the numbers in an effort to promote books published traditionally in an effort to keep physical books in their physical stores, thereby keeping the doors to those physical stores open. Arguing that their actions are not fair is a bit like them whining that Amazon's opening up the publishing world to self-pubbers is not fair, or complaining that people looking at books in their stores and then ordering those same books on-line for cheaper is not fair... two statements I have never heard them make (At least, in public!) Indie and self-pubbers are quite literally killing their business model. They are attempting to save their business. That is life, and in case your momma never told you, life is not fair!
3. Just as they have the right to do business the way they choose, you have the right to do business the way that you choose. However, keep in mind that the protestors for Chic-fil-a got exactly the opposite of what they were hoping for. Also, keep in mind that there are more people angry with the way that Amazon operates their business model. B & N is their biggest competitor. What happens if B & N closes their doors? What policies will roll out then?
$. On the topic of Amazon, their top sellers list really pisses me off. Most indie authors that make it atop that list did so by offering their books for free... meaning that they made no money. And most authors are (finally) beginning to realize that KDP may not be all that it is cracked up to be. The hope was that people getting your book for free would post reviews of said book, thereby increasing your likes, rankings, and sales. Most authors do not experience this. And at the same time they are locked into only having their book on Amazon for at least 90 days.
Authors, the answer to our woes is not to block a providor, but to find other providers. Don't spend all of your energy promoting on one site, spread the promotion around. For example, I publish through Createspace. I make more money if someone orders directly from Createspace. But I shelled out $25 to put my book on a sellers list. I don't tell people to order my book from createspace, I promote them ordering it from their local bookstore. Not only will they save on shipping and handling, but they will help keep physical stores in existence (I'm a bit of a sentimentalist, I suppose, but do you realize how many people are employed by bookstores?) Also, many book sellers will order one or two more copies of my book to put on their own shelves, if they have gotten an order for a book.
I publish on as many platforms as I can find, creating the diversity that I as an author will need in order for Amazon not to become the sole survivor in the book wars. The fact of the matter is that monopolies are never good for anyone but themselves. Amazon is too close to that as is. I'll not help them become so.
And finally (perhaps I am naive, but) Most readers I know do not select their books from anyones top 100 charts. The select their books based on what their friends are talking about, or what some celebrity that they think of as a friend (can anyone say Oprah?) has recommended. They buy what they are hearing about in the media, what their favorite blogger reviewed and loved. Ask any random reader what book is at the top 100 of any list... I guarantee you not one will know for sure. Some might guess right (Because everyone is talking about a particular book, which is how it become a top 100 in the first place.) but none of them check that list to decide what to read next, I promise you. (OK, maybe 1 in a million do. It's possible.) So rather than wasting your energy complaining about unfair practices, go out there and make a youtube video, do a G+ On Air chat, Submit to reviewers and share those reviews, Attend a convention and post an event on G + with pictures, promote your book. This controversy might help boost some sales for the original poster, but the rest of us will not get sales from it. Betcha B & N top 100 list will get more clicks and views because of the publicity... and the books that are there will sell. Draw your attention to yourself and your book, not the person or entity you think is holding you back.
There are my thoughts on all of this. Best of luck with sales!!
Heidi: "but none of them check that list to decide what to read next, I promise you. (OK, maybe 1 in a million do. It's possible.)"If you think 1 in 1,000,000 books are purchased by people browsing the bestseller lists, you have no understanding of how books are sold online.
Perhaps... as I said, I may be naive...
1. It's false advertising. They're claiming these books are their "bestsellers" when, in fact, they are not. 2. Their reasons for doing it don't matter at all if the result is they are not informing their customers. False advertising is very real. The government investigates thousands of cases per year.
3. So no one should protest because the devil you know is better than the devil you don't?
4. KDP Select rewards only writers who are already popular. And it's too overused now to benefit new writers, I'm afraid. I agree that Amazon's push for world domination is worrisome and no one should put all their eggs in one basket. I've said that for years.
But that doesn't negate the fact that what Barnes and Noble is doing is not only wrong, it may very well be illegal.
So sorry to hear this is happening, Maya, though I can't say I'm surprised. I've been around long enough to know that bestseller lists were routinely tailored to what the NY publishers wanted to sell for years. Kids books and romances were routinely excluded. Then USA Today started publishing an honest list of bestsellers, and now we expect the lists to be honest. Sadly, no such luck. Hope your sales continue to outpace your ranking.
1. Without knowing what model they are using to determine their best sellers, we cannot know that it is wrong. Therefore proving false advertising would be difficult. 2. But it does play into the "fairness" factor.
3. I'm not saying one should not protest. I pointed out that we are all free to do so. But keep in mind that protesting may not get you the results you are counting on, that is all.
4. Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so ;) It would be nice to have more alternatives to publishing. I use Smashwords, Drive-thru fiction, B & N and Amazon. Getting ready to publish audiobooks on Audible. Do you know of any others?
I understand that a privately owned company can publish whatever they want. However, I can't help overlooking the fact that conservatives gladly voice their opinions and use their power to influence these organizations while those of us who believe in free speech tend to shrug and go somewhere else. We should also form a voice. Need I remind you that when writers started speaking up against paypal's policy on censorship, they changed them.
Thank you for the info on this. I guess I need to stop using them if they are going to be that way!!! That is soo wrong!! I hate discrimination like that! In this day and age where the competition is so great, they need to stop and think about what they are doing! I had a nook and was so displeased with B&N, that I hot an I-pad so I could get e-books from somewhere other than there! They are not user friendly and useless when you have a problem! I totally understand the frustration! I am going to write them a letter, and give them a good piece of my mind!!
This just sucks!Hopefully B & N will respond to the concerns.
Heidi wrote: "At the risk of everyone's ire, I would like to make a few points, some of which have already been made, some are new, and some may only be on the top of my head, we shall see!1. B & N is a private..."
Heidi, all we're asking for is some transparency. Yes, legally, they can probably do whatever they want with their storefront, but morally, filtering their 'best seller' list with an inconsistent, opaque policy is wrong, and a huge majority of both their readers and content providers will see it that way. Claiming that 'life isn't fair' is just a big cop out. Life can be fair, if you fight for it when it's not.
My gut tells me this isn't so much about erotic content as it is about self published books. Like you mentioned, I think it's an attempt to placate traditional publishers by limiting the number of indie books that can chart. And if that's the case, it severely undermines the entire idea of their new Nook Press service.
"Come and sign up for Nook Press. Publish your book to the masses! Compete with traditionally published books! ...but not too much."
From memory, according to B&N, self published books accounted for roughly 30% of Nook's revenue last year. That's a huge amount. If they encouraged self pubbed books to do well, it could be even larger. It could help their financial situation. But instead they appear to be suppressing them and trying to act like nothing is happening.
With regards to Amazon, I'm not denying they have their own issues, but that's a separate situation. I'm more than happy for there to be a healthy level of competition, but that doesn't mean endorsing terrible behaviour.
As for your comments about readers not using the best seller charts, they most certainly do. But It's not just about the best seller list. Sales rank affects almost every chart. And people use a lot of charts to shop. Things like the 'hot new release' or 'best books under $2.99' chart make a HUGE difference to your ability to sell. In fact, they're some of the only places people can actually find your book on the site.
When I see the books being held back, I'm certain they only hold back the books they KNOW will hit top 20. That is a shame to see that they are, apparently, deliberately attempting to keep indie books out of their top 20.
This is so terrible. And it makes me glad that I am an amazon customer. I really hope something gets done and you great authors get the rankings you deserve.
I too am appalled to hear about B&N's censorship policies. It is false advertising and discrimination by the company. Very upsetting.
Wow I'm sorry to hear about this. It's not very good for authors!
sorry...sounds like typical barnes and noble nonsense to me..they are a shady bunch..just recently i ordered a nook book...never again..they charged me a higher price than the one showing on my nook and then told me i should have "refreshed" my nook before i ordered it..now won't give me a refund for the difference..will not be ordering from them ever again..buyers beware!!
You know just the other day i read something very similar concerning B&N an their list... how they wanted to ban or censor the covers on "erotic" romances. Seriosly ! Arent we in an age of technology that oh idk we can put an adult filter on the Nook that way a child that is using the Nook cannot see said covers. Really, now . If Smashwords can do ot why the helll not can b&n do it and wtf why tney messing with the bestsellers lists. Talk bout BAD business ethics! You know ivebeen a member and have had an account with b&n for such a long time and i have truly never had a problem with them but stuff like this really gets to me. ;(
Its truly wrong!
I am so glad that I have a Kindle. I haven't heard a lot of good about B&N. I hope people speak out about this. Censorship in any form is wrong. It is not up to a bunch of suits to try and decide what I should read.
This is one more reason I wish I hadn't bought a Nook. Can an expose be put in Phblisher's Weekly? I will this share on Facebook.
There are enough readers who follow on Facebook and on here, that if we were to boycott B&N, we might just hurt them. Their financial picture is tenuous and has been rumored to be near the of filing chapter 11 more than once. For nook people, there is a way to get the kindle app on your nook, I have seen it mentioned more than once on Facebook. It would be an option and free you up to get your books elsewhere. Books A Million also sells e-books for the nook which is not part of B&N. Just my thoughts on this. It totally disgusts me the way B&N does things!!!!
This is totally unfair to you authors!! I don't really shop at B&N for books anyway, but, I most certainly will not now....unless this gets straightened out. Please keep us posted on any updates. I'm going to share this on Facebook. Good luck with everything! I hope you get some answers!!
A big thanks to everyone who has offered their support. This is a really sucky situation, and there are a lot more authors affected than I initially thought.I've updated the post a little to reflect the way the Nook charts have changed over the last couple of days. I'm still waiting to hear from someone who may be interested in writing an article on this, so stay tuned. And if you know any other affected authors, feel free to put them in touch with me.
Totally agree with Michelle. As a unit, we can "catch more flies (B&N, etc) with honey than with vinegar." It is sad though regardless of who the entity is that does this.
I find it interesting that people keep creating new Goodreads accounts just to post in this thread.
What Amazon did, Michelle, is a bit different. The thing with Amazon is that certain titles don't come up under a 'general' search on Amazon--many erotic titles must be searched for under 'books' rather than 'all departments'.I'd think it' would be quite difficult to prove that the books that are above that '125' threshold didn't sell more, though, unless someone has contact with the authors above that number to compare sales figures.
Personally, I don't sell the majority of my titles on B&n as my sales there were never what they were on Amazon--but I can definitely understand how many would be affected by ranking.
My own work does much better when it's in the top lists for its genre. Much better. I'm sure it's the same for all authors.
I guess ultimately, though, there is little to be done if one wants their books on B&N. For me, it's just not worth having them there.
This is annoying if B&N is hiding/filtering books. I guess I'm wondering what their criteria is for top selling. I sent a tip off to http://consumerist.com/ to see if they can do some research. They are usually pretty good at finding information. They helped in the paypal debacle (which was never resolved). As an off tanget, while Paypal said they wouldn't censor what is purchased, they never followed through. Which is why I closed my account and refuse to use them. And...as a side note, let's not cast aspersions against the conservatives. You never know who your reader base may be. I read several of the authors speaking up here. I also happen to read heavy BDSM. I am also conservative...
Sorry for the hassle some of you are having in terms of sales ranks not appearing accurate. Granted, the closer to the top an author gets in rank, the more book sales that are required to even raise a title by one position. If a title has already achieved such a top-ranking position and continues to get lots of sales, it doesn't make sense for the rank to plummet so drastically - unless other authors are outselling him/her and, thus, are moving up in rank. The #125 number still plagues me, though, if I had to be honest.From another perspective - a gratitude perspective, if you will - I just looked at a link provided by Maya (earlier) and noticed that her books are presently ranked at 128 and 132. Despite not appearing on the first page or two of the site, I would consider it an honor to have either of my titles appearing on page 5 of 110,520, as the page count currently sits. The visibility seems good to me - perhaps not as good as it was - but it's definitely not something I would frown upon...
Michelle, thanks for pointing out the information about how NYT best-sellers are chosen. I had always wondered. :)
Dear Author asked this question today- @dearauthor
Are all these Bestseller Romance books on Amazon, Montlake romances? http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Bo... … It kind of looks that way.
I am vetoing B&N from now on. Go Amazon!
I have a Kindle, not a Nook, and I've not heard of either of your books (got the link here from Ivory Quinn), but this has made me go to AMAZON and buy both of them. SHOUT IT OUT!!! BE VOCAL!!!
Yes. I've come to see this is true.