Thursday, August 24, 2017

"New York Times Pulls The YA Book That Allegedly Gamed The Bestseller List Over ‘Inconsistencies’"

Vulture:
In a dramatic turn of events fit for a good page-turner, the young adult novel Handbook for Mortals appeared at No. 1 on The New York Times Young Adult Hardcover bestseller list and then was pulled later today after the paper found “inconsistencies in the most recent reporting cycle,” a rep for the Times told Vulture. YA author Phil Stamper first questioned the book’s sales numbers on Twitter

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To that end, Pajiba has compiled a fascinating investigation into Handbook for Mortals’s sketchy numbers, which seem to have come from a plot to order a significant number (but just under the size of a corporate sale, which the NYT would have flagged) of copies at book stores across the country. Several booksellers anonymously said that they had received calls from people asking if they reported sales to the Times and then placing bulk orders for Handbook.