The Campaign That Put a Book at #1 on Amazon, Beating out Glenn Beck

This week, David Malki (who makes his living doing comics on the Internet) and friends self-published an anthology, called Machine of Death. It was self-published, in part, because traditional publishers didn’t like that it didn’t have any “names” in it. It’s a sci-fi anthology, and all the stories are about a world in which a machine will tell you how you will die at some point in the future. By harnessing everyone he could online to buy the book on release day—not before, and not after—and by offering a free ebook at a later date with proof of purchase, the book quickly went to the number one slot on Amazon.

Glenn Beck’s new book, Broke, was also released this week. And, perturbed at being beaten out as the top seller on Amazon, Beck took to his radio program yesterday.

Poor Beck was also beaten out by Keith Richards’ book.

And I want to tell you that, um…our books are always #1. And I find it REALLY fascinating, FASCINATING, that if you go to Amazon.com, Broke is number THREE. And the two books that are ahead of it — one is, uh, Keith Richards’ Life, which is getting a TON of — you know, that’s everywhere.

So yes, Beck decided this was all a metaphor.

And then, the #1 book — today, at least — is Machine of Death. And it’s a — collected stories about, you know, people who know how they’re gonna die. Haowww!

So you have DEATH — I know it’s called Life, but what a life it is, really! It’s a culture of death, OR how do we restore ourselves?

These are the — this is the left, I think, speaking. This is the left. You want to talk about where we’re headed? We’re headed towards a culture of death. A culture that, um, celebrates the things that have destroyed us. Not that the Rolling Stones have destroyed us — I mean, you can’t always get what you want. You know what I’m saying? Brown sugar. I have no idea what that means.

Well put, well put. Or actually not, just really crazy and weird and kind of disturbing! That he casts these books as the liberal pro-death agenda, and that his own book, which is called Broke after all, is about I guess positivity and rebirth?

In any event, Beck’s ramblings finally put him at the #1 spot on Amazon. Now Machine of Death is only at #3. And that is how it’s done.

Previously: Case Studies in Successful Self-Publishing: “To Slow Down the Time.

• facebook
• twitter
google+
• pinterest
• email