Question: Is it easier to become a #1 bestseller on Amazon or B&N?
If one becomes #1 on B&N (through the Internet promotion we all know how to do), does being #1 or in the top 10 have the same cache as being a top seller on amazon?
John's Answer: It is easier to become a #1 bestseller on BN.com (or http://www.barnesandnoble.com) for one simple reason: B&N doesn't have as much business so any business you send their way will have greater impact than via Amazon.
But, alas, B&N is now on a rampage against authors or publishers manipulating their bestseller list. Indeed, while at the National Speakers Association convention, I heard of one author who had gotten the B&N buyers to place a 1700-copy order BECAUSE he was going to be doing a B&N bestseller campaign via the Internet. When the B&N brass heard about it, they cancelled the orders that had been generated by the campaign. They cut the orders because they did not want anyone tricking out their bestseller lists.
Since this apparently is now B&N's policy, you should use the Amazon.com strategy. Amazon isn't going to turn away any orders, no matter how they are generated.
The B&N uppity-ups, on the other hand, have decided that they don't want the business right now. Alas. Poor them.
To register for a class on how to implement an Amazon.com bestseller campaign, start by listening an the upcoming teleseminar to be held on Wednesday, July 20th, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. Register here: http://www.FreePublicity.com/Amazon/?10005.
