Why Arielle Ford Doesn’t Want to Be #1 on Amazon.com

I just received Arielle Ford‘s latest newsletter. Usually I love reading her work: she’s enthusiastic about books and book publishing and I enjoyed following her preparations for the launch of her latest book, The Soulmate Secret. She carefully prepared a great campaign designed to put her book on the bestseller lists. I understand the strategy. In fact I’m doing the same on February 26 for my book, Doing Business By the Book.

But I have to disagree with her newsletter article, “Why You Don’t Want to Be #1 on Amazon.” In it she describes how she learns (BTW it’s good to know that even seasoned professionals like her are still learning things about the book business) that “the New York Times knows about these bestseller campaigns and they don’t like them. In order to not let the NYT bestseller list be manipulated, they now DISCOUNT one day sales spikes and they look at overall sales for the course of two weeks.”

This is good information to know–but only if your goal is, like hers, to be on the New York Times Bestseller list. I’ve said this before to my students and clients: you must be clear on what you want out of the publishing process. You want to have specific goals and then choose the path that will get you there. If you want to use your book to get publicity or speaking opportunities for your business, then you do want to be #1 on Amazon, even if it’s only for a day, because that status will give you the exposure and authority to help achieve those goals. If you want to attract new clients to a coaching program, then you do want to shoot for being #1 on Amazon: you’ll be able to promote yourself as a bestselling author and that will set you apart from others in your field.

But it’s up to you to make a decision, set a goal and assign a value to that #1 Amazon status. John Assaraf, author of The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Live an Extraordinary Life, features his #1 placement on Amazon at the very top of his webpage. This is a guy who has been featured in “The Secret” and has been a guest on both “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “Larry King Live”. Even with all this great exposure, his being #1 on Amazon means something to him and the audience he hopes to attract. Only he knows what exactly that is, because it’s all part of his strategy.

It’s okay if you, like Ms. Ford, want to shoot for the New York Times Bestseller list. Just understand what that means and what you have to do to get there, even if it means not being #1 on Amazon.

Your book. Your strategy. Your decision.