Wait - is this true?

Amazon sales rankings are often used as conditions in author contracts and my independent bookstores to help make purchasing decisions.

If it is, I suppose it makes a sad kind of sense, but shouldn't there be some sort of independent company to work out how likely a book is to sell? This strikes me as a stunningly bad idea for reasons quite beyond the current drama.

Also? A post on metadata and the whole... fail.

Also ALSO? Look at this. Don't mess with teh internetz. CLEARLY.

Well, I can't talk about Amazon ALL day

Look at this! Isn't it just the cutest darn thing you have ever seen? I just wanna hug it and love it and send it gently where it's supposed to go! Aw!

My mom just called me to say this has hit CNN

Thanks, Mommy!

A deranked author's commentary (reprinted) on the whole thing - apparently she's been complaining to Amazon about this for months, which makes her at least the third person I've read who's dealt with this longer than the rest of us have known about it

Salon's take on it
Salon's take on it - link 2

And a second post by markprobst.

More posts on the subject

Here's a coherent explanation of why things haven't been FIXED yet. Not sure how accurate it is, but I'm trying to post interesting links, anyway.

This link is telling how customer service messed up and why it's totally not their fault. Fair enough.

Another one trying to explain how things could've spiraled so far out of control without any (or much, anyway) actual malice - at least on Amazon's part.

And click here for random discussion reiterating what we already know.

This one is fascinating

On Amazonfail and social media. Lots of interesting links at the bottom, too.

This one, for example, is fascinating. I knew Russian LJ was different, but I had no idea how pervasive it was in Russia!

Powell's is considering a GLBT sale, because they know an opportunity when they see one.

After this, I'm gone. DOING OTHER THINGS.

UPDATE

There has been one (ONE) reply on the subject.

“This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.

“It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles – in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon’s main product search.

“Many books have now been fixed and we’re in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.”

That's... not exactly a public apology, now is it. And notice how she's trying to distance it from the Gay thing. Correct or not, there was a reason the delisted books were delisted. Why did this happen? Errors don't come out of the ether, do they? (Do they?)


This is a pretty thoughtful post I can't quite classify, by leora.

And here's a pretty thought-provoking one, "Amazonfail & The Cost of Freedom". Seriously, be sure to read that one. Taken from carlanime

Last post on the subject until it's all over or something truly interesting happens. PROMISE.

But here's an interview with a former Amazon employee.

More interesting is that everyone in publishing entrusts their rankings and status to a single provider. That's the story no one likes thinking about in publishing.

And I don't think anybody outside of publishing knows about it, do they? Because today is the first I've heard of it. (If anybody has information contradicting or confirming, tell me, please.)