I'd heard NYT changed the rules this year. So it is still possible for indies to make the list with ebooks?
Dark Humanity made it AFTER the rule changes. The Facebook group has screenshots showing how many preorders they had. You can't gift a preorder. Honestly this whole thing is so ridiculous anymore since screenshots have been up for months and the people saying these brings have seen them and are knowingly not including them.
Feel free to contact Amazon directly and ask them if I manipulate ranks. They can see what I do I've already spoken to them, and they have already told me I'm not abusing the gifting feature. I can't control what everyone else does, but 1) gifting copies is explained directly in their TOS and 2) running blog tours where readers can win books, giving free copies for review or joining a mailing list, gifting copies to loyal readers, and running giveaways to increase exposure and create excitement for readers are all like thugs trad publishers have done for as long as I've been on the scene.
If unsure about anything, try the following:
- speak to a lawyer - not just people who play one on the internet or say their lawyer said something, but speak to your OWN lawyer YOURSELF
- talk to amazon YOURSELF
- look for YOURSELF and SEE what actually happens, all the details, not taken out of contest and given a spin
I really don't understand why anyone would want to take anyone's word for anything - be it my word or the word of my haters - when they can simply just go look for themselves and make their own decision about things. And then they can run around saying they agree with this person or that person, by should still encourage others to also look for themselves.
What I don't understand is why anyone is telling others NOT to look for themselves and trying to control what they see and only allowing them to see certain things. Why are they not sharing screenshots of we're the money went? Why are they not sharing screenshots that show the actual terms of service about gifting? Why when this information is shared, do they delete it from their platform? Why are they against me telling people to talk to the own lawyers about things? Don't they want people to see for themselves where that money went? Don't they want people to talk to their own lawyers? Speak to amazon for themselves? Read amazons TOS? Why are these things being hidden?
Want to post a vague post about looking about for yourself as an author? How about advising authors to do this, instead of advising them to read half a story, leaving out some MAJOR facts, and hiding things like screenshots of Amazon TOS that have been shared?
I'm waiting for the day someone posts EVERYTHING. But that's not gonna happen because it doesn't fit their agenda. So be it. But hating people is not how I connect with there personally, so I can't continue to be sucked into this. Again, if anyone wants the screenshots, I they aren't hard to find. The person who posted this surely has them. Maybe he wants to share them too? Maybe he wants to share the screenshots that show exactly where the money goes? Or the screenshots of authors who have logged into my bookbub account and saw those adds being spent WHILE they were being spent? Maybe? Maybe? No? Why not?