Amazon 'bestseller campaigns' -- Do they work? Is it cheating?

Every day, it seems, more authors are turning to "Amazon bestseller campaigns."

Who can blame them? What author doesn't want to say, "My book is a bestseller."

Consultants are popping out of the woodwork, offering to orchestrate a campaign -- for fees up to several thousand dollars. And here's an ad for an Amazon Bestseller campaign that offers a money-back guarantee if they fail to get your book to the top of the chart, virtually promising "celebrity status." Classes on how to run your own campaign cost $2,587.

But are Amazon bestseller campaigns worth it? Are they ethical? Can an unknown author really push their book to Number 1 on Amazon's bestseller list?

First, let's define what an Amazon bestseller campaign is. You arrange for people with big e-mail lists (usually publishers of e-mail newsletters) to send a promotional message about your book, asking people to buy your book at Amazon on a certain date. And each list owner contributes a free product -- such as an e-book or interview transcript -- which the buyer receives after buying your book. It's recommended that you line up several list owners, who can send your promotional message to more than 100,000 prospects.

So here's the way the pitch goes:

Dear John Doe, would you like to receive this great assortment of free e-books and interviews? Buy my friend John Doe's great new book on Amazon.com on Sept. 25. Send me your receipt or order number from Amazon, and I'll send you the freebies. (To see the actual text of one of these pitches, see this post on John Kremer's book marketing blog.)

Typically, the freebies are digital files sent via e-mail, such as interview transcripts or audio files. The idea is, the lure of the giveaways gets people to act immediately, driving your book up the charts on the appointed date.

If enough readers -- say 600 to 750 -- respond to the e-mail and buy your book on Amazon, it can very well go to the top of the charts. (Amazon sales ranks are recalculated hourly, so any book that sells several hundred books on a single day will go toward the top.) Just for insurance, you're supposed to tell all your family and friends to buy your book on the promotion date, too.

What's in it for the other list owners? In return for sending the e-mail promotion, they receive a list of everyone who responded to the book promotion. They can add those names and e-mail addresses of qualified online book buyers to their own lists. Also, the freebies they contributed such as reports and interviews are often used to upsell customers to other products, such as books or courses.

Many of these Amazon bestseller campaigns have flopped, but several have worked, getting the book all the way to number 1, even if just for a while. But thereafter, the author can describe the book as an "Amazon Bestseller."

Some folks object to bestseller campaigns, arguing they're manipulative, that it's not "real sales." They say bestseller lists should reflect how book buyers really voted with their dollars, not what happened when their arms were twisted to buy on a certain date.

The consultants argue that every book needs marketing. Nobody will buy any book unless they find out about it. Word of mouth is the best advertising, but it needs to start somehow.

Let's run through a few more objections to Amazon bestseller campaigns:

-- It's unethical or illegal to "spam" unsuspecting consumers with an advertisement for a book.

Spam is illegal, but we'll give everybody the benefit of the doubt for the purposes of this discussion. We'll assume that everyone receiving the e-mail promotion has already agreed to receive periodic messages from the folks sending the e-mail.

-- Isn't this gaming the system, manipulating the list?

Reputable publishers do Amazon promotions all the time to get their books to the top of the list. Publishers do anything and everything to get their books onto the New York Times bestseller lists and every other list that matters. Getting your book to the top of Amazon's list, however, can be done in less time and with less money than getting onto the better-known lists.

And it's not just unknowns who are using Amazon bestseller campaigns -- bestselling author Wayne Dwyer's publisher ran an online promotion for his latest book, "Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling." The grand prize was airfare and weekend accommodations to one Dwyer's speaking events

After all, most bestsellers made their way to the top of the list by being promoted, not because they were great books.

Even if an Amazon bestseller campaign is successful in achieving bestseller status, that won't mean the book is ultimately successful. It's likely to fall right back down the charts after the one-day promotion ends.

Here's the bottom line: any successful book has an integrated marketing plan. And if a book doesn't deliver, no amount of marketing will sell it. A poor book that manages to get sold will often be returned.

But in case you're still curious about Amazon bestseller campaigns and are on a budget, here's an e-book on the topic priced at $47. I haven't read the book and can't say whether it's worthwhile.

More information about Amazon bestseller campaigns is on this thread.