Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:56:28 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Amazon sales ranking, was Re: Minutes
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Keith set free these words:

>I'll take your word for it that that's good.  Being in 4700th place
>doesn't sound all that impressive to me.  There aren't all that many
>books published, after all.

Depends upon what you mean by "many".

According to: http://www.bowker.com/press/bowker/2005_0524_bowker.htm
"195,000 new titles and editions" were published in 2004.  And with
print-on-demand the rate of books going OP may have slowed.

>  I see that at the moment they've fallen
>to 35,722 (paperback) and 70,348 (hardback).

Consider that Amazon lists every in print book, not yet published book,
temporarily out of stock book, that has an ISBN.  We're talking a lot of
books.

You may very ask how amazon comes up with this number.  Along with how
many orders of nuns there are, this too is another mystery of life.
Amazon ain't talking, but this may give some insight:
http://www.fonerbooks.com/surfing.htm .

mjw