Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

Annie Duke : How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker...

The reviews I read on amazon were all very positive.

I haven't seen anything about the book here and was wondering if anyone has read it and what they thought. Is it worth getting? For just stories? For strategy? For both? How does it compare to the other books out there?

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

Very bad....... The book is autobiographical, very little to do with poker stratagy. Annie is very delusional and self centered. I'll give you a sample pararagraph from her book.

"I, me, bub, me, me, me, I, I, I. Greatest female player of all time, me, me, me. Highest cash games, I, I, I. Every single female record, I, me, I."

Also, I lost alot of respect for 2+2er Dan Harrington. He flat out lied on the back cover of the book with his positive review. I would like to see him defend his claims.

-Dimitri

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Also, I lost alot of respect for 2+2er Dan Harrington. He flat out lied on the back cover of the book with his positive review. I would like to see him defend his claims.

[/ QUOTE ]

At the risk of coming across as instigating, I would like to see you defend your claim that you lost a lot of respect for Dan Harrington because of his review and yet you didn't even mention Raymer, a fellow 2+2'er whose blurb on the back was more laudatory than Harrington's. I don't know if neither or both are "lying" with their endorsements, but that's neither here nor there - I just don't see how you can be disappointed in one and not the other when they both said the same thing.

Apropos the thread title, however, I'm reading it right now and will post my own thoughts when finished.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

I skimmed it in a bookstore, I would describe it as interesting but a bit fluffy. I enjoyed the skimming, but I don't think I would buy it.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
...The book is autobiographical...I'll give you a sample pararagraph from her book.

"I, me, bub, me, me, me, I, I, I. Greatest female player of all time, me, me, me. Highest cash games, I, I, I. Every single female record, I, me, I."

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't that the point of an autobiography, to be self centered? From my quick bookstore skim, the book is intented to be about her poker journey. Perhaps she does a bit of ego stroking or something that rubbed you the wrong way. Besides, how many autobiographies have you read to be completely self depreciating?

I don't know if the book is any good or not from my cursory look, but it doesn't seem to be a poker strategy book. Just because it's not a strategy textbook doesn't by any means make for a bad poker book. If that were true, you could throw your Alvarez books in the trash.

At the moment, I have plenty of books in the queue not to have the slightest inclination to read this book... I'd rather read more strategy-oriented books. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Walter

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]

Also, I lost alot of respect for 2+2er Dan Harrington. He flat out lied on the back cover of the book with his positive review. I would like to see him defend his claims.

-Dimitri

[/ QUOTE ]

What is his review? Did he say that he enjoyed reading the book? Might be true [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Did he say that it made him a better tournament player? Hard to imagine.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
The reviews I read on amazon were all very positive.

[/ QUOTE ]


I smell a BIG RAT. All of those reviews were short, concise, and very well-written. None of the 5 reviewers had ever written a book review on Amazon before. Typical Amazon reviewers are worse than typical 2+2 posters. They have dozens if not hundreds of reviews, and they ramble on and on. That whole thing is "rediculous". Those reviews are an obvious con job from her PR folks or the publisher.


[ QUOTE ]



I haven't seen anything about the book here and was wondering if anyone has read it and what they thought. Is it worth getting? For just stories? For strategy? For both? How does it compare to the other books out there?

[/ QUOTE ]


I read an advance copy of the book which had numerous factual errors about poker. Some of this stuff many be attributable to her co-author, but this is pretty sloppy writing for a pro. I will give the authors the benefit of the doubt, and not comment on those, as they may have been cleaned up in the final editing.

The main body of the book is a combination of her biography and a recounting of her winning an Omaha/8 event at the 2004 WSOP. The chapters alternate back and forth between these two topics. There are a couple of preliminary chapters explaining the basics of poker and poker jargon, along with brief descriptions of the major players in that tournament. There is also a brief final chapter summarizing her winning the Tournament of Champions against Hellmuth, Lederer, et al.

The biography was fairly straight forward, and, to me, largely uninteresting. This is admittedly a personal thing. The only part of her life that I would find interesting are the details of the highly competitive nature of her family. There is nothing new here that Howard has not covered elsewhere. There is a lot of detail on her marriage and her children, both in general and in relation to a poker career, as well as her life-long problems with anxiety/panic attacks. Again, these are things I find boring, not because of the writing, but because of the topic. At the risk of being politically incorrect, the biographical content of the book would generally be of much more interest to women than to men.

She does spend a few pages discussing the Negreanu flame war, without mentioning him by name. She says that this caused her to reevaluate her motives for playing poker, and that she came out of it feeling better about herself than she did before it happened.

Unfortunately, I found the description of the tournament to be generally uninteresting also. There are a few brief glances into the life of high stakes poker, such as:

“Tournaments are much more of a high-variance situation. …Because of the high variance, I have a backer—my good friend Erik Seidel—who puts up 100 percent of the buy-in and gets a percent of the return. In cash games, I play my own money.”

She also mentions that she and Chris Ferguson have a standing 5% mutual sharing arrangement on their tournament play, and thus she had 5% of Chris when he won the Main Event. (She doesn’t mention if that applied to the $2 million she won in the Tournament of Champions.) She also talks about a big cash game against “…the famous Texas billionaire (who’s a fish, so I don’t want to name him).” Oh, really?

But for the most part, the description of the tournament seems very routine and matter of fact, with few good insights into the strategy. The last chapter about the Tournament of Champions, is very good in this aspect. However, this description appeared in much the same detail on her web site some time back, and looks like something tacked onto the book at the last minute. In fact, everything about strategy on her web site is much better than anything in this book.

There are “strategy tips” sprinkled throughout the narrative, but these are of the most elementary level, and of no interest to anyone who has ever read any decent poker book.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

You should write more book reviews.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

Perhaps he never had any respect for Raymer to lose?

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

i agree on the fishiness of the amazon book reviews.... they just seem too punchy and concise. like a PR wrote them.... just have that strong feeling... although there was a spelling error, but i assume that's what smart PR firms do to portray authenticity.

if you haven't read the reviews, do, as i think you'll agree.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

I was rather skeptical of people saying the reviews are fake, but after reading them, yeah, I'd have to agree.

Amazon reviews that short are typically very poorly spelled with no attempt at proper grammar or capitalization. And most that short are written by people who really hate the album/book/movie and are leaving a 1 star review, not 5 stars. If they are that short and positive they usually read: ANNA DUKE'S BOOK IS AWESOME AND SHE IS HOT I WANT TO GIVEY OU MY STBS!

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

Hi Ben:

After your review, which I'm confidant is accurate, I doubt if there will be many Two Plus Twoers lining up to purchase it.

I'm also curious about two things. First, how did you get an advance copy? Are you involved with the publishing company? Second, does Duke discuss the ill fated Poker World magazine, her roll in it, and all the problems that followed?

Best wishes,
Mason

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

Poker World - wasn't that out in the mid 90's?

I think I subscribed to it, got the first 6 issues and then it went belly up.

If that is the same magazine, I had no idea she was involved.

Very interesting.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

Hi Mason:


[ QUOTE ]


I'm also curious about two things. First, how did you get an advance copy? Are you involved with the publishing company?


[/ QUOTE ]

I am in the business, but have no direct connection with the publisher (Penquin Group). Someone there who knows of my interest in poker gave me an advance copy.


[ QUOTE ]
Second, does Duke discuss the ill fated Poker World magazine, her roll in it, and all the problems that followed?


[/ QUOTE ]

She devotes barely a page to her Poker World venture. She says she was looking to diversify financially, and so, "Along with my brother and a few other backers, I invested $10,000 to launch a new publication. (At the time, this was a huge financial commitment for me.)"

She quickly breezes over any details about starting and operating the magazine. (She does mention one typical start-up mistake: her sister had just graduated and needed a job, so she was hired.) She says that the magazine failed because the timing was not yet ripe for a poker magazine, and, "Also, I didn't get along with one of the principals involved. I didn't get along with my sister, either. And I didn't have the money to hire the right kind of staff. In fact, none of us knew exactly what we were doing, and I had pretty much taken the whole success or failure of the magazine onto myself."

No further details about the fate of the magazine or those involved, other than that she decided that she needed to concentrate on playing, and they shut the magazine down. Basically, it sounds like it was amateur hour.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

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I was rather skeptical of people saying the reviews are fake, but after reading them, yeah, I'd have to agree.

[/ QUOTE ]

Aren't 80% of them!?

I received a free copy and 5 CD set read by Annie today. I'll be happy to give another view when I am finished.

---Leavenfish

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Also, I lost alot of respect for 2+2er Dan Harrington. He flat out lied on the back cover of the book with his positive review. I would like to see him defend his claims.

[/ QUOTE ]

At the risk of coming across as instigating, I would like to see you defend your claim that you lost a lot of respect for Dan Harrington because of his review and yet you didn't even mention Raymer, a fellow 2+2'er whose blurb on the back was more laudatory than Harrington's.


[/ QUOTE ]

I would'nt be suprised if they have'nt even read it.

Maybe she "Flirted" the reviews out of them [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Dave

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Annie Duke : How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker...

The reviews I read on amazon were all very positive.



[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe it's just me, but I got the sneaking suspicion that those reviews on Amazon were plants. In other words FOTA.

Friends of the author.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

I wrote a review on Amazon about this book. Remember, I only skimmed this book, but it'll be a better review than any other on there. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...s&n=507846
For the laugh of the day it is essential that you read Royal Straight Flush's review.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Annie Duke : How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker...

The reviews I read on amazon were all very positive.



[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe it's just me, but I got the sneaking suspicion that those reviews on Amazon were plants. In other words FOTA.

Friends of the author.

[/ QUOTE ]
Nope, I guess you're not alone. LOL! I just posted my review on Amazon.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

You "only skimmed the book"...and yet feel you can write a review?

Anyway...what are these "flaws" you did not feel compeled to elaborate on in the review?

I have to admit, I only skimmed it myself this evening, however it seems like a perfectly good read--rather like Positively Fifth Street with some autobiography thrown in. I'm looking forward to sitting down and going thru it next week.

---Leavenfish

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
You "only skimmed the book"...and yet feel you can write a review?

Anyway...what are these "flaws" you did not feel compeled to elaborate on in the review?

I have to admit, I only skimmed it myself this evening, however it seems like a perfectly good read--rather like Positively Fifth Street with some autobiography thrown in. I'm looking forward to sitting down and going thru it next week.

---Leavenfish

[/ QUOTE ]
I probablly should have been a little more specific but I can't think of any off the top of my head. While skimming it, I didn't see any poker related flaws, but with her stories. I should of pointed that out. I can't think of any off the top of my head but some of the things I read made me go "Yeah right..." Next time I go to the bookstore I'll explain it better, but I can't think of anything off of the top of my head right now, simply because I kinda forgot alot of things she talked about. However, from whay I read I did not find it to be great and I was very angry with all of those fake reviews on Amazon I felt like totally trashing the book which obviously would just be wrong without fully reading it.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
You should write more book reviews.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. Quality review.

I skimmed the book today, reading the entire chapter at the end discussing different poker pros.

From what I read, I would tend to agree with the posters here. The poker advice seemed elementary. The general feel was fluffy. The emotional depth seemed limited. The part about different poker pros was safe and in many cases so lacking in description as to be pointless.
Not uninteresting, but hardly compelling.

The panic attack thing doesn't particularly surprise me. Watching her in the 2004 ToC and reading McManus's experience with her in the 2000 main event, she seems extremely high strung.

After reading the Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King, I was a little bothered by her unexplicit, yet obvious, description of Andy. Unless Craig's book was almost completely fabricated, he was anything but a fish. Competitive, strong instincts, worked hard on his game, inspired fear amongst pros not just due to financial risk, and (apparently) doing well until he got tired against many of the pros.

I'll probably give it more of a chance and read a few chapters, but I don't expect to finish it. There are far too many other poker books in the games book section at the bookstore that I haven't yet read that have more promise.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

Just out of curiousity, why are people complaining about the poker strategy bit when the book is clearly meant to be autobiographical?

I haven't read it, was thinking about it and will probably get it at some point, I have a few books yet to read. For those that have read it, how did the part following her progress through the O8 tournie compare with the WSOP bit in Positively Fifth Street? This is the part that would interest me as well as the WSOP TOC and the growing up bit.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Just out of curiousity, why are people complaining about the poker strategy bit when the book is clearly meant to be autobiographical?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think that the griping about the lack of strategy is as bad (yet) as happened with Barry's book. There was a lot more expectation and pre-publication discussion of Barry's book, and speculation about its contents. This book was not as much anticipated, but still, everyone wants the book to be what they want, not what the author wants. If you want strategy from Annie Duke, go to her web site.

[ QUOTE ]
how did the part following her progress through the O8 tournie compare with the WSOP bit in Positively Fifth Street? This is the part that would interest me as well as the WSOP TOC and the growing up bit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Positively Fifth Street is a much better book, and did a much better job of painting a vivid picture of the poker life. That one was about poker and Las Vegas; this one is all about "me, Annie Duke".

The short chapter about the TOC is available on her web site.

The "growing up bit" is standard female biography, all about babies and houses and relationships, exacerbated by neurosis.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
You should write more book reviews.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes please. Thank you for saving me a few bucks.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Just out of curiousity, why are people complaining about the poker strategy bit when the book is clearly meant to be autobiographical?

I haven't read it, was thinking about it and will probably get it at some point, I have a few books yet to read. For those that have read it, how did the part following her progress through the O8 tournie compare with the WSOP bit in Positively Fifth Street? This is the part that would interest me as well as the WSOP TOC and the growing up bit.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you're confusing reviews of this book and of Barry's book. Every comment here has been about what the book had related to instructional content, not that content in question didn't live up to expectations. No griping. No "This books sucks because..." One reviewer did say it doesn't seem to be a strategy book, but that's ok, doesn't make it a bad book!

It's clearly meant to be both autobiographical and instructional. If you'd seen the book, that would be clear to you. Most people have considered both parts here which, given those being the obvious two parts of the publisher's intent, is fair.

I probably read 15 pages that weren't the almost useless descriptions of pros. There was nothing as remotely gripping as McManus's book. I read his book in one sitting after being instantly sucked in. Wouldn't be fair to compare the two definitively since I haven't finished Annie's book, but I have a strong suspicion McManus's book is a much better narrative.

I do think Annie deserves some credit for talking about her panic disorder. Not easy to talk about, could inspire others with the disorder to confidence and success, admitting faults/problems, etc.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

I've only just glanced through the book, but I attended her booksigning last night. She spent about 45 minutes addressing a crowd of maybe 65 people, mostly just answering questions from the audience. I came away extremely impressed with how articulate, smart, and personable she was. Despite whatever problems she has with anxiety, she's a fantastic speaker.

From what I can tell so far, Annie Duke's book appears to be similar in structure to Chris Moneymaker's book -- part general autobiography, part storytelling about her WSOP tournament victory.

I'm looking forward to reading it.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

But does she give any good advice on improving your game by flirting?

I would consider the book inappropriately named if she didn’t.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

I don't know if anybody reads these replies weeks after the original posts but this thread grabbed my attention. I have a suspicion that peoples' dislike of Annie Duke is creating this business about "fake reviews." My basis: first, posters are suspecting they are fake because they are short and well-written, as if that's somehow inconsistent with "real Amazon.com reviews." Then someone points out that there was a typo, but that's just the work of a PR firm to make it seem less fishy.

How brilliant and insidious are these PR firms? Smart enough to make them short and proper in spelling and punctuation, then smarter by NOT doing that sometimes? Yet not as smart as you guys, or smart enough to make them longer or with worse spelling?

My own "evidence" is anecdotal but my experience with one book and a big publisher is inconsistent with this theory of Evil PR Super Geniuses.

A. Publishers generally think Amazon.com results in relatively few sales (of mainstream-publisher books; specialty houses could be an entirely different situation)and is not a good indicator of success. My editor told me, "If you're in the top 100 and you're there for a long time, that means your book is doing well. Otherwise, it's too small a sample to matter."

B. Publishers are very cheap about publicity. I've got my own experiences to support that, the policies of Time Warner as they were explained to me, and stories from other authors (even some big-name celebrities) who were paying their own expenses on book tours because the publisher wouldn't spring for it.

C. The risk is far too great. There is a sub-industry of people who follow the publishing business. If such a practice really went on and had some impact, it would be a huge story inside the industry. And unless this book was the only book where this PR firm (publishers don't even hire PR firms for most books, and are notoriously cheap on publicity) did such a thing, word would get out.

I think we should be a little more critical of conspiracy theories.

Michael Craig

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

"...down-right entertaining"

I'm pretty sure that is not supposed to be hyphenated. Though that was a well written, concise review.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

oh, to mr. ben, I believe that the famous Texas billionaire she's talking about is Ross Perot, not Doyle.

because if she thinks Doyle's a fish.... well I cant think of anything witty, but you get the point.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
oh, to mr. ben, I believe that the famous Texas billionaire she's talking about is Ross Perot, not Doyle.

because if she thinks Doyle's a fish.... well I cant think of anything witty, but you get the point.

[/ QUOTE ]

Apparently, you entirely missed the reference. It was fairly obvious that she was talking about Andy Beal. And Andy Beal is far from a fish.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

I don't agree with Points A, B, or C.

A is simply wrong.

B shows a limited understanding of how publishing actually works. For instance huge money is spent by publishers purchasing placement or other promotions inside the major book chains. Book tours where you may go to a city and sit in some store and sign a few books have virtually no value in terms of book sales. Thus publishers aren't being cheap, they just spend their promotion money on what works and not on what doesn't work.

As for C, while I agree that a PR firm would be very unlikely to do that, it's certainly easy enough for someone to get their own reviews on Amazon and the reviews of their friends. To see this, just go to a poker book that has a fair number of reviews and start reading. You'll see affiliate ads and "Plucked Like a Chicken." I'm not saying that Duke did this, but it can certainly be done very easily.

MM

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
B. Publishers are very cheap about publicity. I've got my own experiences to support that, the policies of Time Warner as they were explained to me, and stories from other authors (even some big-name celebrities) who were paying their own expenses on book tours because the publisher wouldn't spring for it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, this is the saddest part of our industry, often authors are left to their own resources to promote and market the book via self supported book tours. The positive return however is that should the book become successful the author theoretically sees the rewards. As Mason pointed out however, the return of investment does not exist.

On a slightly related note, I flipped through 20 or so pages of Annie's book at my local Borders Books on Friday. Annie needs a ghost writer and an editor in the worst way, it was so poorly written that she comes across as a mental midget (which I doubt is the truth in real life... my understanding from anecdotal evidence is that she is actually rather intelligent and a good communicator). Unfortunately in the end I felt the book was unreadable.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

Hi Luv:

Let me give an example. A while back Jim McManus was in town and his book Positively Fifth Street was peaking in sales (and it achieved a sales rank of 2 on Amazon). He did an interview on local TV news and a book signing at a local Borders. Both David and I and another friend went to the Borders where Jim signed a total of 2 books. As he stated to us, his time there was a complete waste, and in general, that's my experience with book tours and book signings unless the signing takes place at a very specialized function.

Best wishes,
Mason

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Luv:

Let me give an example. A while back Jim McManus was in town and his book Positively Fifth Street was peaking in sales (and it achieved a sales rank of 2 on Amazon). He did an interview on local TV news and a book signing at a local Borders. Both David and I and another friend went to the Borders where Jim signed a total of 2 books. As he stated to us, his time there was a complete waste, and in general, that's my experience with book tours and book signings unless the signing takes place at a very specialized function.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree Mason, I edited my post as soon as yours went up to add "As Mason pointed out however, the return of investment does not exist.". Unless the signing is for a finely tuned audience such as a booth at the WSOP, chances are there will be no return of investment in revenue of promotional value. Publishers need to think in macro promotional terms, not micro.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Positively Fifth Street (achieved a sales rank of 2 on Amazon).

[/ QUOTE ]
Hi Mason:

What does the Amazon Sales Rank indicate and how is it determined? I'm assuming it is not a straight up ranking of how many books are sold compared to all of the books on their site. Is it the number of books sold compared to others in the same genre within a certain period of time or something like that?

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]


I think we should be a little more critical of conspiracy theories.



[/ QUOTE ]

Did you read those reviews? Real people don't talk or write like that. I agree that a large publishing house is not likely to do something like this, but friends and family would. No conspiracy theory, just pointing out what looks like someone trying to pump up the book.


[ QUOTE ]
I learned, I laughed, and I totally enjoyed this rollercoaster of a read.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I found this book a fun, easy to read romp.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
It is an easy read, and will be enjoyed by everyone, from the spectator who only watches poker on TV, to the weekly poker player, to the "rounder."

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Annie needs a ghost writer and an editor in the worst way, it was so poorly written that she comes across as a mental midget (which I doubt is the truth in real life... my understanding from anecdotal evidence is that she is actually rather intelligent and a good communicator).

[/ QUOTE ]

The bad news is that she actually had a ghost writer/co-author.

[ QUOTE ]
Annie Duke : How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker (Hardcover) by Annie Duke, David Diamond

[/ QUOTE ]

A quick check of Amazon shows that "David Diamond" appears to be a full-time co-author, with books on many different subjects.

The strategy essays on her web site are better written and show good analysis.

Re: Annie Duke\'s book: anyone read it?
 

Hi Tom:

You can't get the exact formula out of Amazon but it is some sort of weighted average representing recent sales of all books in their inventory. So when Positively Fifth Street went to 2, it meant that only Harry Potter was outselling it at that point in time. Also, for their best selling books, these ranks are updated every hour. For their poorer selling books, they get updated every month. They have ranks on over 3 million books.

Publishers like us use their ranks as one of our guides in our decision making. That's why I reacted like I did to Craig's post. At the very least, he as an author is not in the same publishing world as Two Plus Two. Also, it's my experience that when you talk to a book buyer from another company and you can say to them that one of your books has a pretty good Amazon Sales Rank, they will immediately notice the book in case they haven't already, or instantly increase the number of copies they plan to purchase.

So as you can see, a good Amazon Sales Rank is a very important part of our industry.

Best wishes,
Mason