Farotimi and Best Seller on Amazon: Significance and Implications

By Bunmi Makinwa

An elderly friend sent me a social media text stating that the book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System, authored by Mr. Dele Farotimi, has attained the Best Sellers list on Amazon.Trending heavily on social media and high in the public discourse was the dispute between Chief Afe Babalola, a highly respected, accomplished senior lawyer, and Mr. Farotimi, a well-known and irrepressible human rights lawyer-activist. Farotimi was arrested by the police based on a petition from Babalola alleging that the activist, in the book, made defamatory statements about him. The social media surge of sympathy and support for Farotimi catapulted his previously obscure book to a best seller’s status on Amazon.
What does it really mean to be on Amazon Best Sellers list? What are the implications and significance? Here is a summary of some information that may be of help.

Origin and development of best sellers

The Bookman, a literary journal founded in the United States, was the first to employ the term “best seller” to monitor and compile a list of the most popular books in the country. Established in 1895, the journal exclusively published its bestseller list until 1912, when the term began to gain broader recognition and use. Previously, numerous widely-read books enjoyed significant popularity, but their success was only measured through anecdotal evidence, and lacked formal documentation. The New York Times (NYT), from 1942, conferred greater prestige on the term when it started its Best Sellers which the newspaper describes as “Authoritatively ranked list of books sold in the United States sorted by format and genre.” NYT is reputed as the newspaper of record, and it is a respected authority. Many organizations, media and institutions also designate books as Best Sellers to indicate the wide readership, sale or interest at a given time and within a certain category of the publication or production.

Commercialisation and ranking

Enter Amazon in 1995, the largest book store in the world with no shops or boundaries, but strictly online. Not only did the new company turn the book market upside down, it also offers real time rankings of its best sellers and updates them hourly. Its electronic-books (e-books) have become a part of the list of rated publications. A publication qualifies as a best seller on Amazon when it registers the highest sale or demand in its niche within a specific time, usually an hour. The publication therefore may have commercial success, and often the best seller title confers prestige, fame and recognition on the author. A notable criticism is that a book that is rated as best seller on Amazon may not reflect literary superiority or be deemed as a work of major importance over time. The label ‘best seller’ is also viewed primarily as a marketing tool for Amazon, above everything else. Nevertheless, books that measure up to the ranking have significant demand, relatively. In certain niches or categories, such as politics and non-fiction, the books that earn the label are most likely noteworthy and impactful. Not all books ever reach best seller status.

Nigerian writers On Amazon

Nigerian authors that got to ‘Best Seller’ include Chinua Achebe (Things Fall Apart), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Half of A Yellow Sun; Americanah; Purple Hibiscus), Oyinkan Braithwaite (My Sister, The Serial Killer). While these authors have made important contributions to literature, their works do not primarily focus on politics. Farotimi’s book addresses solely politics and related issues, which makes its best seller status an important milestone. Wole Soyinka’s books, especially The Man Died: Prison Notes, have attracted popular and intellectual interest and readership on politics and societal issues. The books have featured as best sellers on several lists and forums.

Categories on Amazon

Farotimi’s book is a best seller under “Politics and Social Sciences” in the categories of Amazon. An author wrote in a public domain: “I had a book that ranked #1 in (its) category on Amazon for two full years. In the course of the 24 months which it sat in the #1 spot, it sold a grand total of exactly… twelve copies. ONE copy sold, every other month, was enough to keep it on the #1 slot for two full years because everyone else was selling fewer than one copy every three months. ”The top selling categories of books on Amazon are Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Self-Help, Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller, Historical fiction, Business/Finance, Cookbooks, Children’s Books, among others, and they are divided further into sub-categories. The listing is dynamic and can change quickly, and the section has many sub-divisions.

Further implications

Amazon Best Seller is a positive indicator and can boost visibility, but it does not mean that the author earns money significantly from the spike in sales. Reason? The increase in sales may be very little and bring in little money. Also, even when sales are high, authors and writers generally get only a fraction of the sales as royalties. Books on politics are not in high demand worldwide. In the ongoing back and forth between Babalola and Farotimi, the best seller issue has several implications, and should be understood within its appropriate context.

Bunmi Makinwa is the CEO of AUNIQUEI Communication for Leadership.