How to increase your ranking on Amazon.com: get Osama bin Laden to endorse your book

[iamom]

Via this entry in the Writers Write Writer's Blog, I learned that in a recent videotape, Osama bin Laden has endorsed a book by U.S. author William Blum called Rogue State: A Guide To The World's Only Superpower (amazon.com | amazon.ca). The story was originally covered by Reuters, and quotes bin Laden telling Americans, "It is useful for you to read the book The Rogue State." Sales of Blum's book skyrocketed on Amazon.com, propelling it from a ranking of #209,000 to #30 on the website.

I laughed when I read the Writer's Blog commentary on the piece:

What is this -- the beginning of Osama bin Laden's book club? Is he going to issue a sticker authors can put on their books? I mean, really, you'd think he'd be too busy to recommend book selections to Americans, what with constantly avoiding capture, having dialysis treatments and plotting his next horror. What's next -- a chick lit pick from Al-Zawahri?