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The Batshit Insane QAnon Conspiracy Theory


Hugo Stiglitz

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I’ve got a few more things published through Amazon in the past two months, and none of it is in the top 125 books, so all I have to say is
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I need to get to writing something about QAnon and make some bucks off of these people.  
Something about taking it easy on epstein long game trust the plan
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This Qanon thing isn't that shocking. One time in the 90's I stumbled into a Bircher bookstore and the shelves were stocked full of self-published conspiracy theory books. I flipped through a few of the books and they were pure bat shit crazy theories. These Qanon people are just an extension of Bitcher conspiracy nuts that have been obsessed for decades with secret satanic societies that control governments, media and banking.

 

 

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This sums up 2 of the 3 vocal Qtards I know.  The third detests Trump, but has to have a reason to support him, because she is scared old white lady.

 

The worst had on a Make America Triggered Again hat on the other day.  Red, obviously a Q spin on MAGA cap. 

They aren't evil people, just in need of being right.   

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On 3/7/2019 at 8:19 AM, Hugo Stiglitz said:

The shocking part is not the theory but how wide spread and accepted it is. Thanks to clickbait grifters, it’s like there is a Bircher bookstore inside every Starbucks. 

None of it is shocking, the Qanon audience is the same audience that has been consuming this type of material for years. This way of thinking isn't for everybody so I don't see it ever becoming widespread.

These people are not dumb, even dumb people have a bullshit filter, these people likely have some kind of behavioral condition that compels them to seek out causation for even the most mundane events.

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2 minutes ago, F250 said:

None of it is shocking, the Qanon audience is the same audience that has been consuming this type of material for years. This way of thinking isn't for everybody so I don't see it ever becoming widespread.

These people are not dumb, even dumb people have a bullshit filter, these people likely have some kind of behavioral condition that compels them to seek out causation for even the most mundane events.

Right, but absent social media and the platforms that enable the proliferation of this nonsense it would be nothing like it is today. 

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2 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Right, but absent social media and the platforms that enable the proliferation of this nonsense it would be nothing like it is today. 

Is it really any different? Actually it seems more tame now than in the 90's when the milita movement was thriving off of U.N. Black Helicopter theories and having standoffs with the feds at compounds across the country while celebrating the OKC bombing.

 

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The Amazon book things blows my mind. Could they be ordering the book and then cancelling the order?  Or another way of gaming the system?  I’m just having a hard time believing that many people would pay for a printout of a Tigerdropping Q thread. 

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I dug a little deeper. Amazon algorithm can be “gamed” by having a lot of early orders and 5 star reviews. The Q book has a fraction of the sales of the other top books but is new and highly rated(as of 2 days ago).  It’s still disturbing to me that it sold more than 2 copies. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/the-goods/2019/3/6/18253505/amazon-qanon-book-best-seller-algorithm-conspiracy

The books ahead of Q have over 10k reviews. Q book has 240. But I would love to know total sales. 

Edited by Irieguy
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7 hours ago, Irieguy said:

I dug a little deeper. Amazon algorithm can be “gamed” by having a lot of early orders and 5 star reviews. The Q book has a fraction of the sales of the other top books but is new and highly rated(as of 2 days ago).  It’s still disturbing to me that it sold more than 2 copies. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/the-goods/2019/3/6/18253505/amazon-qanon-book-best-seller-algorithm-conspiracy

The books ahead of Q have over 10k reviews. Q book has 240. But I would love to know total sales. 

It’s not a “conspiracy”, at least not like we think of when it comes to conspiracies.  The algorithm/system is well-known among the self-published community (various Reddit’s and sites discuss it in-depth).  It’s even partly documented on Amazon’s KDP support pages.  

The article, while simplified, sums it up:

Quote

A rash of early sales is exactly what the algorithm looks for. Even if QAnon’s book doesn’t continue to sell well, it’s been seen by an unfathomable number of people now who wouldn’t have seen it otherwise.

It’s beyond this thread (there’s a Surly writers thread), but there is a cottage industry devoted to showing you how to get a lot of sales when you launch a hook.  

Some people spend longer working out their launch strategy than they do writing the book.  Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, relatives, friends, others interested in the topic (and those others are reached through the social media channels mentioned above).  

The QAnon book is somewhat reminiscent of game strategy guides when an expansion comes out. If some big game is coming out, or rather an expansion, and you can get one of the very first game guides out, you will get a natural bump from people searching on the game.  Get some decent ratings and sales and it rises to the top.  

In this instance, they are benefitting from some big news items recently, along with a social media campaign, unofficial or not.  

They are playing with a little bit of fire though - if Amazon discovers the author(s) are engaged in certain practices, Amazon will ban their asses.  They recently banned a shitload of authors who were gaming the system for each other (including some with six-figure sales), and they banned a bunch of authors who used click-farms/overseas buyers (they gave them money to buy and rate the books).   In this instance, the QAnon collective (probably) doesn’t quite meet that same criteria - you don’t get banned if a ton of people suddenly buy your book.  

When I launch a book, I hit up the appropriate social media channels/sites, and I make sure to have copies in the hands of websites with relevant mailing lists, so that a lot of people become aware of it just as it launches.  I can easily hit the top of whatever niches I am aiming for, but if sales drop off fast, it falls down the charts.  Timing can be a pain in the ass.  I don’t hit the larger sales charts, due to most of my stuff being fairly niche, although I have a few things in the works that are targeted towards larger topics (and thus a larger audience). 

Edited by atomheartbevo
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