YA Twitter Lowkey Ran an Investigation & Took Down a Book That Scammed Its Way to the Best-Seller List

Leave it to Twitter to solve a best-seller mystery! No, not the latest riveting crime thriller, but an actual discrepancy on the New York Times’ YA Best-Sellers list ranking,Vulturereports.

Here’s where it starts: Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give had been sitting pretty at number one for Young Adult Bestseller for a solid 25 weeks, until suddenly it wasn't. The list for the week of September 3 showed it being replaced by something called Handbook for Mortals.

Sure, all’s fair in love and bookselling, and maybe Thomas’ acclaimed novel couldn’t hold the top spot forever, but the flaw Twitter users found and investigated was that no one had really heard of Mortals until it was suddenly at the top, as Pajiba reported. Another YA author, Phil Stamper, was the primary voice in questioning the authenticity of the mysterious book's fast sales, first addressing its publisher, a website called Geek Nation.

He went on to point out the apparent lack of advertising or press on behalf of the book, and the unlikelihood of so little publicity resulting in bestseller worthy sales.

But wait, the saga continues. According to Vulture, apparently the author, Lani Sarem, is an actress, though with few credits to her name. And her book had already been discussed as a possible movie adaptation. Therefore, as Stamper pointed out, maybe the publishers and those attached to the possible film (like American Pie’s Thomas Ian Nicholas) artificially inflated sales just so they could pitch the movie with the best-seller tagline.

A few anonymous direct messages later, Stamper revealed sources from independent bookstores had received calls about purchasing Mortals in bulk orders, therefore boosting sale numbers. Long story short, Handbook for Mortals has since been removed from the list, and YA Twitter is rejoicing about their real life Nancy Drew sleuthing skills. Honestly, the scheming and discovery behind this story is worthy of a top spot on the best-seller list itself. Or even a movie adaptation…?