A test, this is only a test

Right?

Book blogs are proliferating like alien mushrooms and all of Amazon's crappy amateur blurbs are democratizing taste -- so shouldn't we see a discernible change in what's selling? Supposedly, all of those books that editors and agents and critics have conspired to suppress or that they simply ignored or couldn't get around to reading, all of those books would now have a conduit to their rightful readership. And the Teeming Millions would have the books they've always craved but were prevented by condescending elitists.

Sooo ... can anyone point to such a trend? Before anyone does, it's worth taking a look at a couple of recent bestseller lists to be reminded of just how hodge-podgy egalitarian the list already is. How many books about cute damn dogs does the public really want?

At any rate, can the commercial success of a book (or books) be attributed to the influence of book blogs? Certainly, Amazon sales have helped perpetuate Amazon sales -- it has long been a phenomenon in bestsellerdom that big sales spark bigger sales. We know that some readers hop on to a bandwagon because everyone else is talking about it, ergo it must be important. Similarly, plenty of books about the internet have become big sellers. But that's probaby because, again, everyone wants to learn about this fearful new opportunity that all the smarties have been gabbing about -- rather than being proof that a real technorati readership has come to the fore.

And while we're at it: There have also been fairly nerdy books that have jumped out of their nerd-niches into relative mainstream attention (The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion). But can that be attributed to blogs or to the general geekification of public discussion? One could plausibly suggest, for instance, the rise of Comic Book Culture is a result of the Web, yet the success of major Hollywood movies in the '90s (and the economic dominance of baby boomer interests) could be the likelier culprits.

How, then, could we definitively establish this causal link between blogs and sales? Have a bunch of influential bloggers all tout a title chosen at random and see if there's any notable uptick? With the exception of The New York Times,, of course, not even print reviewers have been able to do that. If bloggers could, it would certainly demonstrate a major shift in clout -- if not literary judgment.

On this point, if someone has incontrovertible proof, book/daddy is perfectly happy to admit that the teetering balance has already teetered into the future, leaving him behind. I didn't notice because I was busy in the kitchen washing the cat.

Darn those stubborn coffee stains.