YouTube Star Casey Neistat Starts Book Club, And His First Pick Peaks At #25 On Amazon Charts

If you’re curious to see a case study that demonstrates the power held by social media influences, take a look at Casey Neistat. On May 17th, the YouTube star and entrepreneur announced his intention to start a book club, and the next few days brought immense sales to the first work he chose to discuss with his fans.

In an episode of his vlog series, Neistat explained that he hoped to start a book club in order to express the joy reading has brought him and share that emotion with his fans. “I don’t think people read enough anymore, and I don’t think that’s a good thing,” Neistat said. “Reading is like leaving the house. Yes, you can go your whole life without doing it, but you’re not really experiencing all life has to offer if you never leave the house.”

Up first in Neistat’s book club is American Kingpin, a work of narrative nonfiction from journalist Nick Bilton. Bilton’s book goes into detail about Silk Road, the infamous online marketplace on which visitors could purchase contraband like drugs and firearms. That subject makes it easy for Neistat to come up with an over-the-top, clickbait-y title for his introductory vlog, which he titled “SELLING DRUGS ON THE INTERNET.”

Here’s where the story gets really interesting: Immediately proceeding Neistat’s announcement, sales of American Kingpin took off.

Just three hours after the vlogger uploaded his video, Bilton’s book had already become one of the top 100 best-selling titles on Amazon. A day after Neistat’s upload, American Kingpin peaked by reaching Amazon’s top 25. At the time of this post, it remains in 255th position on Amazon’s most general ranking, nearly a week after Neistat first highlighted it. And just days before Neistat’s video, it was at #1,576.

Four days before Neistat’s video at #1,576 (via Wayback Machine)

Three hours after Neistat’s video at #87:

One day after Neistat’s video at #25:

In this instance, a YouTube star’s recommendation vaulted another writer’s work to astonishing heights. If I were a published author, I’d be trying very hard to get onto Neistat’s shortlist.