We're Gawker and We're Insipid: Book Sells 242 Copies

Before Gawker Media gets carried away with dominating the world, maybe it should try to master the book industry? As of yesterday, The Gawker Guide to Conquering All Media had sold a scant 242 copies since it went on sale Oct. 2, according to Nielsen BookScan, reports Mixed Media.

Of course, the tracking service only accounts for about 75 percent of book sales, by its own admission, so you can add another 81 units to that total. Still, it's probably somewhat fewer copies than Simon & Schuster's Atria division was hoping to sell when it acquired the total in what I'm told was a $250,000 deal. Especially when you consider all the free promotion the book got on Gawker.com, to what was presumably its target audience.

The question arises: What fool is going to pay for crap when they can get it for free on the Web?

Not many.