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Why is one of my paperback books selling on Amazon.com for over $2000? This book explores that question and along the way celebrates the creative talents of ghostwriters who write paid reviews and click-bait books.

Amazon.com has provided a venue for aspiring entrepreneurs to publish their own clickbait books. These entrepreneurs are elusive brands without a backstory or web history besides the one they present on Amazon.com. On closer inspection, some of the clickbait books feature identical titles and cover art, but are listed under different authors’ names.

As with any internet bubble, the get-rich-quick schemes of these books on Amazon.com have slowly grown less effective. However, a new market has emerged that games the Amazon.com website for enormous profits. While this new method is less likely to exploit an unseen labor force, it is also highly illegal and untraceable. The conclusion of Grifting the Amazon explores this new trade practice. When books are sold for thousands of dollars and may or may not even exist, is it possible that Amazon.com is the new blockchain? or the new Breaking Bad?