This reminds me of the Handbook for Mortals scandal (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/25/handbook-for-mortals-by-lani-sarem-pulled-from-nyt-bestseller

This reminds me of the Handbook for Mortals scandal (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/25/handbook-for-mortals-by-lani-sarem-pulled-from-nyt-bestsellers-list https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/25/handbook-for-m...) where a publisher was strategically buying books from specific stores that send sales data to the NY Times Best Sellers rankings. They were trying to game the system so that their book would be so 'successful' to drive real sales and create a movie on the book.