ResultSource – Page 4 – Warren Throckmorton

Hey Christian Author: What Would a Bestseller Do For Your Brand?

Les and Leslie Parrott are evangelical Seattle-based authors who specialize in marriage and relationship issues. They have written numerous books, some of which have made it to the New York Times Bestseller List. At least one of those books played a short, peripheral role in the drama that has been Mark Driscoll over the last couple of years. Let me explain.
The Parrotts, like David Jeremiah (who I wrote about yesterday), have worked with Kevin Small, the CEO of ResultSource, in their publishing business. One of things ResultSource does is to conduct Bestseller Campaigns. In such a campaign, they literally guarantee an author that a book with show up on the New York Times Bestseller List or the consulting fee is refunded (see Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill’s contract with ResultSource).

When Mark Driscoll’s literary agent Sealy Yates wanted to set up meetings at Mars Hill to work out the logistics behind the 2011-2012 Real Marriage bestseller campaign, he encouraged the Mars Hill troops by telling them of another successful bestseller campaign just conducted in September 2011. The excerpt below is from a Mars Hill communication from agent Sealy Yates:

In other words Mars Hill Church: see what you have to look forward to by working with “Kevin and his company.”
The Parrotts’ book did indeed make #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List during the week of September 25, 2011.

As sometimes happens with a campaign that games the system, the next week the book fell off the chart. ResultSource uses their many accounts to buy up books during a concentrated period of time. After that, if the book doesn’t continue selling, it drops off the chart.
The Parrotts have referred to Kevin Small as a part of their team and chair of their non-profit organization in previous books. I wrote the Parrotts last week and asked for comment. I also asked publisher of The Hour That Matters Most, Tyndale House, for comment about their part in the scheme. Initially, Tyndale House spokesman Todd Starowitz said last week he would have a comment for me, but nothing has come this week. I have written Sealy Yates and Kevin Small as well with no reply.
I also wrote the New York Times Bestseller List for comment. I wondered if they discovered that religious authors often manipulated sales figures. Danielle Rhoades-Ha, Director of Communications for the New York Times, replied that authors of many types of books engage in such tactics, and explained that “attempts to manipulate our rankings with falsified sales or strategic orchestrated schemes often through legitimate bookstores are by no means limited to books that offer religious and spiritual guidance.”
According to Rhoades-Ha, companies like ResultSource are on the Times’ radar:

In response, we have developed a system to detect anomalies and patterns that are typical of attempts to gain a false ranking and warrant further inquiry. We know which publishers are the most likely to attempt such things. We know what tools they use and with whom — which organizations, special interest web sites, “consultants” and shady order fulfillment houses and retailers — they tend to collaborate.

Given the language used by Ms. Rhoades-Ha, I don’t think the Times approves of these schemes:

Pirate plots abound wherever books can be purchased in bulk through affiliated organizational or corporate funds, churches or political action committees. Other red flags include large anonymous online bulk sales and e-book sales (which do not require traditional inventory accountability) and events and conferences that “give out” books but actually record the book sales as part of the ticket price.

She said that the Times reserves the right to keep titles off the list if they don’t meet their standards and they use a dagger symbol “as a signal to readers that the book attains its ranking largely but not exclusively from bulk purchases.” She added that they attempt to spot those who try to manipulate their rankings.
Tomorrow I examine the ethics of manipulating books sales. I have comments from a Christian publisher and various views on the subject.

Did David Jeremiah Use ResultSource to Make the New York Times Bestseller List?

During the week of October 21, 2012, David Jeremiah’s book God Loves You debuted at #5 on the New York Times Hardcover and Advice Bestseller List. It remained on the list for four weeks falling off the list during the week of November 18. In the Acknowledgments section of the book, Jeremiah credited ResultSource CEO, Kevin Small, for being the genius behind the plan to get the book “before as many readers as possible.”

As we now know, in the case of former Mars Hill pastor Mark Driscoll, working with Small to market his book meant buying his way on to the bestseller list. Mars Hill’s contract with ResultSource called for the purchase of thousands of books in ways that made it appear that the books were being purchased by individuals. Did David Jeremiah, his church, or his Turning Point ministry make a similar arrangement? I asked Turning Point three times about this beginning early last week but received no answer.
According to an internal Mars Hill Church memo on ResultSource I have obtained, ResultSource CEO Kevin Small outlined the details of the preparation for a New York Times Bestseller campaign to Mars Hill Church’s executive elders in June 2011. One part of the strategy was to set up a website to solicit donations in exchange for a book. The pitch in the case of Real Marriage was that the Mars Hill Church member could donate over $25 to get a free book with any profits going to the church. However, since the books had to be purchased at retail, not much actual profit went to the church. Mark Driscoll’s staff warned about how it would look if the ResultSource deal was ever discovered.
According to the same memo, Kevin Small told Mars Hill executive elders that he would contact Turning Point’s* Paul Joiner to “provide the insight into constructing a donor campaign that will result in a higher donation than book cost.” Mars Hill constructed such a donor campaign, even though, according to insiders, very few donations were made which meant that many books had to be purchased by Mars Hill at retail cost via ResultSource. Since Kevin Small called on Joiner to help Driscoll with a bestseller campaign, Joiner apparently has experience doing it. David Jeremiah credited Joiner with “incredible creativity” to drive the process, and Small, who Jeremiah has worked with since at least 2006, with the “genius behind the plan.”
An unanswered question is: What was the plan? We know what Driscoll did; did Jeremiah do the same thing? He hasn’t answered.
I have obtained information which indicates that other Christian authors have used ResultSource to crack the NYT list. I will post more on this topic throughout the week. I also have reaction from a Christian publisher and the New York Times.
*Turning Point is David Jeremiah’s broadcast ministry.
(An earlier version of this post was published by mistake. I regret the confusion)

Memo: Mars Hill Church Staff Worried That Real Marriage Campaign Would Benefit Mark Driscoll More Than Church

According to the charges filed by the 21 former Mars Hill Church elders, Mark Driscoll told current elders in May 2014 that he was unaware of the details of the ResultSource agreement which artificially landed his book Real Marriage on the New York Times bestseller list. The former elders alleged:

May 2014—Mark told elders that he was not aware of the ResultSource agreement but had chosen to admit knowledge of it for the sake of the team in his letter to the church, and that others had made the decision to work with ResultSource. He claimed that another elder and Mark’s publishers made the decision to work with ResultSource without his knowledge. He insinuated that he had learned about the ResultSource agreement only after the story broke on World magazine. In fact, Mark agreed to work with ResultSource on the Best Seller Campaign for Real Marriage as early as July 2011.

What did Driscoll know and when did he know it? The letter to the church mentioned by the elders was sent by Driscoll via The City (Mars Hill’s closed web community) in March 2014. In it, Driscoll said:

First, a marketing company called ResultSource was used in conjunction with the book Real Marriage, which was released in January 2012. My understanding of the ResultSource marketing strategy was to maximize book sales, so that we could reach more people with the message and help grow our church. In retrospect, I no longer see it that way. Instead, I now see it as manipulating a book sales reporting system, which is wrong. I am sorry that I used this strategy, and will never use it again. I have also asked my publisher to not use the “#1 New York Times bestseller” status in future publications, and am working to remove this from past publications as well.

The wording of the statement makes it difficult to know when he became aware that the ResultSource scam was manipulative. Did he become aware of it after the story broke in World? Or sometime before that? Or did he know it all along? According to the former elders, Driscoll implied he didn’t know until after World broke the story. Since Driscoll is not talking to the media now, it is not possible to get his side of that story. However, there is evidence that Driscoll was warned about the nature of the ResultSource strategy before Sutton Turner signed the contract.
Regarding the July 2011 date mentioned by the former elders, I have seen an email which appears to support that date although I am not at liberty to print it. However, I have recently obtained an internal memo which indicates that Mars Hill staff were concerned about the Result Source agreement well before Sutton Turner signed the deal. The memo below provides additional evidence which supports the claim that Mark Driscoll was aware of the ramifications of the ResultSource strategy before the church leaders agreed to the terms of the contract. According to sources aware of the situation, the Mars Hill communications staff raised questions with the executive elders (Mark Driscoll, Sutton Turner and Dave Bruskas) about the wisdom of the ResultSource agreement prior to October 2011. The above memo was written in September 2011, prior to the ResultSource contract dated October 13 and signed by Sutton Turner, apparently on October 17. In May 2014, I posted October 18, 2011 invoices from ResultSource which were addressed to Mark Driscoll.
Driscoll told the church in March that he thought the ResultSource strategy would “reach more people with the message and help grow our church.” However, the memo above raised important questions regarding potential harm and loss which could result. The memo writer raised two important issues to the executive elders. Would the church lose money on the arrangement and is it acceptable for the church to pay retail price for Real Marriage when Driscoll could get them at a substantial discount and allow the church to sell them at a higher price.
The large giving campaign referred to in the memo above was launched on November 22, 2011 with a announcement to the church that Driscolls’ Real Marriage book could be secured via a $25 or more donation:

The pitch to the members is described at the bottom of the page (since removed by Mars Hill Church; this is an archived copy of the page) The links (in tan letters) lead to RealMarriageBook.com. This website was referred to in the Result Contract with Mars Hill: That website is archived (November 19, 2011) and looked like this:
With this foundation, one can understand the concerns expressed in the memo more clearly. Real Marriage was being offered for a minimum price of $25. Since the books had to be purchased from retail outlets at the retail price ($20 or more) in order for the books to show up in the New York Times sales count, the profit to Mars Hill Church was meager compared to what it would have been if Driscoll had exercised his option to purchase bulk quantities at a vast discount ($7). Presumably, he made his usual royalty from the books purchased at retail. What is unknown is whether or not Driscoll donated any additional money from his royalties for the books sold in relationship to the entire campaign.
In light of this information, let’s review the worries expressed in the memo: I have been told that the giving campaign did not achieve “sales” expectations. Successful or not, the campaign was set up pursuant to the ResultSource contract and managed by them. The campaign was set up to achieve Driscoll’s rise to the top of the NYT bestseller list and may have resulted in significant financial gain. The website said that purchasers were helping the ministry efforts of Mars Hill Church. Unknown to them, they were also helping Mark Driscoll get to #1 on the NYT bestseller list with all of the resulting benefits.
Finally, the memo implies that Driscoll was warned about the problems with running the ResultSource campaign through the church. The church Board of Advisors and Accountability spent money unwisely in order to benefit Mark Driscoll both via elevating his personal status and by purchasing books at retail price when those same books could easily have been secured at a substantial discount. While Driscoll said he was sorry he used the strategy, he has not directly addressed the financial consequences of the deal to the church. If the BOAA desires to repair lost trust now, I believe they need to issue a full accounting of money spent on the entire campaign, along with the resulting royalties, profits and losses.

Mark Driscoll and Result Source: What About the Other Best Seller Lists?

By now, most people know that Mars Hill Church entered into a contract with ResultSource Inc. to place Mark and Grace Driscoll’s book Real Marriage on to the New York Times Best Seller List. World Magazine broke that story and then I posted the contract between MHC and RSI. Overlooked in the fallout from that story is that Real Marriage also made it on other best seller lists. According to the contract, this was by design.

Note that RSI pledged to attempt to Real Marriage on best seller lists published by the Wall Street Journal and the USA Today.

Although RSI was only obligated to make a top 15 placement on the NYT list, the other publications were mentioned as targets with expectation for success.
Initially the position of Mars Hill Church through spokesman Justin Dean was that the RSI-MHC partnership was an “opportunity” and an “investment.” Two days later, the MHC Board of Advisors and Accountability said the arrangement was “common” but “unwise.” Then, days later, Mark Driscoll said he initially saw the scheme as a way to market books but had come to see it as “manipulating a book sales reporting system” and thus “wrong.” He also said he was going to ask his publisher not to use the “#1 best seller status” on future publications. Quickly, the designation came off of his Mars Hill bio.
But what about the other best seller lists? Did he make those as well?
Consistent with the aspirations expressed in the contract, Real Marriage did make other best seller lists in early January and then as with the NYT list, the book fell off those lists after the campaign was complete. The book went to #3 on Publisher’s Weekly list, #8 on Wall Street Journal’s Nonfiction Combined list (week ending Jan. 8), and #38 on USA Today’s Top 150 Books (entered the list Jan. 12 for one week). In contrast to his stance on the NYTs list, Driscoll continues to refer to those lists on his website:

At one point, this list also carried the #1 NYT best seller designation, so someone edited the page and decided to leave these placements alone.* Although the NYT best selling designation is more prestigious, another look at the contract demonstrates that the RSI scheme manipulates the efforts of several respected publications to estimate customer interest in books.

*Although these links are probably dead on arrival, there are multiple places on pastormark.tv where the NYT designation is still in place.
UPDATE: All links to pastormark.tv are now dead. I have copies of the pages but the current links go to a page that says, “We couldn’t find that.”

Where Did ResultSource Go?

ResultSource is the company Mars Hill Church hired to manipulate the various best seller lists on behalf of Mark Driscoll. Tonight if you go to Resultsource.com you won’t find success stories beckoning clients to sign up for ResultSource’s services. Instead, you see this:

Once upon a time, one could read about bestseller campaigns:

Bestseller Campaigns

ResultSource works with thought leaders to maximize their full potential. You know that having a New York Times bestseller isn’t your final destination. But it’s an important achievement – and a door to even greater opportunity that only the “key of credibility” can open.

Thanks to ResultSource that “key to credibility” has been tarnished.
It is interesting to note that CEO Kevin Small’s Linked In (Google cache) and Twitter accounts are no longer available. Also, the ResultSource phone number now goes to an answering machine with no mention of the company name or business. Perhaps ResultSource is just revamping the website and the absence means nothing. However, in light of the unfavorable scrutiny RSI has been getting, it is reasonable to wonder if the company is about to reinvent itself.