Book pulled off YA bestseller list

The novel “Handbook for Mortals” had a very brief reign at the top of a New York Times bestseller list.

The paper confirmed Friday that it had pulled Lani Sarem’s book from its young adult hardcover list for Sept. 3 because of “inconsistencies” in the reporting of sales.

The announcement came after online complaints that “Handbook for Mortals” had benefited from “bulk sales,” when hundreds or thousands of copies are ordered by a single buyer.

On Twitter, young adult author Phil Stamper and others had questioned how a book they knew little about could reach No. 1 on the Times list.

“After investigating the inconsistencies in the most recent reporting cycle, we decided that the sales for ‘Handbook for Mortals’ did not meet our criteria for inclusion,” the Times said in a statement. “We’ve issued an updated ‘Young Adult Hardcover’ list for September 3, 2017, which does not include that title.”

A Times spokesman said it was a “very rare occurrence” for a book to be removed from the paper’s bestseller listings.

Sarem said Friday that she was unaware of any efforts to manipulate sales and that thousands of copies had sold through pre-orders at gatherings such as Wizard World Comic Con, in Chicago, where she is currently promoting “Handbook for Mortals.”