Ron Paul may benefit from the fact that brick-and-mortar stores didn't stock many of his books because that means the purchases will take place over a period of weeks instead of all at once, possibly keeping the book on the bestseller list longer.
Rush Limbaugh, for example, had two bestsellers. The first one had a very small first printing. Therefore, it sold out quickly and then kept selling rapidly as more books were printed, keeping it on the bestseller list for weeks and weeks. His second book sold about as many copies as the first one, but because the initial printing was so much larger, anticipating the demand, most copies were sold in the first few weeks. Thus, the book was only on the bestseller list for a few weeks, which made it appear to be less popular than his first one when in reality it wasn't.
The first Limbaugh book scenario could play itself out with Ron Paul's book. This is actually a good thing because it will make the book appear to be even more popular than it actually is (not an easy feat given how popular it is already) for a long period of time, which should lead to more, and longer-lasting, media coverage.
