The Authonomy site has now gone live with its ranking system although it is still in Beta testing and, predictably, virtual fights have broken out between authors on the way that some books have climbed through the rankings with the implication that they have "phantom" backers. The whole ranking system is open to abuse but it must be remembered that it is a site put up by Harper Collins and that they will want it to be seen to be a success. As such it is in their interest to have as many "votes" cast for the more popular books as possible. With an eye to publicity, they will undoubtedly want to announce in due course that they have found a gem suitable for publication that was backed by popular appeal.
All this is of course sour grapes as Oxford Cockaigne slides down the ratings each day due to my marked inability and disinclination for networking (or that's what I put it down to).

Of course if you read this and are an authonomy member you can always pop over there and back Oxford Cockaigne, add it to your Watchlist or give it a comment in order to bump it up.