The author of the popular young adult novel, “Handbook for Mortals,” pushed back on Friday against a move by the New York Times to remove the title from its best-seller list.

The book, from GeekNation Press, was released on Aug. 17 and had appeared at No. 1 of the Times’ Young Adult Hardcover list dated Sept. 3. But a storm of controversy on social media then prompted the newspaper to look more closely into the matter.

“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 to the Hollywood Reporter. “We’ve issued an updated “Young Adult Hardcover” list for September 3, 2017 which does not include that title.”

Some on social media had maintained that people close to the publisher have bought the book in bulk, focusing on stores the Times surveys in compiling its lists.

That’s a lot of hogwash, the author, Lani Sarem, told THR.

No one “to my knowledge” was involved in any organized strategy to bulk copies of the book, Sarem said. She credits months of publicity, appearing at several Comic Cons, radio stations and on social media since earlier in the year promoting the book for its success.