Or is it?
Do you know what it means when someone slaps “Bestselling Author” on their web site, blog or book cover? How about “Nationally,” “USA Today,” or “NY Times” Bestseller? The first two are pretty vague. You can see how those might mean different things to different authors and publishers, but the last two? Those are clear cut, right? I mean, you either made the list in question or you didn’t. And if someone made the list, especially the grandaddy of lists, the NY Times, they’d be touting it everywhere, again…right?
Well, not necessarily. Here’s the weird thing. There is no industry standard for any of these terms. I know what you’re thinking, well, maybe the smaller presses don’t follow the same standard. They, after all, have a different marketing plan than the bigger guys (more online sales, etc.). But what about those big guys? Those NY publishers? They all go by the same rules–surely.
The simple answer is, No, they don’t.
Quick quiz: Author A makes the NY Times list at #20, Author B makes the list at #21. They are both NY Times Bestsellers, right? Well, maybe–depends on who their publisher is. Some publishers only recognize “making the list” if the author makes the print list, in other words the top 20. Some publishers recognize ANYWHERE on the list.
If you go to the NY Times’ web site, you’ll see they make a distinct distinction between top 20 and all others by a line and not saying “weeks on list” for those under top 20. RWA National also only puts authors on their “honor role” if they have made top 20 for the Times, top 50 for USA Today or top 15 for Publisher’s Weekly. Week to week they do list those who make an “extended” list, Border’s Group’s list, Barnes and Noble’s list, and Essence’s list. (Also Library Journal’s most borrowed list, but we are discussing bestSELLER lists today.)
Now let’s say that Author A is in an anthology with with a NY Times Bestselling author and the anthology hits anywhere on the list. Does that count? Do they get to go on from there calling themself a NY Times Bestselling Author? Sure, with some publishers…others–no way.
Bestselling? For some houses it means the author had to hit at least TWO of the big three, meaning NY Times, USA Today or Publishers Weekly. But we have all seen authors use this term who were no closer to any of those lists than I am to George Clooney right now. How is that? Because, simply some publishers have a definition for the term and some don’t. And some don’t care if an author uses the term to describe say being in the top 100 selling romance books set in Potosi, Missouri at Amazon for 10.2 seconds (or at least not enough to police it).
Nationally Bestselling? Well, Amazon sells nationwide…but again some houses limit the term. One I’ve heard is an author has to hit one of the major bricks and mortar bookseller lists.
So, what’s this tell you about the books? Not a lot. I mean we all know just because someone else likes a book doesn’t mean we will–or do we? Do you buy books because they made a list? Do you look at an author differently (with more respect) because they made a list? Does any of this make a rat’s patootie’s worth of difference to you? How about as an author? If you have made a list–anywhere on a list–does it bug you when someone else claims something your publisher won’t let you claim? Or how about when someone who you know never made any of the lists mentioned on RWA’s site, claims to be a “bestseller?” Bug you? Or no?
No related posts.
Speaking strictly as a reader here: I don’t buy books based on any of the best seller lists. It doesn’t make a difference to me that everyone else seems to like a book. If it doesn’t appeal to me, I won’t buy it just to see what all the hype is about.
Speaking as a writer: I have great respect for anyone who makes those lists, at whatever number they hit. It’s a honor, IMHO and even though I don’t do my book shopping based on those lists, I would certainly love the opportunity to say one of my books made it there.
As far as bandying about the term ‘bestselling author’ – it’s something I think should be reserved for very special occasions. I’ve made best seller lists at Fictionwise and at my own publshers, but I don’t put those words anywhere except as small notes in connection with the particular book in question. I don’t call myself a ‘bestselling author’ because I believe to do so now would somehow lessen the meaning of the term for me if I ever did make those nationally recognized lists. I know a lot of authors who do use the term and that’s their prerogative of course, but I just don’t feel comfortable using it for myself, especially when ‘best selling’ can mean 100 copies sold at a small press.
No, I wouldn’t be influenced by the Bestseller claim (regardless of how it is calculated) on a book cover. The only things that convince me to buy a book is the subject matter and the quality of the writing. I do, however, believe that many people are influenced by this, as incredulous as that seems to me. There’s a reason why celebrities are able to get big bucks to endorse products. Some people will actually allow this to influence their buying habits. Then again, maybe an ad with a celebrity simply puts the product to the forefront of consumer’s minds and subsequently boosts their sales. The latter scenario certainly makes more sense than the first.
As a reader,
I also don’t buy based
on the bestseller list.
This simply means to me
that the book is available everywhere.
If it is available everywhere and
a lot of people are buying it
(so it will continue to be available everywhere),
why would I rush to buy it?
I might as well wait for it to drop in price.
So goes my bizarre thinking.
As a reader, “bestseller” status is just more cover clutter I don’t pay attention to—like quotes, titles, and the majority of artwork.
The “bestseller” title may even be a drawback, really. It often seems that marks the point where the publisher begins to view the author as the commodity to be sold, not the book. Many, many times I have noticed if people will buy an author’s grocery list, the quality of the books suddenly takes a nosedive. Decreased editorial input? Pressure to crank out six books a year and less time devoted to fully developing each one? Probably a combination thereof, and it’s unfortunate. I’ve dropped fave authors once they “hit the big time” because the books weren’t as good.
I’m echoing Bernadette. As a reader, it makes no difference to me if a book has hit the best seller list. Just like a movie critic’s review of a movie, I take things like best sellers lists and reviews with a grain of salt and make a decision based on my own interest in the product. I’d say the majority of the books I have read in my life are not best sellers.
But, as Bernadette said, as a writer, I also have great respect for those who make these lists, particularly the big ones. It would be fabulous to be among them one day.
Very interesting, Lori, how there is no industry standard.
I’ve set out to purchase at least two books (that I can recall right now) based partially on showing up on lists: _Oh! The Places You’ll Go!_ and _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_. I didn’t even know what the latter was about when I went looking for it at the bookstore. I had the vague idea it might involve cats. (I loved it, by the way).
I put _Marley and Me_ on a wishlist, partially because it was a bestseller.
Oh, and there was _The Da Vinci Code_, of course.
And the early Harry Potter stuff– their popularity is why I picked up the first and second books.
Of course, most of the above stuff I encountered not just through bestseller positioning/lists/stickers, but also through awards, mentions in articles, the referrals of friends. You might say my own personal bestseller list requires me to hear about a book from at least two different sources without walking into a bookstore (or looking at a virtual one). People have to be talking about it– and of course, the subject matter has to interest me.
As a reader, I don’t pay much attention to those things. I do see it and think the book obviously sold well, but that’s about it.
As a writer, sure, the lists mean a lot. More for personal goals than anything else.
As a reader I use lots of things to choose books. Blurbs, copy, publisher/imprint, cover, and even bestsellerdom.
I do discern between the lists–USA Today I interpret as popular/mainstream, something a lot of people are reading. NYT I interpret as heavily marketed by the publisher. PW’s list doesn’t have any influence what-so-ever on my opinion of a book.
Another thing the “bestselling” status tells me is that I’m not picking up a book by a debut author. And since I LIKE picking books by debut authors, sometimes it causes me to put down a book.
This explains why I’ve seen “New York Times Best-Selling Author” and I’ve never even heard of this “famous” author.
That’s only touching on the print publishing houses, though. I’ve seen a number of e-publishers who will tack on “bestselling” to authors that have sold a certain amount. Even if that number is, oh, less than 500…..
Sorry, but that’s not “bestselling.” It’s ego stroking.
Yes, but does anyone know where the numbers come from for being on these best selling list? I ask because I was told by a bookseller that they base this number on the number of books ordered by bookstores and not necessarily the number of books sold.
And I’m one that doesn’t buy a book based on this list. I have my favorite auto buys that I will buy regardless, but lately I’ve gone in search of debut authors and bought based on the back blurb.
As for e-publishing vs mainstream, there is a big difference, but those of us that are e-published work hard to promote in an arena that is far different than walking into a bookstore. For one, an e-book stays on the “shelf” a whole lot longer thus making those “shelves” very very full. Readers are often overwhelmed at the vast choices they have. In a bookstore, your choices are mostly limited to current releases or classics or backlists that are only offered for big names. The probability of selling 10,000 copies of a printed book in a store is a whole lot higher than the probability of selling 100 copies of an e-book especially for a debut author.
So, if selling 500 copies of a debut e-book is considered a best seller for that publisher I don’t think that’s just ego stroking. jmo. Most of us and even readers realize the context in which this is boasted and that there is a huge difference.