So a Bestseller List is a List of the Books That Have Sold the Most, Right? Not So Fast...

Over at Public Books they're running a series called ‘Hacking the Culture Industries’. In this article, What Counts as a Bestseller?, Jordan Pruett uses data to break down how the New York Times Bestseller lists are not as straightforward as they might sound.

As Jordan puts it, 

“there are all sorts of weird historical factors and counting choices that affect whether a book might make the cut. Given the influence of the Times list, it’s worth examining the effects of the choices made when assembling it, and what they can tell us about the kinds of information about books we consider valuable.” —Jordan Pruett

It's fascinating to read, and even more to consider how these lists (and by extension, most 'bestseller' lists) may skew to a very specific kind of book sold in a very specific way... and how that can help raise up or hold back certain titles and creators.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

The Impact of a New York Times Nonfiction Bestsellers List for Children's Books - and How You Can Support the Idea

Screen shot of the opening paragraphs of the letter to the New York Times asking for children's nonfiction bestseller lists.

On February 14, 2022, as part of the #KidsLoveNonfiction campaign, Mary Ann Cappiello, Professor of Language and Literacy at Lesley University and Xenia Hadjioannou, Associate Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the Harrisburg campus of Penn State University, sent a letter to The New York Times requesting that the paper add three children’s nonfiction bestseller lists to parallel the existing picture book, middle grade, and young adult lists, which focus on fiction. The letter was also shared on more than 20 blogs that serve the literacy and children's literature communities. (I learned about it from nonfiction powerhouse author Melissa Stewart.)

This change will align the children’s lists with the adult bestseller lists, which separate nonfiction and fiction. It will also acknowledge the incredible vibrancy of children’s nonfiction available today and support the substantial body of research showing that many children prefer nonfiction and still others enjoy fiction and nonfiction equally.

The submitted letter included the signatures of more than 500 educators and librarians as well as the institutional signatures of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Children’s Literature Assembly of NCTE.

From the letter:

Adding children’s nonfiction best-seller lists would:

• Help family members, caregivers, and educators identify worthy nonfiction titles.

• Provide a resource for bibliophiles—including book-loving children—of materials that satisfy their curiosity.

• Influence publishers’ decision-making.

• Inform the public about innovative ways to convey information and ideas through words and images.

• Inspire schools and public libraries to showcase nonfiction, broadening its appeal and deepening respect for truth.

The letter is now available as a petition for individuals – including those of us who create (write, illustrate, translate) and work in and with children's literature (agents, editors, booksellers, librarians) – to sign to show our support.

Here's the link to read the full letter.

And here's the link to add your name in support of the idea of the New York Times having children's nonfiction bestseller lists.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

"How I Hit a Bestseller List with a Traditionally Published Book" - Christina McDonald Shares Her 7-Step Playbook on the BookBub Blog

How I Hit a Bestseller List with a Traditionally Published Book by Christina McDonald is a guest post over at BookBub.

Fascinating? Yes.

Duplicatable? Well, no one else is Christina with that exact book, "The Night Olivia Fell", but there are lots of strategies and techniques Christina shares that we might consider for our books, including testing ads, stacking promos, and orchestrating everything to hit at the same time.

The bottom line:

“Don’t be deceived: Hitting the USA Today bestseller list isn’t easy. You need your publisher on board if you’re traditionally published, and you have to be willing to give it all you’ve got, including investing a lot of money and time into marketing. I spent over a month preparing for the few days I hoped to increase sales.” — Christina McDonald

The full post is well-worth reading. See what might resonate for you!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Scamming The New York Times Bestseller List - And how The YA community stopped it.

Here's the story, in brief:

Last week, a book from a first-time publisher and debut author hit #1 on the New York Times YA bestseller list in it's debut week.

YA Author Phil Stamper and others questioned how that happened... How did a book that didn't have wide buzz suddenly sell 18,000 copies in one week, when the next book down on the list (The Hate U Give) sold 6,000 copies? So Phil and some others contacted bookstores... and found out that someone was calling bookstores, inquiring if those stores reported to the Times list, and then placing orders for 29 copies for an upcoming event. If the orders had been for 30 copies, the sale would have been flagged. They did it at enough stores, and they hit the list at #1...

But as the evidence of their gaming the system started piling up, it was only 8 hours later that the New York Times took the fake-bestseller off the list.


This piece by Jackson McHenry on vulture.com reveals some possible motivation -- both the author and the publisher are angling to make the fake-bestseller a movie franchise.

Here's a great run-down by agent Michael Bourret in Entertainment Weekly about what happened, with some context on how the Times Bestseller list works.

And if you want more, there's this piece in Publishers Weekly that oddly (to my mind) only places the onus on what happened on the author.

For all the challenges of social media, the increased scrutiny (and transparency) it creates is a good thing. As Phil tweeted, no one should be able to buy their way onto the New York Times bestseller list.

And this time, they didn't.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

The New York Times Bestseller List Will Now Separate YA and Middle Grade Titles!

As reported in publisher's lunch, The New York Times will now "...split its children's Chapter book bestseller lists into separate middle grade and young adult lists..."

Here's a screen shot (courtesy of Author John Green's tumbler) of the YA and middle grade lists:

Both lists, including the series bestseller lists, will include ebook sales, while the picture book bestsellers list will continue to report hardcover unit sales only.

This means ten more MG and YA books get to be on the New York Times bestseller list every week, which can only be good for all of us who create MG and YA books!  (And it's good for readers, too - as they get more information about the age category they're interested in.)

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee