Did You Know?

As I delve further and further into the world of publishing I wanted to share some of the concepts I find…well, downright rude. This is one that just makes me shake my head.

You are all familiar with the flashy heading A New York Times Bestseller, right? How do you think an author acquires this distinction? By the total number of copies their book sells right? A sort of running total like McDonald over a billion served?

Wrong.

The number for a bestseller depends on how many copies are sold in a particular time frame; a week, a month, and sadly even that is contingent on the speed of sales the industry is experiencing. For example if almost everybody stopped buying books and switched to watching reality television causing a slow sales month, then an author could have a bestseller by moving only a hundred copies of his book. Sorry, but that leaves too much room for improprieties from all parties involved, and we all know how honest the Times has been.

 

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