Have you ever wondered when, how, and why the best sellers list came about. I’m an avid reader and it crossed my mind, so I decided to delve into its history, I found it quite fascinating. Back in 1895 an article was printed in a publication called The Bookman, in the article four fiction and four nonfiction books were recommended but it resulted in no fanfare, not until October 12, 1931, 36 years later did the idea reproduce itself in the New Your Times, this time it became valuable information to the avid reader. From there the best seller list began to expand to other cities and quickly became the go-to advertisement for writers and readers alike. The writers received a marketing tool, and readers were placing their trust in this new Best Sellers list.
The Mechanics of Ranking
By the 1940’s, fourteen city-lists were included, from this list a national list was created. Depending on how many times a book would make the city list would determine if they made the national list, if the book made the national list, then that’s how they would receive their rank, 1; 2; 3 and so on. Eventually the city list was dissolved, and the national list was utilized. The list was compiled according to reports from booksellers. Ranking was by bookseller sales figures which continue to this day.
By the 1950’s, The New York Times and The Publisher were the leading best seller list for the reading world and when chain bookstores came into play by the 1960’s like B. Dalton, Crown Books, Waldenbooks, they began to utilize the best sellers list to produce sales, and it worked. Today the best seller list is still a profitable tool for Barnes and Noble, Amazon and other bookstores that remain. Many consumers rely on the best sellers list, and it often guides the popular book clubs in making choices for their next reads. An idea that started in America is now used worldwide, not only did it help the reader to make a reading choice, but it specially motivated the writers to strive to be better in hopes to make it to the best sellers list. But note that The New York times profited as well, readers wanted the Sunday paper so they could see what book made the list, and this list changed weekly thus selling more newspapers, it was a win win situation for all involved. But it did not come without criticism.
The list began to be criticized by authors, publishers, and book industry executives, and one could only guess why. Everyone wanted on that list and for those who repeatedly did not make the list would in no doubt begin to question its validity. They began to call foul; they would question the accurate accounting of the true best-seller status. And like so many other things it became quite political.
Interesting fact that holds true today. A book that never makes the list can outsell books on the best sellers list simply because the best seller sales only reflect in one week worth of sales and not in total sales say for one month. So, there are books that sell more overtime verses the book that sales copies in a week counting for way more sales but unfortunately the author’s book was not on the list, so the sales are not recognized in the weekly best sellers list. My guess is that there are many authors who do not concern themselves with the best seller list, why would they when their sales exceed a book on the best sellers list.
Controversy and the Art of Manipulation
The criticism was not without fault, for proof was in the pudding, issues were found by double counting of sales, or maybe a book was returned that was on the best sellers list and the number of sales was never adjusted. This sparked the interest of Jean Shepherd in 1956 he created the fake novel Libertine to illustrate the many ways to manipulate the best sellers-list based off demands as well as sells, he illustrated how easy it is to make the best sellers list with manipulations performed by retailers, authors, publishing companies and executives. Remember just like most things in life it’s about recognition, numbers and money.
Along with proven criticism came controversies. I will share a few. In 1995 Michael Tracy and Fres Wiersema, wrote a book titled “The Discipline of Market Leaders”, they both colluded to manipulate their book onto the best seller charts. They allegedly purchased over 10,000.00 copies of their own book spread out over various bookstores; sales are reported to BookScan which is why they spread the sales across several bookstores. Knowing that the best seller list opened many doors for the authors such as speaking engagements, more book deals, and consulting they concluded that it was a good investment. The book quickly climbed to No. 4 on the list and remained there for 15 weeks and it also peaked at No. 1 on the Business Week bestseller list. Although, what they did was not illegal, publishers consider them unethical, I consider it cheating.
In 1999, Amazon.com announced a 50% decrease in price for books on the Best Seller List to beat its competition, Barnes and Noble. This brought about a lawsuit between Amazon and the New York Times. In the end of the lawsuit, Amazon was allowed to continue utilizing the Best Seller List, but they had to use letters instead of numbers to rank the books. I found this interesting; it reveals to me that The New York Times is still in control of the National process of the Best Seller List. One would think that the lawsuit would be between Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
In 2013 Forbes published a story titled “Here’s How You Buy Your Way onto The New Yorks Bestsellers List”, The article discusses how a San Diego based marketing consultancy, specializes in ensuring books make a best seller list, being as bold as stating even to the No. 1 spot for those who were willing to pay enough. The New York Times got wind of this because they comprehensively track and tabulate the weekly sales of titles reported by booksellers, but they returned with no comment, and they did not alert their readers unlike The Wall Street Jornal which admitted that books landed on the Bestseller list due too contracted campaigns.
I could continue to share many other controversies, but there are too many to list. In my research I concluded that there is much more behind the Bestseller List that meets the readers’ eyes. In conclusion, that most readers still rely on The New Yorks Best Seller List and that lesser-known writers benefit from the list whereas known writers such as John Grisham or Danielle Steel see no benefit from the list at all, which proves my comment earlier that many writers could care less about the Best Seller List.
In all my research and reading about the Best Seller List has certainly changed my opinion about the Best Seller List. It’s the first thing you see when you walk into a bookstore or when ordering online but I now know that though the listed book may be good there is most likely a way better read just around the corner.
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