[HN Gopher] What Counts as a Bestseller?
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       What Counts as a Bestseller?
        
       Author : yamrzou
       Score  : 24 points
       Date   : 2022-10-13 23:00 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.publicbooks.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.publicbooks.org)
        
       | mblatt2 wrote:
        
       | andirk wrote:
       | Seems like every sellout (pun?) TV news personality who writes a
       | book with their face on a giant hardback cover and the last
       | sentence of the book is the title (i.e. "and that truly was _the
       | summer of our dreams_.", "So now we have _the conscience of a
       | nation_", and so on) is deemed a NYT Bestseller. And it's so
       | quick that that credential is printed on the first edition's
       | cover!
       | 
       | I'm sure they list a lot of great books, but if you make it on
       | there you'll be in some pretty shitty company at the NYT
       | Bestsellers gala.
        
       | crobertsbmw wrote:
       | I wrote a book, Computer Engineering for Babies. I've sold about
       | 25k copies in the last 12 months, but I don't have a publisher, a
       | marketing team, or even an Amazon listing. I talked to a
       | publisher once, they told me if you sell 10k books you can easily
       | be classified as a best seller. But The NY Times, or anyone else,
       | doesn't care about some guy selling baby books out of his living
       | room, and I don't care enough about awards to try chasing them.
        
         | listenallyall wrote:
         | > I don't care enough about awards to try chasing them.
         | 
         | It's great if you're satisfied selling what you're selling, but
         | placement on the NYT list is more than just an award, it's a
         | huge marketing opportunity. Getting on the list could easily 5x
         | your sales and revenue, and have publishers and booksellers
         | knocking on your door instead of other way around.
        
         | bombcar wrote:
         | The "best selling" lists have some pretty "strict" criteria,
         | and they're all kind of lame, even if arguably some are there
         | to prevent "gaming" the system.
         | 
         | And "best selling" as a substitute for quality doesn't hold
         | that well, either.
        
           | PuppyTailWags wrote:
           | "Best selling" by the NYT has its own algorithm which weighs
           | audiobooks, ebooks, indie vs big store sales, etc. all
           | differently. Additionally I would suspect selling children's
           | books would have to compete with school-sized purchases. 25k
           | over a year is great, but in the realm of children's books
           | you're dealing with Scholastic magazines book hawking to
           | every school in the nation.
        
         | germinalphrase wrote:
         | Good work. How did you market your book?
        
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       (page generated 2022-10-14 23:01 UTC)