What Makes A Bestseller?

When you see a book advertised as a bestseller, what do you think? Maybe that it has sold thousands of copies, possibly even millions?  Or that it made the NYT bestseller list or some other equally prestigious list? That used to be so until recently. But now with the explosion of self-publishing, the number of bestselling lists have expanded to include all the online retailers who each have their own (based on only their sales) and offer so many category breakdowns that if you are lucky enough to be able to pigeon hole your book into a rarely used category, you could be top of the bestselling list with only a handful of sales!

True, you might have the bestselling book of the moment in a particular category with a particular retailer, but is it really honest to then claim forever more that you are a bestselling author?  And what if, as can happen with online rankings, that you only top the list for an hour or so?

Until fairly recently Amazon included the number of free books downloaded in its calculations of ‘bestselling’. However when some free books started reaching higher numbers than those paid for, Amazon changed their algorithms so that free books still contributed to the rankings but at a fraction of the rate of paid books. (At the same time they also introduced separate rankings purely for free books – so you still have a chance at hitting a high ranking on a list, but potential buyers know that it was through free copies.)  Given that some people will download free books even if they have no intention of reading them, it does seem misleading to lump them all into the same rankings list.

 A ‘bestselling’ label can have a major effect on book sales so it’s understandable why authors are keen to be included in that group, but if the author achieves that status with consistently free or very low cost books in a obscure category then there is no guarantee to other readers that the books are worthy of their consideration and, if it seems that almost every book is by a ‘bestselling’ author, there is a danger that the term will become meaningless.

What do you think? Do you pay any attention to any best-seller lists when choosing what to read? Do you think there should be an accepted minimum number of sales before an author can claim to have a best-seller? If so, what figure would you say was worthy of that claim? 

Mel Parish is the author of 'Ulterior Motives' and 'Silent Lies' and hopes that one day she may genuinely be able to proclaim herself as a bestselling author, but for now is just pleased to be published. For more info go to: www.melparish.com