The New York Times Best Seller list

The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States.^[1][2] It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication. The best-seller list has been ongoing since April 9, 1942.

History

The list is composed by the editors of the "News Surveys" department, not by The New York Times Book Review department, where it is published. It is based on weekly sales reports obtained from selected samples of independent and chain bookstores and wholesalers throughout the United States. The sales figures are widely believed to represent books that have actually been sold at retail, rather than wholesale,^[3] as the Times surveys booksellers in an attempt to better reflect what is purchased by individual buyers. Some books are flagged with a dagger indicating that a significant number of bulk orders had been received by retail bookstores.

The exact methodology used in creating the list is classified as a trade secret.^[4] In 1992, the survey encompassed over 3,000 bookstores as well as "representative wholesalers with more than 28,000 other retail outlets, including variety stores and supermarkets."^[4]

The lists are divided among fiction and non-fiction, print and e-book, paperback and hardcover; each list contains fifteen to twenty titles. Expanded lists that show additional titles are available online through the Book Review website. The lists have been subdivided several times. In early 1984, the "Advice, How-to and Miscellaneous" list was created because advice best-sellers were crowding out the general non-fiction list.^[5] In July 2000, the "Children's Best Sellers" was created after the Harry Potter series had stayed in the top spots on the fiction list for an extended period of time.^[6] The children's list was printed once a month until Feb. 13th 2011 when it was changed to once an issue (each week). In September 2007, the paperback fiction list was divided into "trade" and "mass-market" sections, in order to give more visibility to the trade paperbacks that were more often reviewed by the newspaper itself.^[7] In November 2010, The New York Times announced it would be tracking e-book best-seller lists in fiction and nonfiction starting in early 2011.^[8] "RoyaltyShare, a San Diego-based company that tracks data and aggregates sales information for publishers, will .. provide [e-book] data".^[8] The two new e-book lists were first published with the February 13, 2011 issue, the first tracks combined print and e-book sales, the second tracks e-book sales only (both lists are further sub-divided into Fiction and Non-fiction). In addition a third new list was published on the web only which tracks combined print sales (hardcover and paperback) in fiction and nonfiction.

Effect on book sales

A Stanford Business School analysis^[9] found that the majority of book buyers use the Times' list for buying ideas. The study concluded that lesser-known writers get the biggest benefit from being on the list, while perennial best-selling authors such as Danielle Steel or John Grisham see no benefit of additional sales.

The best-seller list may not be a reflection of overall book sales; a book that never makes the list can outsell books on the best-seller list.^[10] This is because the best-seller list reflects sales in a given week, not total sales. Thus, one book may sell heavily in a given week, making the list, while another may sell at a slower pace, never making the list, but selling more copies over time.

Controversies

In 1995, the authors of a book called The Discipline of Market Leaders colluded to manipulate their book onto the best seller charts. The authors allegedly purchased over 10,000 copies of their own book in small and strategically placed orders at bookstores whose sales are reported to Bookscan. Because of the ancillary benefits of making The New York Times Best Seller list (speaking engagements, more book deals, and consulting) the authors felt that buying their own work was an investment that would pay for itself. The book climbed to #8 on the list where it sat for 15 weeks, also peaking at #1 on the BusinessWeek best seller list. Since such lists hold the power of cumulative advantage, chart success often begets more chart success. Although such efforts are not illegal, they are considered unethical by publishers.^[11]

In 1999, Amazon.com announced a 50 percent decrease in price for books on the Best Seller List to beat its competition, Barnes and Noble.^[12] After a legal dispute between Amazon and The New York Times, Amazon was permitted to keep using the list on condition that it displayed it in alphabetical rather than numerical order.^[13] Since 2010 (or earlier), this is no longer the case. Amazon now displays the best-seller list in order of best selling titles first.^[14]

See also

• List of bestselling novels in the United States
• List of The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers
• List of The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers
• List of The New York Times Manga Best Sellers
• Bestseller

References

1. ^ John Bear, The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times bestsellers since the first list, 50 years ago, Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1992.
2. ^ Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), Chairman, Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection, said "the New York Times best-seller list is widely considered to be one of the most authoritative lists of which books are selling the most in American bookstores" during his Opening Statement for Hearing on H.R. 1858 on June 15, 1999.
3. ^ "Blatty Sue Times on Best-Seller List", from The New York Times, August 29, 1983.
4. ^ ^{a b} Edwin Diamond (1995). Behind the Times: Inside the New New York Times. Page 364
5. ^ New York Times Book Review, "TBR: Inside the list". February 24, 2008. page 26.
6. ^ Bestseller Math. November 12, 2001.
7. ^ "Up Front". The New York Times Book Review: p. 4. September 23, 2007. "it gives more emphasis on the literary novels and short-story collections reviewed so often in our pages" 
8. ^ ^{a b} Julie Bosman, "Times Will Rank E-Book Best Sellers", New York Times, November 10, 2010.
9. ^ "Readers Tap Best-Seller List for New Authors", Stanford Business Magazine, February 2005. Accessed December 2006. See also Alan T. Sorensen, Bestseller Lists and Product Variety: The Case of Book Sales, May 2004.
10. ^ J. E. Fishman, 12 Common Misperceptions About Book Publishing, The Nervous Breakdown, December 1, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
11. ^ "Did Dirty Tricks Create a Best-Seller?". Stern, Willy. August 1995. http://www.businessweek.com/archives/1995/b343648.arc.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-28. 
12. ^ Who owns the New York Times bestseller list? , by Scott Rosenberg, Salon.com, June 23, 1999
13. ^ Amazon.com and The New York Times Settle Legal Dispute Over Use of Times Best Sellers List, Business Wire, August 9, 1999.
14. ^ New York Times Bestseller list at Amazon.com.

External links

• The New York Times Best Seller List (current)
• The New York Times Best Seller List (historical)
• Previous Fiction #1 Best Sellers
• Previous Non-Fiction #1 Best Sellers
• Controversy Regarding New Children's List