The Dirty Secrets Behind the New York Times Bestseller List

Рет қаралды 10,659

Күн бұрын

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For many writers, becoming a New York Times bestselling author is a dream come true. After all, that means your book has become widely popular across the United States and is resonating with readers. But what actually goes into calculating the bestselling books on the list? How do you become a bestselling author who earns a spot on the list? In this video, I share some surprising facts and insights into how the New York Times creates their bestseller list.
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INSIGHTS ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST:
02:18 - What is the list?
04:16 - No one knows how it’s calculated
06:52 - Suspicious sales activities are flagged
08:35 - Preorders and week-one sales are key
10:27 - Some authors pay to get on the list
ABOUT ME:
My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with nearly a decade of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey-whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.
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Пікірлер: 44

@Redskirt Жыл бұрын

Excellent video, Alyssa. I read years ago that publishers would often buy books in bulk to inflate those numbers and get certain titles on the List. Sounds like that was incorrect. Still, there are some mysteries there. It's like the Oscars, once you realize it's not what it seems, the awards lose their appeal. Thanks for the information!

@KhadijahVBauthor Жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing this video. As a 2023 debut author, I recognize that getting on the 'List' is a wonderful extra but not something I'm measuring my book's success with.

@pedrogonzalez7974 22 күн бұрын

Great

@pedrogonzalez7974 22 күн бұрын

🎉🎉 8:02 ❤

@pedrogonzalez7974 22 күн бұрын

In my house

@Ruylopez778 Жыл бұрын

"Reflects sales" is a very clever choice of words since it doesn't define what it terms "sales" and therefore it can include or exclude figures based on it's own perspective or preference.

@nicholaslewis862 Жыл бұрын

Your channel continues to be a one of a kind insight into publishing and writing generally. Thanks, Alyssa!

@ArtByHazel Жыл бұрын

Ahhh. The cat is out of the bag, finally. ✨ I used to think about this since I’m a book lover and still a dream to write one and get published. 🤓 I had a gut feeling that the system is rigged and those authors who bought their way to the top would have the audacity to brag that they are on top of the NY times bestsellers list. 🤔 Thank you Alyssa. 💞

@cjpreach Жыл бұрын

Fascinating "behind-the-scenes" info!

@danieljackson654 Жыл бұрын

How wonderful is this. Bravo.

@nicolettacarlone8150 Жыл бұрын

So interesting! Thank you!

@cosmicphoto05 3 ай бұрын

One of the great mysteries of the universe... I've wondered how this works, so thanks for sharing! Something that comes to mind with regard to an author getting on to the NYT bestseller list is, even if the book drops off of the list after the first week, the author can forever claim the title of "New York Times Bestselling Author". Like when an actor wins an Academy Award, they can forever hold the title of "Academy Award-winning Actor"; or if they're nominated, but don't win, they can still claim "Academy Award-nominated Actor". Even if it was just once in their entire career.

@heavenbounddaughter1125 Жыл бұрын

Wow. I had no idea.

@melvindodson6827 Жыл бұрын

You àre the inspiration for me

@gabeolivermusic8038 Жыл бұрын

I was just talking about this on the Book Hangouts group📚

@tomgrant3893 Жыл бұрын

I heard an author say in an interview that that list may or may not help a book get used for other product so as Janet Evanovich once told an audience- she never knew or understood why 1 book was picked over another for movie product when they all seemed equally popular.

@andeeharry Жыл бұрын

The lists are rigged anyway, the algorithms are in charge and often they are random. There are loads of best sellers don't make it there and yet, some books that hasn't come out yet is already on the list. The thing is weird, and nobody is in charge of it, it is totally random, but the worst part of it is, you have to be a very well know celeb, or at least, sell 50,000 copies of your book per week to get a chance. That's what I heard anyway, not sure if it has chahnged

@rowan7929 Жыл бұрын

I'm curious if this would apply to authors who live in different countries. In my case from Australia. Very interesting video, thanks for the behind the scenes look.

@bodine219 Жыл бұрын

I've always assumed the "mysterious data" was a little curation. I'm not saying it's completely curated. It probably mostly isn't, but they might highlight books they just happen to like. 🤷‍♀

@Mr.H-YT42 Жыл бұрын

I love this info. I've heard before about how the NYT lists aren't strictly based insoles numbers. Puts things into perspective, thanks. Side question for your next Wednesday AAA: How would one indicate special text in a manuscript? By that I mean excerpts of text a character is reading within the story, such as a letter, a text message, a newspaper clipping, quote from a book, etc.? In a formatted book, these are handled different ways such as in an alternative font, italicized, etc. But unsure how to appropriately indicate special text within a manuscript.

@morganabourggraff132 Жыл бұрын

I would love to know how international sales are considered. If there are a lot of preorders from Amazon in Europe for example so those numbers factor in?

@TM-ez7vd Жыл бұрын

What is this "bookstand" publication you are referring to & where can we find/access it?

@asoftstring5533 Жыл бұрын

If the book has a best seller stamp, I normally don't like the blur nor the reviews I read online.

@totadol Жыл бұрын

I knew that some authors pay their way into the list because I've seen authors online who barely have any audience and they always pretend to be a success by also buying "followers" because you can see the lack of interaction of these followers

@xChikyx Жыл бұрын

as it's only in USA, I dont really care about it tbh not to mention, pretty sure NYT's best seller's list has bought places in it

@stephenbarone4053 Жыл бұрын

I’ve never bought or read a book because it has appeared on that list. If anything it has made me question the quality of both author and material.

@maritzagutierrez7267 2 ай бұрын

Can you really make a lot of money if you book gets to go into the bast seller's books?

@cjpreach Жыл бұрын

The "New York Times Best Selling Author" label means a lot. For me, that moniker would appear at the top of every subsequent book I published. (Not saying I am arrogant enough to expect the achievement, but I would use that label to the max.)

@focusandefficiency9359 Жыл бұрын

Self belief is not arrogance. Conceit, maybe.

@funfilmsforfamily142 Жыл бұрын

You forgot to mention one of the biggest reasons best selling books don’t make the list: The NY Times doesn’t agree with the books politics.

@AngelaKHarrell 9 ай бұрын

I don't believe this is true. I've seen books speaking to both parties. Most people believe that the NYT leans toward the Democrats. However, i just saw a book on the list this month (October 2023) that is called "The Democrat Party Hates America" (written by a Fox News host which certainly leans toward being a Republican majority news station). If they followed the political ideal that most people associate with their organization, I doubt that book would have ever shown up.

@garrett6064 Жыл бұрын

I didn't care about that list. I would like to be traditionally published though. That to me, is a sign that professionals in the industry thought my work was worth investing in.

@buffyshellmouthcollection 2 ай бұрын

Wow so you need a publishing company to validate whether you’re a great writer or not? Do you know that you are signing the rights to your work and you will never own it or have a say in what they do with it? Owning your work in these days in age is much better and you keep your royalty.

@garrett6064 2 ай бұрын

@buffyshellmouthcollection anyone can publish anything, even junk. But to have professionals in the industry say "We think your book is so good we're willing to spend $100,000 of our own money on it." Well what better validation is there than that. Me saying I'm a great basketball player is meaningless, but if Shaq says it...

@PatrickBiggsOBevur 22 сағат бұрын

I don’t understand why Aegon Targaryen the Conquerer being married to his two dragon riding sister-wives isn’t the top seller.

@cynthiaking5308 Жыл бұрын

The Times List is rife with authors having name recognition. John Grisham, James Patterson, Colleen Hoover.

@johnglynhughes4239 3 ай бұрын

It's a rigged game folks.

@endezeichengrimm Жыл бұрын

I've never even seen a new york times. So their list doesn't mean anything.

@refrenlix 5 ай бұрын

Awfully done

@genius2005 Жыл бұрын

NYT has always been "fake news", so while I enjoy a lot of your content, I've always cringed when you referred to their best seller list a lot of the times as some sort of standard bearer for success.

@user-ke6wx8vs9x Жыл бұрын

F Newyork times bestseller list is Democrat party BS.. My book sold more then double their #1 for more then a month on Amazon. Then my book gets taken off market.. C'mon man. It's a scam!