Latest Lists

Does the New York Times bestseller list hurt the publicity of good new books?

Many bookstores discount NYT bestsellers, which increases the sales of those books, which means they will spend more time on the NYT besteller list, which means that their price will be discounted... I just wish there was more of a way to rotate different books through those lists, so that we don't keep seeing Tuesdays with Morrie and The World is Flat and Obama's latest book week after week after week. I've got a feeling that there are a lot of good books just outside the bestseller lists that could use a good boost of publicity and price discounting.

Public Comments

1. ok..... so what's the question?
2. I completely agree with you. But if the new books are by new authors, and if the new authors published their books at a not-as-well known publishing company, it could be a lot harder for them to get on that list. There are a few exceptional books on that list, but I've read better ones that aren't on that list. That's why I tend to avoid that list and read what I want to.
3. I have never understood that reasoning either. I mean, I read a lot of mysteries, sci-fi, fantasy, thrillers, adventure, alternate history, stuff like that and there a quite a few really good books in those genres. But the NYTimes reviews always seem to reflect stuff that some idiot is doing not some one who writes for all of the public instead of just a few blighted people. Yet, for some reason, they leave 'those' books on the list. I don't think that many people actually 'read' them, I think they go someplace that has cliff notes on whatever book is a supposed bestseller, then make their ideas sound like they read it. Probably to sound more knowledgeable instead of the morons they really are to everyone around them. Of course, this is just my opinion.
4. Best selling books are not the number of books sold to individuals but what are sold to stores. In most bookstores, when you see their best selling books in the front of the store, they are there because publishers pay extra to have them placed there. In the US, the best selling books are Christian books. These books rarely make the NYT list. It wasn't until the 3rd or 4th book of the "Left Behind" series that the NYT actually started putting them on their list. Around 2000 or 2001 the NYT best seller list for hardcover fiction included "The Best Love Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Since the NYT cant' tell the difference between fiction and poetry, you shouldn't pay any attention to the Times. Go to Amazon.com to get an accurate list of what people are actually buying.
5. It's no longer about good books, but about what sells best. And yes, it has hurt good authors, both living and dead.