For all authors, the allure of being labeled a “best-seller” is undeniable. It’s a badge of honor that brings prestige, credibility, and the potential for increased sales.
The criteria behind prominent lists often remain mysterious, involving a blend of curated choices and hidden algorithms. This secrecy has fueled speculation about how much traditional publishers and bookstore relationships influence which titles appear.
Being labeled a best-seller can unlock new opportunities—from heightened visibility to media coverage and event invitations. However, not all best-seller achievements are created equal:
- NYT and Major Lists: While these lists carry cultural prestige and significant exposure, their methodologies often favor traditionally published authors, creating barriers for indie writers.
- Amazon Best-Seller Lists: More accessible and transparent, Amazon’s lists reflect real-time sales data, making them an attainable and impactful goal for indie authors. Achieving a best-seller badge on Amazon can directly enhance sales, increase reviews, and improve search visibility.
- The Wall Street Journal list is particularly influential in business publishing.
- USA Today provides broad genre coverage.
How Best-Seller lists work depends on varying criteria:
- Sales Data and Reporting: The NYT collects data from selected bookstores, while Amazon’s hourly rankings reflect real-time sales. The Wall Street Journal uses NPD BookScan data, covering diverse retail channels.
- Timing: A focused sales spike within a specific period significantly influences list placement in the short term in traditional media lists. The Amazon algorithm gives limited support for spikes as an indicator of long term success.
- Editorial Decisions: Lists like the NYT are partially curated, making it challenging for indie or genre fiction authors to gain entry. They exclude titles based on internal criteria which is not transparent.
- Formats: Some lists combine print, digital, and audio, while others are format-specific.
Should indie authors target the NYT as their primary goal?
While prestigious, it can be difficult due to opaque criteria and traditional publishing biases. Instead, aiming for best-seller status within Amazon categories or on accessible lists such as USA Today offers realistic and equally impactful achievements.
- Visibility and Sales: Readers are generally indifferent to distinctions between traditional and Amazon best-seller status; visibility and quality drive sales.
- Niche Audience: Amazon best-seller status demonstrates effective audience targeting, bringing loyal readers and sustainable growth.
- Level Playing Field: Amazon’s transparency makes success attainable through strategic marketing efforts.
The rise of short fiction: Is it real & can short fiction become a bestseller?
Yes, and definitely yes.
From the 13 titles longlisted for the International Booker Prize this year, eight are under 200 pages long. Short books are winning acclaim — and readers
Short novels are 100% back. Recent examples include Samantha Harvey’s Booker-winning mini-masterpiece Orbital (144 pages) is just one example. Another is Perfection, a satire of millennial living by, Vincenzo Latronico (120 pages). Look inside your fav bookstore for lots more.
And some of the best novels ever written are short, such as:
John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men (1937) : 107 pages
George Orwell, Animal Farm (1945) : 112 pages
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) : 112 pages
James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1933) : 112 pages
Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) : 128 pages
Richard Brautigan, In Watermelon Sugar (1968) : 138 pages
For genre specific advice on how to get a short book into a best seller list see one of these posts:
1. Deep Genre & Market Assessment: Women’s Psychological Mysteries
2. Deep Genre & Market Assessment: Conspiracy & Espionage Thrillers
3. Deep Genre & Market Assessment: Steam Punk Sci-Fi
4. Deep Genre & Market Assessment: Near Future Sci-Fi
If you would like a genre assessment for your genre please comment below.
Becoming a best-seller doesn’t necessarily require placement on traditional lists like the NYT. For indie authors, genuine success lies in effectively reaching readers and growing a loyal fanbase.
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