Yup, I'm at it again... making up words. Not sure "bestselleriness" will catch on, but I think the word and it's various derivatives could be put to good use. For example, "That book has a definite bestselleriness to it, if it's not on the list, it should be." But stop distracting me and let me get to the point.
For authors, it's clear that they want or even need their books to be bestsellers. They are judged by their publishers on those numbers and then their contracts, marketing budgets and much more are determined that way. Not to mention the fact that it's nice to know that people are reading and appreciating your work (and it will make your kids proud).
But how do YOU feel about the bestseller lists? Do they influence your buying decisions? Do you have one list that you go to regularly that best suits your tastes? Or are you a dissenter? If there is a book that "everybody" is reading, do you skip it on principle?
I personally like the lists. I think of them the same way I do Oprah (see my earlier post), as a bunch of my friends that love to read that have all said, "Yeah, I paid money for that...I read it...take a look!"
Of course, the go to badge of honor list for authors is The New York Times Bestseller List, but there are many other great lists out there as well. For example:
- The Indie Bestseller Lists (from the American Booksellers Association and all your favorite independent stores)
- The USA Today Best-selling Books Database
- Regional lists include The San Francisco Chronicle and The Southern Independent Bestsellers(SIBA)
- Barnes & Noble has their own list as does Powell's and of course Amazon
While there are lots of overlap across the lists, you can definitely see some differences on the regional lists and between online and off.
So - as with everything these days, the choice is not just "to bestseller list or not to besteller list" but if yes, then which one?
I don't have a hard and fast rule, but if I'm already on Amazon or B&N I might check their lists first out of laziness, but if I'm just poking around looking for suggestions I go to Indiebound.org. It feels like the list from people who really love books. But that could just be because I used to own an Indie.
So - tell me? Do you list? Which one? Any great ones you've found that you want to share?
-- Dana Barrett, Contributing Editor
