It also means more appearances in the media. If your book is a bestseller, it all of a sudden gets more face time on bookstore shelves and other promotions. If you’re a nonfiction author, and particularly if you write business books, it means more speaking gigs, higher consulting rates, higher visibility, and an enhanced reputation. Since the publishing industry still shows great deference to these lists, hitting them significantly impacts the advance on your next book contract. However, the fact remains that having a New York Times or Wall Street Journal bestseller can greatly enhance your career. There are plenty of books that, despite never gracing the pages of the WSJ or NYT, go on to sell thousands of copies, and have a great fan base. It’s true, the bestseller lists are becoming obsolete. My goal is to shed some light on what really goes on with the two top bestseller lists-the Wall Street Journal and New York Times-and offer some information to authors who are hoping to hit them one day. So instead, I’ve decided to list point-by-point, in no particular order, the things I’ve either personally witnessed or experienced via one of my clients or colleagues in the publishing industry. I also have my hands in a few launches right now-some now finishing up, and some just getting prepped for later this year-and more and more, I’ve become incredulous at the complete disaster that are the major bestseller lists.Īs I’ve prepped to write this article, I’ve had trouble organizing all of my thoughts, data, stories, and sources into one cohesive narrative. While I haven’t tracked the Wall Street Journal list as closely, I’ve had quite a few hit that list as well. At one point, five of my clients had books on the NYT list at the same time. I’ve helped launch two #1 New York Times bestsellers, and several top five bestsellers. In various roles, I’ve bumped into the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists many times. I’ve played the role of publicist, community organizer, web developer, social media expert, and on and on. But since that time I’ve worked with hundreds of authors in just about every marketing capacity you can imagine. It’s been just 8 years since I worked on my first book launch campaign. Here’s the clip:īy most standards, I’m still new to the publishing industry. UPDATE: Bill O’Reilly found this article and invited me on his show to talk about it. Click here to scroll straight to the update. UPDATE – 2/21/17: There’s been a big change to the New York Times bestseller lists.
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