Who Decides Which Books Become Bestsellers?

“For decades, many of the authors who hit the bestseller lists had elite educations and loads of connections in the literary world, making it tough for anyone without those privileges. But Colleen Hoover, who in 2022 had three (three!) top books of the year, threw all of that out the window. She started by self publishing. Is her path a new road, or is it a singular phenomenon?” -Bethanne Patrick

BP: “Who knew when we started Season 2 of Missing Pages that I’d be talking about something called ‘wolfkink’, derived from the series ‘Supernatural’? Learning the hair-raising truth behind fanfiction battles over copyright involved looking at the millions of stories generated, based on the lore of favorite series and adaptations. Does that power fall into the hands of the reader, or the writer? What about original copyright holders? Collective storytelling is alive and well in the fanfiction universe, although a collective bestseller might be some ways off.”

BP: “Yes, Otherppl with Brad Listi is also a production of The Podglomerate, but it’s also been running since 2011, and ‘Craftwork’ episodes like this one are carefully tailored to an audience of writers. I find Listi’s voice incredibly soothing, which is helpful when hearing about infuriating things like bestseller lists. Here he speaks with Carly Watters, a ‘very online’ literary agent and co-host of ‘The Shit No One Tells You About Writing’ podcast, whose insights on the whole process have that boots-on-the-ground feel that you can’t replicate without real expertise.”

BP: “Constance Grady covers publishing for Vox and her writing is fast, funny, accurate, and relevant. Although this piece about bestseller lists is from 2017, it’s an excellent introduction to the major bestseller lists, as well as the major controversies that people ask about regularly. Grady writes that these lists are attempts ‘to impose order and meaning on a chaotic, amorphous system.’”

BP: “Alyssa Matesic once worked for Penguin Random House, that Broadway behemoth that recently failed in its bid to acquire Simon & Schuster, and Matesic continues to use her considerable talents to create terrific BookTube videos about the publishing industry. She knows what she’s talking about and she updates her channel regularly, meaning she’ll soon put me out of a job – but will always help you navigate industry conundrums.”

BP: “Tucker Max is the CEO of a self-publishing company called Book in a Box, but this piece for Entrepreneur magazine focuses less on how to self publish than it does on why a self-published author might not want to worry about the various bestseller lists, and he has some excellent points. As he writes, every bestseller list is limited in some way, and I find his perspective bracing: Entrepreneurs need to write the best possible book for the goal they want to achieve.”

BP: “This late-October piece embodies ‘Show, don’t tell,’ with its infographics about the New York Times Bestseller list, Journalist Katharine Laidlaw makes a firm point about how chaotic the math is while reminding readers how important that List remains – which is, of course, why we all still read articles about it even as we know it’s skewed and inaccurate.”

BP: “Whenever Sophie Vershbow writes for Esquire, I wish the longtime men’s magazine could exclusively cover arts and culture, because I learn more about book-publishing from her articles than I sometimes did while working directly with its top players. In this look at the New York Times Bestseller list, Vershbow made me laugh but also made my eyes pop out of my head when I learned that there’s a company running campaigns to help authors land on the Gray Lady’s charts.”

BP: “Sometimes, in Missing Pages, I become part of the story (see Season One’s ‘Inventing Anna’ episode), because I do so many different things in the book world. In 2022, when the Department of Justice versus Penguin Random House trial took place, I was part of the Publishers Weekly team reporting on the proceedings, a trial that pulled back the curtain on an industry so enigmatic, not even the publishing executives on the witness stand were able to give clear answers about how the manuscript-to-book process works. The outcome of that trial will affect book publishing in many ways, perhaps including how future bestsellers are acquired and promoted in house.”