The New York Times Best Seller list Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Criticisms== The list has been criticized by authors, publishers, book industry executives, and others for not providing an accurate accounting of true best-seller status. These criticisms have been ongoing ever since the list originated. A book industry report in the 1940s found that best-seller lists were a poor indicator of sales, since they were based on misleading data and were only measuring fast sales. A 2004 report quoted a senior book marketing executive who said the rankings were "smoke and mirrors"; while a report in [[Book History (journal)|''Book History'']] found that many professionals in the book industry "scoffed at the notion that the lists are accurate".<ref name=miller/> Specific criticisms include: *'''Fast sales'''.<ref name=miller/><ref>J. E. Fishman, [http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/jefishman/2010/12/12-common-misperceptions-about-book-publishing/ 12 Common Misperceptions About Book Publishing], ''[[The Nervous Breakdown (magazine)|The Nervous Breakdown]]'', December 1, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2011.</ref> A book that never makes the list can actually outsell books on the best-seller list. This is because the best-seller list reflects sales in a given week, not total sales. Thus, one book may sell heavily in a given week, making the list, while another may sell at a slower pace, never making the list, but selling more copies over time. *'''Double counting'''. By including wholesalers in the polls along with retail bookstores, books may be double-counted.<ref name=miller/> Wholesalers report how much they sell to retailers, and retailers report how much they sell to customers, thus there can be overlap with the same reported book being sold twice within a given time frame. In addition, retailers may return books to wholesalers months later if they never sell, thus resulting in a "sale" being reported that never came to fruition. For example, mass-market paperbacks can see as high as 40% return rates from the retailer back to the wholesaler.<ref name=miller/> *'''Manipulation by authors and publishers'''. In 1956, author [[Jean Shepherd]] created the fake novel ''[[I, Libertine]]'' to illustrate how easy it was to manipulate the best-seller lists based on demand, as well as sales. Fans of Shepherd's radio show planted references to the book and author so widely that demand for the book led to claims of it being on the ''Times'' list.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldnews.com/bloggers/x35033844/All-I-want-for-Christmas-is-my-name-on-the-Bestsellers-List |title=All I want for Christmas is my name on the Bestseller's List |last=Lortie |first=Arthur |date=December 17, 2012 |work=The Herald News |access-date=July 8, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105035455/http://www.heraldnews.com/bloggers/x35033844/All-I-want-for-Christmas-is-my-name-on-the-Bestsellers-List |archive-date=November 5, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Wilcock |first=John |title=The Book That Wasn't |work=[[The Village Voice]] |date=August 1, 1956 |url=http://www.flicklives.com/Articles/articles.asp?ID=19560801Ab |access-date=November 9, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808001135/http://www.flicklives.com/Articles/articles.asp?ID=19560801Ab |archive-date=August 8, 2007 }}</ref> Author [[Jacqueline Susann]] (''[[Valley of the Dolls (novel)|Valley of the Dolls]]'') attempted to "butter-up" ''Times''-reporting booksellers and personally bought large quantities of her own book.<ref name=miller/> Author [[Wayne Dyer]] (''[[Your Erroneous Zones]]'') purchased thousands of copies of his own book.<ref name=miller/> [[Al Neuharth]] (''Confessions of an S. O. B.''), former head of [[Gannett Company]], had his Gannett Foundation buy two thousand copies of his own autobiography.<ref name=miller/> In 1995, authors Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema spent $200,000 to buy ten thousand copies of ''[[The Discipline of Market Leaders]]'' from dozens of bookstores.<ref name=miller/> Although they denied any wrongdoing, the book spent 15 weeks on the list. As a result of this scandal the ''Times'' began placing a dagger symbol next to any title for which bookstores reported bulk orders.<ref name=miller/> However, daggers do not always appear; for example [[Tony Hsieh]]'s ''[[Delivering Happiness]]'' was known to have been manipulated with bulk orders but did not have a dagger.<ref name=bercovici>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/02/22/heres-how-you-buy-your-way-onto-the-new-york-times-bestsellers-list/ |title=Here's How You Buy Your Way Onto The New York Times Bestsellers List |work=Forbes |author=Jeff Bercovici |date=February 22, 2013 |access-date=March 17, 2014}}</ref> Companies that contract with authors to manipulate the bestseller list through "bestseller campaigns" include [[ResultSource]].<ref name=trachtenberg>{{cite web |url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323864304578316143623600544 |title=The Mystery of the Book Sales Spike |work=[[Wall Street Journal]] |author=Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg |date=February 22, 2013 |access-date=March 17, 2014 |archive-date=March 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140305085248/http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323864304578316143623600544 |url-status=live }}</ref> *'''Manipulation by retailers and wholesalers'''.<ref name=miller/> It happens with regularity that wholesalers and retailers deliberately or inadvertently manipulate the sales data they report to the ''Times''.<ref name=miller/> Since being on the ''Times'' best-seller list increases the sales of a book, bookstores and wholesalers may report a book is a best-seller before it actually is one, in order that it might later become a "legitimate" best-seller through increased sales due to its inclusion on the best-seller list,<ref name=miller/> leading to the best-seller list becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy for the booksellers. *'''Leading data collection'''. The ''Times'' provides booksellers with a form containing a list of books it believes might be bestsellers, to check off, with an alternative "Other" column to fill in manually.<ref name=miller/> It has been criticized as a leading technique to create a best-seller list based on books the ''Times'' thinks might be included.<ref name=miller/> One bookseller compared it to a voting card in which two options for president are provided: "Bill Clinton and Other".<ref name=miller/><!--See pg. 297, a quote from bookseller--> *'''Self-fulfilling'''. Once a book makes it onto the list it is heavily marketed as a "best-seller", purchased by readers who seek out best-sellers, given preferential treatment by retailers, online and offline, who create special best-seller categories including special in-store placement and price discounts, and is carried by retailers that generally do not carry other books (e.g., supermarkets).<ref name=miller/> Thus, the list can become self-fulfilling in determining which books have high sales and remain on the list.<ref name=miller/> *'''Conflicts of interest'''. Due to high financial impact of making the list, since the 1970s publishers have created escalator clauses for major authors stipulating that if a book makes the list the author will receive extra money, based on where it ranks and for how long.<ref name=miller/> Authors may also be able to charge higher speaking fees for the status of being a best-seller.<ref name=miller/> As ''[[Book History]]'' said, "With so much at stake then, it is no wonder that enormous marketing effort goes into getting a book access to this major marketing tool."<ref name=miller/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! 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