Has anyone read the new James Patterson memoir "Stories of My Life" ?

[anobserver2]

53. How to Get On NYT Best Seller List

How does one get a book on the NY Times best seller list? There is a lot of information out there about this -- but I can't find the link I found a long time ago and really liked, so I will just post this one for now, which is actually pretty good, too.


https://scribemedia.com/get-best-seller-list/

Excerpt:

...And then William Blatty wrote a novel called The Exorcist (which has sold 10 million copies and became a famous movie). It sold more than enough copies to be high on the list for a long time, but initially did not appear on it.

He rightly claimed that the New York Times was intentionally excluding it for editorial reasons—the book was considered very controversial at the time—and claimed that their decision was costing him millions of dollars in sales.

He lost the case. Why?

Because the New York Times defense was that “the list did not purport to be an object compilation of information but instead was an editorial product.”

The New York Times won the case, in multiple rulings all the way up to the Supreme Court, based on the argument that the list is not supposed to be accurate, but reflects their judgment.

It is a valid legal argument…but it also means The New York Times admitted that their bestseller list is just a popularity contest, and not a list of best selling books.

In essence, they select who they will and won’t put in the “cool kids” club. It’s like high school all over again.

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The other article I liked talked about: how the NY Times wants the author to be a "leader" in their field, and other criteria along those lines, meaning: what tasks you have to do BESIDES selling your books. (I never knew you had to do ANYTHING besides selling your books!)