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Bestsellers, simply defined, should be books which sold the most in a given period like a week, a month or a year. However, in recent times, as the number of magazines and newspapers offering bestseller lists has exploded, the definition is no longer as clear-cut. Each bestseller list employs its own sample of stores and formulae to arrive at an estimate of how many books were actually sold in the period under consideration. Thus it is entirely possible that a book makes an appearance on one bestseller list but not on another. Of course, it would be difficult for a bestseller to miss out on a universal bestseller like Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code”.
The two major bestseller lists are the New York Times bestseller list and the Publishers weekly bestseller list. These are generic lists that tell you what the top hard-cover and paperback sellers were in a particular period. Being on one of these bestselling lists is a big deal for most authors. Given the wide acceptance of these lists, getting a book listed as a New York Times bestseller or a Publishers Weekly bestseller is a sign of publishing success besides being a guarantee of future sales. In fact authors who have made it to these bestseller lists for any of their books can hope to reap the rewards in their other books as well.
The increasing popularity of sites like Amazon.com and Barnesandnobel.com are however changing the rules of the bestselling list game. Firstly, these lists are actual sales through their sites and not an estimate. Secondly, these lists are updated many times a day, sometimes as often as hourly. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, through the use of devices like “recommendations” and “also bought” lists, the very nature of the bestseller has changed. If you want to know which the top-selling book is overall you still can, but if on the other hand all you really care about is crime fiction or romantic fiction, you can find out what the bestselling book in that particular genre is. In fact you can even find out what the bestselling books are amongst the people who share the same likes and dislikes as you!
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