02-04-2011, 02:36 PM | #1 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 75
Karma: 725480
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Los Angeles
Device: Kindle
|
This is Big...New York Times' First E-Book Bestseller List
The NYT unveils its first e-book bestseller list next week. Yes, friends, the world is changing.
The number one non-fiction e-book will be Laura Hillenbrand's powerful World War II story, "Unbroken," which I'm currently reading. James Patterson's "Tick Tock," which I'm not reading, will be numero uno in fiction. But the contents of the list are not as important as this FACT: E-Books are gaining momentum at a dizzying pace and will soon dominate the market. Then, how about this stat from Steve Windwalker of Kindle Nation Daily? In March 2008, there were 100,000 Kindles in use. At Christmas 2010, there were 11 million. And by Christmas this year, the estimate is 22 million. Yowza! Your thoughts? Paul Levine "The Jake Lassiter Series" |
02-04-2011, 03:27 PM | #2 |
Professional Contrarian
Posts: 2,045
Karma: 3289631
Join Date: Mar 2009
Device: Kindle 4 No Touchie
|
I guess. IIRC they announced they were doing this a few months ago, though.
|
Advert | |
|
02-04-2011, 06:38 PM | #3 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,302
Karma: 2607151
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Toronto
Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo
|
It is big, and thanks for the note that the list is actually coming to market (there was a somewhat heated discussion about it a few weeks ago).
Not only is it the first mainstream consumer-oriented e-book best-seller list, it's from the New York Times. It is another notch in the "we're here to stay" belt of e-books. Cool! |
02-04-2011, 06:55 PM | #4 | |
~~~~~
Posts: 761
Karma: 1278391
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: USA
Device: Kindle 3, Sony 350
|
Quote:
Not that I think Patterson isn't popular or couldn't have climbed that high this fast, but he for sure got credit for a sale from me, even though I ordered his book only because it was free, and figured my sister might want to, and I was afraid she might miss the window. (she didn't) He would not have made those 2 sales had they not been free. So, do you all think counting free books weakens the meaning of the best seller list? |
|
02-04-2011, 07:20 PM | #5 |
Professional Contrarian
Posts: 2,045
Karma: 3289631
Join Date: Mar 2009
Device: Kindle 4 No Touchie
|
I don't believe free books count.
If publishers or retailers choose to sell books at a lower price to get a higher sales ranking, that's their choice. Pretty much the same as always, I'd assume. |
Advert | |
|
02-05-2011, 08:59 AM | #6 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,717
Karma: 3790058
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: NYC
Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650
|
I am also interested to see how many will be agency books and how many have promotional pricing.
|
02-05-2011, 10:50 AM | #7 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 8,478
Karma: 5171130
Join Date: Jan 2006
Device: none
|
The NYT lists have always been skewed by paid promotion... and the new ebook lists will also favor promotion through the traditional markets.
Suppose, for example, that I hit a ball out of the park and sold 10 million copies of a book... through my own website? NYT will never see those stats, and I won't be on their list. Only if I sold well through one of their traditional channels (existing publishers and booksellers, or now, Amazon and B&N ebook services) would I be noticed. So, this might be progress, but there are still a lot of holes in their methodology, making this a limited step forward. |
02-05-2011, 11:16 AM | #8 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,449
Karma: 58383
Join Date: Jul 2009
Device: Kindle, iPad
|
Quote:
|
|
02-05-2011, 11:56 AM | #9 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 8,478
Karma: 5171130
Join Date: Jan 2006
Device: none
|
Quote:
|
|
02-05-2011, 12:05 PM | #10 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,449
Karma: 58383
Join Date: Jul 2009
Device: Kindle, iPad
|
Quote:
The key is, the sales have to be verifiable. If an independent could prove a significant number of sales, I doubt the list compilers would ignore those sales. People in mainstream publishing are a key audience for the bestsellers list; they want to know who the competition is. Smaller sales aren't counted on this list purposely; it's a bestsellers list. Last edited by Maggie Leung; 02-05-2011 at 12:08 PM. |
|
02-05-2011, 03:35 PM | #11 |
Is that a sandwich?
Posts: 8,220
Karma: 101696762
Join Date: Jun 2010
Device: Nook Glowlight Plus
|
Is there a reliable way for the NYT to poll the thousands of indie authors to get their sales figures?
Then price will be a factor also. Those 99c indie books may have high sales due to impulse buying. |
02-05-2011, 04:47 PM | #12 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,302
Karma: 2607151
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Toronto
Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo
|
Realistically, how many indie authors are going to be missed in a top ten? And, if this were to come to light, the New York Times and its compilers will figure out a way to properly reflect this. Certainly, in order to compile a top ten, you don't need to poll thousands of indie authors. I wonder if there will be an input mechanism from smaller publishers to ensure they get included -- flagging something they believe might be missed?
And, it will be a work in progress in the coming months as the category grows and the compilers figure out the best way to gather the data. |
02-05-2011, 07:10 PM | #13 |
Scott Nicholson, author
Posts: 363
Karma: 2029337
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Boone NC
Device: Kindle
|
Yawn. Amanda Hocking is probably the #1 bestselling e-book author right now and you won't find her on any list. She's already sold half a million copies without a publisher. Amazon will NEVER reveal its sales data and they have most of the ebook sales data in the world--certainly far more than Bookscan or any individual publishers.
This list is a joke. Look who publishes it, and who they represent. The bestseller lists have always been made and not born, and this is only meaningful to a few dozen people in NY who keep holding onto their hopes and fantasies instead of reality. The bestseller list already exists--at Amazon. Take Top 9 at Amazon, then take one from BN, and repeat to 100, and you will be closer to reality than the NYT list. Scott Nicholson Scott Nicholson Last edited by Scott Nicholson; 02-05-2011 at 07:12 PM. |
02-05-2011, 08:16 PM | #14 |
Is that a sandwich?
Posts: 8,220
Karma: 101696762
Join Date: Jun 2010
Device: Nook Glowlight Plus
|
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/books/11list.html
This article does say that the NYT will include online retailers which they exclude for the print book list. They also say that they will have to calculate the figures differently than they do their other list to account for the differences and manipulation attempts. When you think of it ... it is no easy task. Some ebooks perhaps Ms Hocking's are 99c and available worldwide while most others are only to US. One book has 6 billion potential customers and the other 320 million. That has to be accounted for somehow. Then there is the old lower the price to 99c to generate sales and reviews then raise it to $9.99 to rake in the dough trick. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/books/23kindle.html |
02-05-2011, 08:40 PM | #15 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,449
Karma: 58383
Join Date: Jul 2009
Device: Kindle, iPad
|
Quote:
The thing with various lists (there are many besides the NYT one) is that they will always be limited by their parameters, collection points, etc. The NYT one has been manipulated by authors before (info is available on Google), too. For my reading, I don't find such lists useful. Last edited by Maggie Leung; 02-05-2011 at 08:44 PM. |
|
Tags |
bestsellers, jake lassiter, new york times, paul levine |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
NY Times Bestseller Brandon Sanderson is AWESOME | DaronFraley | Reading Recommendations | 11 | 02-16-2011 11:56 AM |
NY Times bestseller lists will soon include ebooks | Kris777 | News | 5 | 11-21-2010 08:06 AM |
Fictionwise - Bestseller List | MelC | Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) | 9 | 09-01-2009 11:40 PM |
New York Times recipe | madrone26 | Calibre | 4 | 04-02-2009 01:13 PM |
BIG BOOK LIST ...but... | mariaperreta | Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) | 1 | 12-11-2008 11:31 AM |