The Truth about "Bestsellers" and Why It Matters
From the desk of Row House founder and president Rebekah Borucki:
How Secret Supremacist Systems Can Make or Break an Author's Career and Influence What You Read
As we at Row House continue to navigate white supremacy, capitalism, and the state's relentless appetite for committing genocide against Black, Brown, Indigenous, queer, and disabled bodies, we want to share with our community aspects of the publishing industry often hidden behind a veil of secrecy and deception.
Facts matter. And nuanced conversation about those facts is critical to understanding how we get free.
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The Con: Perhaps the most well-known and respected distinction in publishing— "New York Times bestseller"—is a misnomer. The NYT Bestseller list is not a list of best-selling books; it is a curated list based on sales—yes—but also secret metrics that include editorial preferences. [Somebody] could more appropriately call it an editorial "favorites" list.
The Accomplices: The NYT is not unique in this questionable practice. Many of the most prominent media outlets use a system of undisclosed determiners to assemble their bestseller lists. However, some outlets do attempt to base their lists solely on sales. USA Today and Publisher's Weekly use more accurate and transparent systems that better represent a book's performance, not its popularity.
The Impact: When the opinions of a few people in power are used to award placement on an influential list that can catapult an author and their book into stratospheric success, which demographic of authors and subject matter do you think will benefit the most? And when the list's name implies some meritocratic system, the reader is misled into thinking a book has value or credibility when it might not.
The Impact: Understanding the power of a bestseller distinction and that remarkable sales still weigh heavily on a book's chance at making even a curated list, many authors orchestrate bulk buys of their books. A bulk buy is when books are purchased in bulk, using a complicated and expensive scheme to game the system. It's a pay-to-play system, almost always done in secret, to mislead the media outlets and the readers.
The Impact: This is common among business leaders and politicians, but even some of your faves participate in this shadowy practice. Across genres, authors with connections to high net-worth individuals and organizations use bulk buys to ensure their spots on bestseller lists, creating outsized access to future book deals, speaking engagements, and other lucrative business opportunities. Yes, it happens in justice spaces and often among non-Black authors.
The Impact: Because preorders count towards first-week sales, authors and publishers without big marketing budgets or access to high net-worth benefactors may spend an excessive amount of time and resources urging readers to buy their books early and educating them on why it's so crucial to the book's success. This energy expenditure is a draining and uncomfortable practice, especially for authors not used to having to "sell themselves." But the lists matter.
What We Can Do: Celebrate when your faves become bestsellers, get glowing reviews, and receive awards. Marginalized authors and indie publishers have most likely earned every accolade in ways unmatched by those with the access and influence to buy their way onto a list. But also recognize that the best books—the ones that save lives, shift the dominant narrative, and start revolutions—often don't receive much recognition beyond the love of their small readerships.
More Things to Consider: Being a published author does not guarantee placement in large retail chains. A small group of retail buyers and shop owners determine which books get on the shelves. We at Row House dedicate significant time, money, and energy to advocating for and selling our books to national retailers whose sales reporting influences bestseller lists. Still, we encourage you to buy indie first and often whenever you can.
Call to Action: Black femme authors are the most vulnerable to being left off lists and out of review opportunities. Supporting Black femme authors and their essential work is good for the author, the industry, and you as a reader. Books remain one of our most potent weapons against ignorance, violence, and white supremacy—precisely why the movement to ban books is growing. So keep reading. Keep learning. And please stay woke—it’s a good thing.