How to make a BOOK into a bestseller
The Planet Money team explores the strategies used to get a book onto the New York Times Best Seller List, examining both legitimate marketing tactics and historical attempts at manipulation. They recount bizarre schemes involving mass purchases, legal battles, and deceptive practices aimed at inflating sales figures. In the process, they discover that aggressively engineering success can sometimes backfire and prevent a book from achieving bestseller status.
- ▪The New York Times Best Seller List is a highly coveted achievement in commercial publishing.
- ▪Publishers and authors often use aggressive sales tactics in a book's early release period to boost its chances of making the list.
- ▪Historical attempts to game the list include bulk purchases, 'book laundering,' and legal disputes.
- ▪Some efforts to manipulate the list have led to unintended consequences, ultimately undermining the book's credibility.
- ▪The Planet Money team attempts to apply these strategies to their own book while uncovering the risks and ethical issues involved.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Planet Money NPR Planet Money LISTEN & FOLLOW NPR App Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music iHeart Radio YouTube Music RSS link How to make a BOOK into a bestseller May 1, 20268:24 PM ET By Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi , Jess Jiang , Willa Rubin How to make a BOOK into a bestseller Listen · 46:45 46:45 Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5785166/nx-s1-mx-5785166-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi/NPR In the world of commercial publishing, there are few crowning achievements more coveted than a place on the New York Times Best Seller List.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at NPR.
