When is a bestseller not necessarily a bestseller?
When is a bestseller not necessarily a bestseller?
Image source, Islandstock/Alamy Stock Photo
Authors and publishers s all want to sell enough books to have a bestseller. But is a bestseller always a bestseller? Not necessarily if a publisher has paid to be on a store's best-selling shelves, or if staff base rankings on what they predict will be popular.
Books are big business, and 2021 has been a banner year. With more people buying and reading books during the pandemic, sales hit a record £1.8 billion.
The Front Row program of BBC Radio 4 has found that publishers often pay booksellers to be in their stores and, in one case, on its bestseller list.
WH Smith has shelves of books in numbered positions under "new and bestseller".
A publisher has shared an email with Front Row detailing their negotiations with the chain store over a new book.
In the email, WH Smith was asking for £2,000 in exchange for promotional space, including a position on the fiction charts - as long as sales justified it - and the book of the week slot.
The channel says its book rankings aren't just based on the number of copies sold.
Authors and publishers s all want to sell enough books to have a bestseller. But is a bestseller always a bestseller? Not necessarily if a publisher has paid to be on a store's best-selling shelves, or if staff base rankings on what they predict will be popular.
Books are big business, and 2021 has been a banner year. With more people buying and reading books during the pandemic, sales hit a record £1.8 billion.
The Front Row program of BBC Radio 4 has found that publishers often pay booksellers to be in their stores and, in one case, on its bestseller list.
WH Smith has shelves of books in numbered positions under "new and bestseller".
A publisher has shared an email with Front Row detailing their negotiations with the chain store over a new book.
In the email, WH Smith was asking for £2,000 in exchange for promotional space, including a position on the fiction charts - as long as sales justified it - and the book of the week slot.
The channel says its book rankings aren't just based on the number of copies sold.
Image source, Islandstock/Alamy Stock Photo
