A best seller? Really? These days you can’t be so sure.
Have you noticed all of the best-selling books and authors out there lately? You can’t browse three pages of Amazon book listings before coming across a title or author claiming “best seller” status. Although the explosion of eBooks and digital self-publishing has led to the discovery of many wonderful writers, the emergence of so many publishing platforms and eBook stores has made it much easier for writers to brand themselves as best-selling authors, a claim that, unfortunately, can be misleading these days.
I’m guessing when many of you see or hear the phrase “Best-Selling Book” or “Best-Selling Author,” you think New York Times Best Seller, which is still the gold standard when it comes to best-selling books. But what about…oh, I don’t know…the Amazon Best Sellers lists, for example? Truth is it’s all a bit confusing.
Let’s say an Amazon eBook hits #1 in its paid category, like Teen Literature & Fiction, for example. Does that give the author the right to claim an Amazon Best Seller? Or would that mislead people into thinking #1 Amazon Overall Best Seller, which is an entirely different (and far more coveted) beast? My hunch is the author should state something specific, like “Best-Seller in Teen Fiction & Literature” (or whatever category/categories the book hit #1 in).
The problem is many self-publishing authors fail to be specific with their best-seller claims. Instead, they reach the top of some ridiculously narrow online eBook store category and succumb to the temptation of shouting “I wrote a best seller!” or “I’m a best-selling author!” to the rest of the world.
Don’t get me wrong, making it to the top of any “best seller list” is a nice achievement, but with so many book categories and ways to reach the top, the significance and esteem of the phrase “best seller” has lost much of its luster, unfairly punishing authors who legitimately work their tails off to hit number one in broader categories that are more difficult to summit.
But things get really deceptive when it comes to those “Best-Selling FREE Kindle Book Lists” you see all over Amazon. I’m an Amazon author. I love Amazon. My beef here has nothing to do with Amazon as a company, but think about this: How can a book be free and best-selling at the same time? It’s impossible! In fact, the notion of a “free best seller” is nothing but a big fat oxymoron. Again, it’s a nice achievement to be #1, but is it fair to claim Best Seller on a work that was free? I think not.
My latest novel spent three consecutive days at #1 in Amazon’s Teen Literature & Fiction Best Selling FREE eBook list. I was thrilled. I never imagined topping a list like that, but all it means is that I gave away a lot of FREE eBooks, meaning I have no right to stick a generic tag like “Best Seller” on my novel. I suppose I could say “Spent three days at #1 in Amazon’s Teen Literature & Fiction Best Selling FREE eBook list,” but who cares about that?
Bottom line: This whole issue is still evolving, but I don’t think it’s too early to propose an ethical rule for authors that goes something like this: “Please Be As Specific As Possible In Regards To Any Best Seller Claims.”
And for all of you readers out there, you might want to do some digging on any self-published eBook touting the generic claim “Best Seller,” because it might not be as impressive as it sounds.
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Ryan Potter’s latest novel, Roman King and the Armies of Fire and Light, is available in the Kindle Store for only $2.99.
Filed under: Books, eBooks, Publishing, Reading, Writing Tagged: best seller lists, best sellers, best-selling books, books, direct publishing, fiction, free Kindle books, Kindle, Kindle Store, reading, self-publishing
