New York Times Bestsellers Don't Come Cheap

The New York Times best seller list is a fad. You've known it for years, I've known it for years. But the way the ranking is compiled remains a secret. Nevertheless the decision this week by a best seller's authors to abandon product placement in their book follows intense criticism from among others the NYT editorial. So what's acceptable in best seller marketing?

The secrecy surrounding best seller lists is both intriguing and a sore point. Nobody seems to have a clue about the quality of the books listed. There’s been speculation for years about a black dagger that appears next to some titles on NYT best seller books. Presumably, it’s evidence of bulk buying, but nobody really knows.

The allegation that bulk buying takes place and that it’s a crime is totally justified; after all, readers would want to think that they’re reading a book that made it to best seller status because many others thought it deserved that. But just like you can’t tell from an average book shelf whether the books on it have been read, the best seller list is also more or less a status symbol that everybody is after nevertheless.

More questionable than bulk buying is when the people that are responsible for filling up actual pages, the writers, get in on the dirt. Take Cathy’s Book: If Found Call (650) 266-8233 a NYT best seller for teenagers written by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman. The authors included 'product placement' into the book; they agreed with Cover Girl to have the protagonist wear their lipstick and by means of compensation, the book was promoted on beinggirl.com the Procter & Gamble exploit. Commercial Alert, Ralph Nader's group, took immediate offense and ordered editors and reviewers to give it thumbs down. Even The New York Times wrote a critical review. What the editors forget is that people will find it hard to believe their editorial itself is independent.

The criticism has had its effect because next Monday, the book paperback version of the book comes out without any sponsorship. I am not sure I like this. Somehow some idiots have decided it’s time to ‘protect’ teeny girlies. Or so. Despite the fact that any 11-year old knows how the world functions. I would imagine that teenagers will feel, if anything, deprived due to this action. It’s de facto signal that the corporate world is beyond fixing - yet another great message.

Marketing of books is often presumed an afterthought, but if you read the literary pages and pay attention to the war of ideologies’ sponsorships battles you won’t be surprised at the vast hinterland. Writers pay good money, it appears, to learn the tricks of the trade. One program that claims to offer up-to-date book insider tips is John Kremer’s 1001Ways to Market Your Books. “The New York Times bestseller list is essentially a work of fiction,” Kremer says on his website. “As a result, it can be — and is — manipulated by those who know how the list is compiled. Publishers do it all the time. [....] Even an unknown author can use the same techniques to propel his or her book to the top of the bestseller list,” Kremer says.

And guess what, Kremer himself is offering good money for people to preach his gospel. He offers widgets to bloggers to write about his book. To me, there’s nothing wrong with this. What I find offensive is that the very same people that push books to the top by completely hidden means now get away claiming the moral high ground by condemning product placement in a teen book. To me that reaks of deformed thinking that’s messed up beyond recognition. What’s next, the veil for teeny ‘whores’?