What Does It Mean to Have a Bestselling Book?

And does it make a difference?

Most of us have picked up a book in a bookshop or seen someone post on social media that their book is a bestseller. But what does that really mean? Of course, for different writers, it has different meanings.

The New York Times bestseller list is one every writer dreams of getting on, but most never do. On a smaller scale, you can become a bestseller on Amazon just by ranking number 1 in a specific genre — the more obscure, the better. There is a list for each genre in the free and paid lists. If you can reach enough people and get them to download a free copy of your eBook, you can be ranked number 1 for free books in your specific genre. I’ve done it myself. There’s a method to getting your book listed as free, despite Amazon having a minimum price, and there are lots of newsletters you can pay to be listed in on the same day to increase awareness of your free book.

To be blunt, it wasn’t worth it. While it was nice to see myself as number 1, I didn’t run around proclaiming myself as a bestseller. Those in the know would be aware of how my book got there, and I would look like an idiot. That’s not why I did it. I hoped that people who bought the book would buy the next book in the series.