Most Copies Sold 2018 and Crass Thoughts

Here’s the 10 books that sold the most copies last year.

1. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
2. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
3. The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn
4. The President Is Missing by James Patterson and Bill Clinton
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
6. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
7. The Outsider by Stephen King
8. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
9. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
10. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

This is not the list that you find when your search phrase is, “best sellers, 2018.” Amazon has a different list to sell you, different from Barnes & Noble, and Google lists quite different “best sellers” from various newspapers and book sites. These different lists demonstrate how difficult it now is to find truth on the Internet, even when you just want to know something as simple as what books were the best sellers last year.

Many sites will mislead you into thinking their list is “the” best sellers list. They are pushing an agenda, of course. Maybe commercial, or political, or just books that benefit their (funded-by-donations) cause. I’m not saying this is wrong, just, you know, saying it is.

You could even take advantage of the situation. We all know that writing a book similar to the real top 10 most-sold books might help your sales ride their coattales. But what about writing a book that a special interest will find promotes their agenda? Why not include your personal beliefs strongly enough to entice readers who share your views about life? Pitch it to special interests who just might promote you because it helps them to do so.

I know, I know. Crass. But these thoughts did occur to me, thanks to today’s media climate. Maybe, next week, I’ll atone by blogging for writer’s purity.