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.
That same (crass!!) thought has crossed my mind more than once. And while I did not write to emphasize any particularly political point, I had to laugh when one of my critique group members wrote in the margin of one the reviews “Libertarians in space”. Now, recently, when trying to think how to economically (cheaply) market my first book, I’ve seriously wondered how to stick it under Libertarian noses and see if it passes their sniff test.
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Why not? If you like it and they like it, it’s a win-win!
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My first thought: “Well I write science fiction, so what special interest group could I appeal to?” Then I read your “Libertarians in space” comment. Aha! I’m kind of a libertarian; maybe I could get on board with that. If we find one or two more authors like this, then we have a whole new genre!
“Libertarians in Space” sounds like a promising title to me!
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Start the Facebook Group & send me an invite 🙂
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Trying to tune into reader likes is not a part of my thinking. I leave that to the people on Facebook with the creepy covers. Bare muscled chests, southern belles, etc.
Libertarians in Space, that’s something I’d check out. Southern belles in space, I’d give it a try. Might be great fun. GD, what’s going on with Old Spice? I adore Old Spice!
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🙂 Old Spice is now a character in a series of short stories, “Bob Vs The Aliens.” I’m submitting the stories separately here & there, with the aim of someday publishing ’em all in one book.
He will be pleased to learn that you asked about him 🙂 Maybe, once Sly is published, we can collaborate on a short story adventure featuring Sly & Old Spice?
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That is a fun idea.
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Yeah, what do they put in Old Spice. It’s like man in a bottle!
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I’m again glad that I never planned or expected to make any real money at writing. None of the best seller lists are on my radar.
I’ll write a book that shares my “personal beliefs strongly enough to entice readers who share (my) views about life” when I decide I’m running for President. Meanwhile, last evening I successfully avoided election to the post of recording secretary at the monthly meeting of my local beekeepers association.
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What I’d like to know is what that translates into for hard numbers. Okay, you were the number one selling book last year, how many copies is that? And google is letting me down. LOL
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That’s crazy! I can’t find the numbers, either. What kind of filters are they using to redirect queries as simple as, “How many copies of Ready Player One sold in 2018?”
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Right? I finally managed to get 2018 numbers for all the books in the Crazy Rich Asians series as a total. But that still is super unspecific.
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I wonder if individual authors would be willing to share their own annual sales stats if a random reader asked.
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Good thought. Try it 🙂 Any substantive response would probably be in interesting.
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