But searching for information about either the publisher or the author leads to… almost nothing. Handbook for Mortals was being billed as the first novel from the publishing arm of the website GeekNation. Not just in the sense that it flew under the radar while people were looking at other things, but in the sense that literally nobody ever heard of it until just before it hit the bestseller list. At the very least, if you’re aiming for the hardcover bestseller list, there’s an actual book that you can buy and read if you so choose.īut Handbook for Mortals came out of nowhere, Pajiba explains. But even then, there’s usually some attempt at promotion, or some kind of marketing. Smaller publishers don’t necessarily work the same way. There’s a system, and folks in the industry expect it to work. Bloggers blog, influencers influence, and readers gossip.

Industry publications get notices, PR sends out praise, and reviewers get copies. Out of nowhereĪ large publisher like HarperCollins has a whole process behind book releases. The same, however, cannot be said of its successor on the list. Basically, exactly what you expect when you think, “book.”

It’s published by HarperCollins, a major house, and you can buy paper or electronic copies, in several formats, from bookstores, Amazon, or the publisher directly. The new top dog is Handbook for Mortals, by Lani Sarem.Īpart from its content or fan base, The Hate U Give is, in a publishing sense, a perfectly normal book. And this week, The Hate U Give was finally displaced from its number one slot. There’s even a film adaptation in progress, starring Amandla Stenberg.īut of course, nothing lasts forever even the most popular book, novel, or film eventually falls in the rankings. The novel is a genuine blockbuster at this point, Pajiba reports, with a strong fan base and lots of publisher buzz behind it. What happened?įor the last 25 weeks, the top of the New York Times bestseller list for YA books has been The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas. Media news site Pajiba did a deep-dive investigation into one new book’s sudden - and improbable - appearance on the list. So how did a book that very few people have heard of, by a new author, from a new publisher, and with no real publicity push behind it suddenly rocket to the top spot on a NYT bestseller list? But several in the publishing industry felt that this instance was something different, claiming there were not the usual signs that any readers were rushing out in droves to buy this title. Seemingly out-of-nowhere hits do happen a super-famous person will mention a little-known title and sales soar. That’s what happened this week on the Young Adult fiction chart, where the reigning champion of the last six months just got booted out by an upstart.

So how did a book that barely exists and nobody ever heard of manage to become a bestseller? The prerequisite for the list, is, of course, selling lots of copies of your book. Reaching number one is a coveted spot that not only allows you to sell more copies of your book, but also lets you put “NYT Bestselling Author” in front of your name on your next one. The New York Times bestseller list is, at this point, an institution.

Best books to read 2017 nytimes