"new bestseller" - what does that description mean

[richardfinch]

when in a shop i see reading books described as"new bestseller" how can they be new and a bestseller? can every book be described as a bestseller? are there now rules for trade description or similar?

[andy-hughes]

The phrase usually infers that the author has already had previous books designated as best sellers, and this is his or her latest book, the inferencec being that it will also be a best seller.

I can see that it is not clear that this is a matter of expectation - but it may well reflect advance orders for the book in hardback which have rendered it a best sel;ler as a hardback - since the blurb is usually used on the covers of paperback editions.

Hope this clears up the confusion.

[saxy_jag]

It can also be relative in addition to what andy-hughes says. Ten thousand copies sold may be nothing to a big name publisher like Penguin or Harper Collins, but to a smaller, independent publisher, it may well be the best-selling author/book they've ever had.

I think it's mostly a marketing technique, but I know there is a whole set of Top Ten selling books in various categories in The Bookseller</> (national book trade press) each week, and that runs pretty much like whatever the definitive pop chart is to the music world (sorry, I don't follow the charts these days). Basically, if you've appeared in The Bookseller</> Top Ten, then you can officially call yourself a best selling author.

[Buenchico]

Further to the excellent posts from Andy and SJ:

Some books now become genuine 'best sellers' (i.e. they top the sales rankings) well before they're even released. That's because websites like Amazon accept advance orders. So, for example, anything by J K Rowling is likely to be number one in the sales charts well before it's actually published. When the book finally hits the shelves, it can be legitimately advertised both as 'new' and as a 'best seller'.

Chris

[Ethel]

And it can be a bestseller in hardback, before being published in paperback

[marwel7]

The other one that always amused me was when a book was reissued with a tv/film tie-in cover the blurb always said it was a major tv/film.