Cracking the code on making The New York Times Best Seller List

I have figured out a shortcut path to get on the New York Times Best Seller list.  I didn’t say it would be easy. But with my approach it is certainly achievable.  Here is the scoop.

The New York Times Best Seller List is the pinnacle of status and prestige for any author.  The list was started in 1942 and adds immediate recognizable credibility to any author and expert such as myself.  The actual formula for making the list is a secret kept in that place where they keep the recipe of Coke, Colonel Sander’s 11 herbs and spices and possibly Walt Disney’s frozen head. Wikipedia does a fine job of explaining the NYT list history and some of the mechanics behind it.

There are actually several lists.  There is the main Hardcover Nonfiction List, which lists the 35 best selling books among all non-fiction categories.  This is a near impossible list to crack. The list I am shooting for with my new book ROAR! is the Hard Cover Business Best Sellers.  It’s a little easier but there are still only 15 slots on this list.

It’s not easy to make the list. There are thousands of business books published every year competing for those slots.  Having a trade publisher like Wiley helps a lot.  Currently and most often only trade published books (not self published) make the list due to the publisher’s massive distribution into the bookstores.

According to my marketing partners at Wiley, (Yes Virgina, trade publishers can be good marketing partners.) to make the list we need to sell 8,000 to 10,000 books in one week. (4,000 – 5,000 for the Wall Street Journal or USA today lists)  That’s a lot of books!  Oh and by the way, bulk sales only count as one so those of you thinking you can buy your way on to the list will be sorely disappointed.  Additionally those books can’t be bought through a single resource like Amazon. To make the list you must sell 8,000 to 10,000 books in one week through various chain, online and independent sources.  To the NYT’s credit their formula really does reflect widespread purchasing of the book.

The normal approach to making the NYT list is as follows:

About a month before the release date of the book, the publisher and author start marketing.  They will put on a PR blitz with speaking tours, interviews and magazine articles and hopefully good reviews.  The hope is to build momentum that drives sales.  The problem is that you have to build a mountain of fury to get up to 10,000 in a week.  Let’s say from day one you have great PR and people like the book.  With a moderate buzz you might hit 2000 the first week 3000 the second week, etc.  But you could sell 50,000 books in a year and still never make the list. And most business books by the way don’t sell more than about 15,000 copies to begin with.

The way the structure works, every book you sell in a week with less than 10,000 sold is a sale that won’t help you make the list.  To get those kinds of sales you really need to be a media darling, which is why most books on the list are not by unknown or first time authors.

Here is the shortcut approach I am taking:

In my marketing conversations with my publisher Wiley, I discovered a very important point.

All pre-orders count in the first week of release.

So let me get this straight, instead of waiting to market the book on April 26^th (The ROAR! release date) or even a month before, I can collect orders in advance and they will stack up in a cumulative manner?  Well this sounds a lot easier.  Here is the simple math.   Starting this week I have nearly 20 weeks to stack up 10,000 orders.  Well, selling 500 books a week sounds a lot easier than 10,000.

Still, it has to be choreographed carefully.  We’ll have to make sure the people marketing and promoting the book are sending buyers not just to Amazon but to Barnes and Noble, Borders and many independent bookstores.

Additionally we have to give people reasons to put up their money today instead of waiting until the book comes out.

All of this is manageable and is exactly what I am doing to make the list.  I will share the specific details in future blogs and update you on the status.

Until then I’ll continue on my Quest for the Jewish Super Bowl Ring (The New York Times Best Seller).  We are starting to get lot’s of great support.  This week The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur endorsed ROAR!  Come join the fun and pre-order ROAR! today.  You’ll not only help in the quest, you’ll get a fun read with great sales and marketing tools to boot.