Amazon’s new bestseller list shows what people are actually reading

PanARMENIAN.Net - Amazon on Thursday, May 18 is launching a new bestseller list called Amazon Charts, which will track the top 20 books that have sold the best on any given week and the 20 books being read the most, The Verge says.

While Amazon already has a number of hourly bestseller lists across a broad range of genres, this list will provide a more stable snapshot of the week’s bestselling and best-read books. The list will be broken into two broad categories: the top 20 books read and purchased in fiction and the top 20 in nonfiction. The list will incorporate data from three places: physical books bought through the site’s storefront, Kindle books, and Audible audiobooks. The list will track the sales, borrows, and preorders, in an attempt to present a look at what Amazon’s customers are reading.

The team stressed that this list wasn’t going to replace the numerous hourly lists present on the site that get broken down by category. Rather, this new list will provide a week-long snapshot of sales and reading data.

Bestseller lists are a huge tool used by readers and publishers alike. Major lists like those found in The New York Times, LA Times, and other publications can lead to huge exposure and new sales for authors. These lists are important, especially in specific categories, because of the exposure they bring. The New York Times recently culled its bestseller lists down to 14 categories, prompting outcry from authors and publishers alike. The team behind Charts notes that Amazon’s list will likewise be useful to publishers, and includes some specific data, like an author’s agent, alongside the books on the list.