This is a new segment, Featured Discussion. Where, I am looking at heading with this segment is more of a opinion based discussion. There is some that will be true and fact, but for the main part I want a good discussion, and I want people to chime in and talk. I will make my opinion and comments known as well. However please, PLEASE do not insult or degrade anyone else.
Featured Discussion:
It was a while ago that I heard that bestseller lists are the same thing as favorite lists. I don't know the person personally, nor do I know they read; however, I can tell you I doubt they read at all. Bestseller lists are the furthest thing from any sort of type of favorite lists. Anyone in the book scene, and anyone who enjoys that knows this and it's not hard to prove either.
Click the image to see a full size image of the New York Times current best seller list, for Young Adults. I got this off their webpage as a great reference point, and to show just where I look to find best sellers. NY Times does a great job breaking the categories down, and keeping up to date with what's out and what people are buying.
I'm going to first look at a few things that define and point out just what is being implied by Favorite Lists and Bestseller Lists. Lets look at the definition of the two, and I will explain what I am implying by the two:
Favorite - fa·vor·ite [fey-ver-it, feyv-rit] (noun)
1. person or thing regarded with special favor or preference: That song is an old favorite of mine.
2. Sports. a competitor considered likely to win.
3. a person or thing popular with the public.
4. a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, official, etc.: favorites at the court.
Bestseller -best·sell·er [best-sel-er] (noun)
1. a book that is among those having the largest sales during a given period.
2. any product that among those of its kind is selling particularly well at a given time: This car was a bestseller last year.
So lets think about this, Favorite Lists are well lists that have books that you prefer over everything else. There is some subjectivity and personal attachment to each list to the creator. The books are favorites of that person, and more than likely no two favorite lists will be identical. However, if we look at the other realm, Bestseller lists are those that have a quantifiable outcome. There should be no difference between lists, they should all be roughly the same, given that some of the data and acquisition of the data could be slightly different but hopefully not by much.
The reason I did this was the person was referring to all books on Bestseller lists should always be on your Favorites List or Shelf. While sometimes books may appear on both, that's not the reason books are on a favorite list. The creator of the list enjoyed the book regardless of how much they spent on the book or how much the book has made overall. Again I am going back to the topic of, books should never be judged by how much they are or how much they made. You can't pinpoint a way or a statistic to say, "Yes I will like that book."
I use Bestseller Lists as a reference point, a vantage in which shows me what people are looking at and where the direction certain buyers or genres are heading. What I mean is that typically when paranormal books go viral like the Twilight series did, you'll end up seeing a spike in sales in that particular genre, not really worth looking at, but I like to keep an eye on it. It gives me a reference point to what books people are looking at, and from there I can read the synopsis and find out if it would be something I would be interested in.
The overall suggestion is that while Bestsellers show what is currently on the top of the market and what author is currently doing well, it's not a good tool to show what books will be a favorite to you and should always be on your favorite list. Look at the Best sellers and realize that this is the tool you can use to see what others are buying, what is popular and maybe find a book or two that just peaks your interest. As well, I have to say again, books should never be judged by their price tag or the sales, but by their character.
Favorite - fa·vor·ite [fey-ver-it, feyv-rit] (noun)
1. person or thing regarded with special favor or preference: That song is an old favorite of mine.
2. Sports. a competitor considered likely to win.
3. a person or thing popular with the public.
4. a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, official, etc.: favorites at the court.
Bestseller -best·sell·er [best-sel-er] (noun)
1. a book that is among those having the largest sales during a given period.
2. any product that among those of its kind is selling particularly well at a given time: This car was a bestseller last year.
So lets think about this, Favorite Lists are well lists that have books that you prefer over everything else. There is some subjectivity and personal attachment to each list to the creator. The books are favorites of that person, and more than likely no two favorite lists will be identical. However, if we look at the other realm, Bestseller lists are those that have a quantifiable outcome. There should be no difference between lists, they should all be roughly the same, given that some of the data and acquisition of the data could be slightly different but hopefully not by much.
The reason I did this was the person was referring to all books on Bestseller lists should always be on your Favorites List or Shelf. While sometimes books may appear on both, that's not the reason books are on a favorite list. The creator of the list enjoyed the book regardless of how much they spent on the book or how much the book has made overall. Again I am going back to the topic of, books should never be judged by how much they are or how much they made. You can't pinpoint a way or a statistic to say, "Yes I will like that book."
I use Bestseller Lists as a reference point, a vantage in which shows me what people are looking at and where the direction certain buyers or genres are heading. What I mean is that typically when paranormal books go viral like the Twilight series did, you'll end up seeing a spike in sales in that particular genre, not really worth looking at, but I like to keep an eye on it. It gives me a reference point to what books people are looking at, and from there I can read the synopsis and find out if it would be something I would be interested in.
The overall suggestion is that while Bestsellers show what is currently on the top of the market and what author is currently doing well, it's not a good tool to show what books will be a favorite to you and should always be on your favorite list. Look at the Best sellers and realize that this is the tool you can use to see what others are buying, what is popular and maybe find a book or two that just peaks your interest. As well, I have to say again, books should never be judged by their price tag or the sales, but by their character.
