Just an idea, it might be good to post a link to the chapter in your book in which you discuss bestseller lists. That way, my readers could “sample the brew” and then, hopefully, buy the book.

By the way, I have bought your tapes in the past and thought they were excellent.

All the best,

Mike

Your post is fascinating! You raise some very valid points, especially the distinction between “trade books” and all other books (e.g., text books).

Thanks for the link,

Mike

You may get a kick out of a blog posting I wrote about bestseller lists a few years back …

http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/2003/07/bestseller_lists.html

Thanks for your feedback. I agree with you. We are living in the “Age of Transparency.” This is why it is easy for me to share information. Competive advantage is not the information itself. It is all about knowing what to do with the information. This is also a case where we need to stop trying to protect our slice of the pie and focus on making the pie bigger for everyone. The former will only lead to declining sales and market share. The latter may just lead to growth in sales and market share.

Regards,

Mike

Their tight-fistedness is somewhat understandable, as some have invested huge sums of of money setting up data collection and distribution models. However, the sad reaility is that we will never have a truely complete and accurate list until the POS data for ALL channels becomes openly available.

My encouragement to those who have their hands on individual buckets of data is to understand we are in a post-information age where everyone has access to knowledge to a point where having knowledge is not as valuable as knowing what to do with it.

Thanks again Mike – no easy solution is forthcoming, but dialog such as this is a step in the right direction.

In November on Forensics and Faith, I ran a four-day post on bestseller lists both in CBA and ABA. Since I’m no expert in this area, I had to do quite a bit of research to see how each is put together. A couple things I discovered in that research:

Michelle–yes, it would be great to have WalMart data, but the company apparently refuses to give it to anybody. They have no interest in bestsellers lists; they’re only interested in what they sell, and to them that’s proprietary info.

Terry: The periodicals seem to like how their lists work, even though they know they’re inaccurate. These periodicals are geared toward their own clientele, and their lists for the most part reflect that type of consumer. Besides, the NYT is considered king, so why should it change? (BTW, I was astounded in reporting how the NYT list is created. The thing’s front-loaded with major publisher’s “big books.”)

At the least, I just wish CBA could get its act together and produce a decent list within the industry. But with many stores refusing to report their data, including the entire Family chain, our list is really inaccurate. A CBA official hinted to me that this is about to change–”watch for news at the January Expo.” We shall see.

~ Brandilyn

The big problem is that you need two willing parties to make this work. First, the media (or Nielsen BookScan) has to recognize that their lists are incomplete and therefore inaccurate. I don’t think there is intentional bias; they just don’t get it.

Second, retailers have to cooperate and furnish their data. Frankly, this is the problem with Wal-Mart, Sam’s, and most Christian retailers. So far, they have refused to cooperate, because they think it will give their competitors an advantage. (I addressed this notion in my first post on this topic.) I am hoping that they will see that greater visibility for the true bestsellers will, in the end, help everyone, including themselves.

It just makes sense that it should be done right.