It is a fact, whenever a book comes out and is released for the audience, It is us who either make it a hit or bestseller or maybe not. But a lot of people don’t get the idea of what makes a book bestseller. Well, I am going to tell you that, as a reader.
Thousands of books are released in a year but only a few become bestsellers. What makes them bestsellers? Have you ever thought of that? Well, I sure did.
There are a lot of factors that contribute to a book becoming a bestseller; both content and marketing-wise. The smart option is to keep both of them handy. A nice intro, plot, and conclusion are the major parts along with a good marketing and branding strategy.
It seems fairly tricky to understand at first but it is quite simple if you know the basics. But we are already so thrilled up with the basic idea of the bestseller that we almost don’t think how it became a bestseller and how it came into our hands! Don’t worry and let discuss that below!
What Is A Best Seller Book?
Before getting into further detailed discussions on what makes a book bestseller, it is first important for you to know what is a best seller book.
The assumed notion of a best seller is “a book that sells a lot of copies”. While this is true, there is a lot more to it.
In the words of Wikipedia, a bestseller book “is a book noted for its top-selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and bookstore chains”.
Not that there is a fixed amount of sales which, upon crossing, can make a book a bestseller.
Now how does a book become a bestseller? What makes a book bestseller?
There particularly are no laid down criteria about how a book becomes a bestseller.
Taking about the earlier statement, “a book that sells a lot of copies”, the thing to be added here was “in a short period after its published”. That is what we can call the basic criteria is.
What Makes A Book Bestseller?
It is safe to say “a book becomes a bestseller when a huge number of people buy that book in a short period after its publication.”
Some of the most common bestseller lists are released by New York Times and Sunday Times. It is a common wish for most upcoming and new authors that their first books become a bestseller, which surely helps in giving a head start to the author’s career.
But what makes a book a bestseller, exactly? Further, we’ll also discuss how can you write a best-selling book?
1. Word Of Mouth
Have you ever wondered how a secret that you told your friend got spread like wildfire?
A little like that happens with word of mouth. And yes, it has the power to make a book a best seller.
Now, what is “word of mouth”?
For those who are unaware of this concept, word of mouth is basically when a person or group uses the vocal mode of communication to pass on the information (yes, that was exactly how your secret got out).
So, if you are wondering how that happens, here is how:
A person tends to do something when told by someone they can trust. When there is a word in the mouth about a certain book, the words and the reviews are very likely to be spread, and that ultimately leads to generating sales, making the book a bestseller.
However, the thing to take notice of here is that this way does not have anything to do with how the book is written.
2. First Few Catchy Chapters
Just like word of mouth had nothing to do with how the book is written, the coming few points will be about the book and the way it has been written.
While reading a book, or, must I say, a bestseller, you will notice a good prologue and a first few chapters that grip a reader’s attention.
But there are chances that people might skip the prologue. That’s when you know that the first few chapters of the book are supposed to hold your attention and lean yourself towards the book.
If you are wondering what happens if the initial chapters are not as intriguing, I’ll tell you what.
The reader won’t read it any further, and this comes from personal experience as a reader.
I had borrowed a book from my school library. The book, even though was very loved, even taken into a movie adaptation, didn’t hold my attention or build my interest up until chapter 4- yes, that is still where I pushed myself to read it, it was just there in my bookshelf for a month.
3. Gripping Plot
What makes a book bestseller? The plot.
Period.
A plot is everything to a book. Readers tend to buy things that make them feel something. So that they can go like- “Wait, what’s next?” Or “I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED!’ and things like that.
That’s what bestseller books do. They keep you into the book, all you have to give the readers a gripping plot, and the rest is taken care of by the readers only.
4. A Great Conclusion, Of Course!
After the gripping plot, now is the time to work on the conclusion of the book. A great conclusion would be amazing. It should sum up the book along with giving it the ending that it needs.
A conclusion should make things fine, or not, but at least it should bind the book together.
The conclusion in a bestselling book should make the reader feel something right in its heart.
5. Easy To Understand Language
You could be having the best prologue and first few pages, you might also be having a hilarious plot and great conclusion. If the book is not written in an easy-to-understand language, it wouldn’t work. So, a language that most people would understand would make the book reach more people.
Books that are easy to understand by the readers have more chances of becoming a bestseller.
6. Correct Branding And Marketing
Correct marketing and branding of the book do not have anything to do with the content of the book but how the book is shown to the readers. Given the correct marketing and branding of the book, it has a great potential to boost sales.
So, this is a powerful tool, yet underrated.
If you think about it, most of the bestsellers that you and I have read, it was mostly because of how we were perceiving the book, even before we read it.
So, this is what makes a book bestseller.
How To Write The Best-Selling Book?
If you are a new author who is looking for “how to write a best-selling book?” I, as a reader, can tell you to keep in mind the above few things while you are writing.
Apart from that, many studies have been conducted on the data collected from bestseller lists and researchers have come up with formulas that can improve the chances of your book becoming a best-seller.
The foremost fact to remember is that fiction books are more likely to make it to the bestseller lists than non-fiction.
In fiction too, thrillers and mystery are the more common genres on the bestseller lists.
Whereas in the non-fiction segment, a majority of the best-selling books are biographies or memoirs.
Another point to note is that fiction authors create book series, whereas non-fiction authors are more likely to have individual books as best sellers.
But non-fiction books are more likely to keep their best-selling status once achieved for a longer amount of time than fiction books. In any genre, most of the books have their peak in the position of bestseller within the first 10 to 15 weeks of its publication.
The delayed success of books is rare, but not unheard of. The movie adaptation of lesser-known books contributes towards the success of the book once the movie is released.
Concluding “What Makes A Book BestSeller?
Here was all I could gather up for you about how being a best-selling book works and what makes a book bestseller. It is quite fun to know how being a best seller is a lot more than good content (however; it plays most of the role).
So let me know through the comments if there’s anything else you would like to add to this.
