Why Was Spencer Quinn’s DOG ON IT Left off the NYT Bestseller List?
It’s just about common knowledge that getting on the New York Times bestseller list requires any number of variables from healthy pre-orders, selling in great quantities at certain bookstores and retailers, and some other X factors. The system isn’t “rigged” per se, but it’s not nearly as objective as the all-in-one bestseller list USA TODAY publishes each week (PDF alert!) where all formats are included in the top 150 books.
As a result I don’t think much about comparing and contrasting NYT and USAT placement, but then I saw that Early Word published the splits on new hardcover fiction published during the week ending February 15 (which is reflected in the March 1 NYT list) and noted something curious: DOG ON IT by Spencer Quinn (which I reviewed favorably in my most recent “Dark Passages” column) ranked #62 on the USAT list and #32 on the NYT list, but T.C. Boyle’s THE WOMEN was #94 on USAT and #12 on NYT. That struck me as rather odd. And since I was aware each bestseller list is tabulated according to different formulas and combinations, it made more sense to compare the NYT’s hardcover fiction list with where hardcover fiction ranked on the USAT list. To wit:
1. John Grisham, THE ASSOCIATE
2. James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE
3. Stephenie Meyer, THE HOST
4. Christopher Moore, FOOL
5. Patricia Briggs, BONE CROSSED
6. Kristin Hannah, TRUE COLORS
7. David Wroblewski, THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE
8. Schaffer & Barrows, THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY
9. Janet Evanovich, PLUM SPOOKY
10. Adriana Trigiani, VERY VALENTINE
11. Bernard Cornwell, AGINCOURT
12. T.C. Boyle, THE WOMEN
USAT (with actual ranking in brackets)
1. John Grisham, THE ASSOCIATE (6)
2. James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE (9)
3. Stephenie Meyer, THE HOST (16)
4. Christopher Moore, FOOL (23)
5. Janet Evanovich, PLUM SPOOKY (48)
6. Kristin Hannah, TRUE COLORS (53)
7. Patricia Briggs, BONE CROSSED (60)
8. Spencer Quinn, DOG ON IT (62)
9. Adriana Trigiani, VERY VALENTINE (74)
10. David Wroblewski, THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE (80)
11. T.C. Boyle, THE WOMEN (94)
12. Schaffer & Barrows, THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY (102)
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<span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">The only book missing from the USAT's weighted top twelve hardcover fiction titles is the Cornwell – which didn't even make the top 150. As for Quinn, based on the USAT list, it should have been somewhere in the top ten of the NYT's bestseller list – not at #32, barely on the extended. Otherwise, the concordance between the USAT and the NYT lists is pretty close. <br /></span></span>
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<span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">So how to explain the DOG ON IT disparity? Perhaps the NYT is severely undercounting Barnes & Noble stores, which sold the book in brisk quantities as a result of its <a href="http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/barnes-amp-noble-recommends-program,709255.shtml">"B&N Recommends" selection for the month of February</a>. If that's the case, what does it say that the most influential list and the most influential chain store seem to be on divergent paths? Then again, this disparity might disappear with the March 8 edition of the hardcover fiction NYT list…<br /></span></span>
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