When picking out a book at any bookstore — from Barnes & Noble to an indie bookseller — readers are familiar with the words “New York Times Bestseller” plastered across the front of a book.

But what does that mean? And how does a book become a “bestseller” on any list? It’s a much more strategic process than meets the eye — like a game of chess.

The New York Times best Sellers list, like other similar lists, uses a software called BookScan to gather data confidentially from a variety of vendors across the United States. These vendors can be well established or independent, and they report sales on thousands of titles.

According to the New York Times page on its bestseller list, sales are defined as completed transactions between the vendor and the consumer during the week on or after the publication date of a book. Bestseller lists are ranked by format (e-book, audiobook, print book, sometimes between paperback and hardcopy) and genre.

Data is only considered before the end of the first week of publication, but pre-sales matter because they set you up well when the game ramps up: pre-sales count toward that first week of sales.

“Let’s say you sold a million books prior to your launch date in that presale period. All of a sudden, the day that your book launches, you’ve sold a million copies,” Jordan Grenadier Murphy, a marketing consultant based in Texas, said.

This is something that authors factor in when developing marketing campaigns, usually beginning months, if not years, before the publication date, to get as many sales as they can over a longer period of time. “Once you launch, the timer starts,” Grenadier Murphy said.

Different from other lists, The New York Times list isn’t strictly sales based. It is compiled by an editorial department separate from other desks. “It’s a curated product,” Rebecca Cafiero, a UO alum and PR strategist who works with authors, said. “Just to have a shot, you have to have the sales numbers in a week across the retailers. But sales don’t guarantee placements.”

The rise of Amazon has led to a new type of bestseller list, one that is easier to hack and more accessible to authors. When listing a book on Amazon, you choose the category you want your book listed under, which would be the category it’s competing in for a spot on the bestseller list.

“I remember before I knew how to do this, I used another company, and we went number one in biographies of Rhode Island women. Nobody’s from Rhode Island in the grand scheme of things,” Cafiero said.

For smaller authors, like the ones Cafiero works with, it’s a delicate balance of making sure you aren’t competing against huge names in the categories you pick, while still being specialized enough that it gives you a chance to hit the list.

Other things to consider when campaigning for a spot on a bestseller list is the time and capital investment it takes, and doing a mix of things to make the greatest impact.

“With celebrities releasing books, you’ll see them on every podcast, every morning show and it’s all within a really short period of time,” Grenadier Murphy said. “That’s because their publisher is trying to drum up a lot of interest quickly so that they can try to hit that list.”

But authors can’t just pay to play. “Everyone who’s hitting these lists is selling books across the country in various formats, they’re matching that typical consumer behavior,” Grenadier Murphy said. “It’s not something where you could just say, ‘I have a lot of money, so I could make this happen.’”

Once authors make that list, they will always and forever be a bestseller — even if it was for one week at the very bottom of the list. It’s a useful marketing tool as well, and it suddenly makes a lot more sense why there are so many books in bookstores with that title on the front.

Becoming a bestselling author adds credibility to an author, but it isn’t a one way ticket to success. “A best seller does not mean the book is going to be great. It means that the book was well marketed and launched,” Cafiero said. “The difference is when someone stays on the best seller list for weeks, that’s because people are reading it, loving it and sharing it.” Checkmate.

How authors aim to be a bestseller:
Promote presale purchasing
Make sure books are being sold in diverse retailers across the U.S.
Sell at least 5,000-10,000 books within the first week of publication
Work with a well-known publisher to use their connections/name recognition
Don’t release your physical copies of the book in the same week you release the audiobook version – it’ll split sales.
For Amazon, pick realistic categories to list your book under.
Begin press before the book comes out

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