Bestseller

A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on a list of top-sellers. In everyday usage, the term bestseller is not usually associated with a specified level of sales, or considered of superior academic value or literary quality, it simply implies great popularity, similar to blockbuster for films and chart-topper (or similar) in music (although, in film and music, these measures are generally related to specific sales figures and periods).

Related Topics:
Book - List - Sales - Academic - Literary - Blockbuster - Film - Chart-topper - Music

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While the term bestseller has a relative modern etymology, it requires certain prerequisites. Mass production in print must be possible, furthermore there must be a reliable measure of a book's circulation. Since popular books were commonly pirated well into the period of Enlightenment, it is hard to quantify the popularity of earlier works, such as Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605), even if they are known to have been immensely popular in their own time. The same goes for the 1534 edition of Martin Luther's bible translation. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel Die Leiden des jungen Werther (The Sorrows of Young Werther) (1774)) is generally considered the first modern bestseller. Soon after its first publication, it was read throughout Europe and the United States. Like some modern bestsellers, the book spawned a spin-off industry, such as 'Werther eau de cologne' and porcelain puppets depicting the main characters. While modern bestselling authors make a considerable profit, this was not the case with Cervantes or Goethe, as the royalty system was not yet in effect.

Related Topics:
Etymology - Mass production - Pirated - Enlightenment - Miguel de Cervantes - Don Quixote - 1605 - 1534 - Martin Luther - Goethe - The Sorrows of Young Werther - 1774 - Europe - United States - Spin-off

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Partly due to this commercialization, bestseller has a acquired a negative connotation, particularly in fiction, indicating a work with mass appeal and of inferior literary quality. The term is widely used for marketing, with bestseller status advertised prominently on the covers of paperback editions whenever possible. In North America, the New York Times bestseller list is perhaps the most widely known list.

Related Topics:
Fiction - Marketing - Advertised - Paperback - North America - New York Times bestseller list

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Bestsellers play a significant role in the mainstream movie industry. There is a long-standing Hollywood practice of turning fiction bestsellers into feature films. Many, if not the majority, of modern movie "classics" began as bestsellers. On the Publisher's Weekly fiction bestsellers of the year charts, we find: #2. The Godfather (1969); #1. Love Story (1970); #2. The Exorcist (1971); #3. Jaws (1974); among many others. Several of each year's fiction bestsellers are sooner or later made into high profile movies. Being a bestseller novel in the US over the last 40 years has guaranteed a first crack at being turned into a big budget, wide release movie.

Related Topics:
Hollywood - Publisher's Weekly - The Godfather - Love Story - The Exorcist - Jaws

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