Let’s Talk About Those “International Bestselling” Authors . . . 😏

I know her, and I bet you do, too.

The colleague who calls herself a bestselling author . . . but actually isn’t?

I have a friend like this. I bought her book, which was published by a reputable self-publisher.

Don’t get me wrong. She wrote, published, promoted, and continues to sell an excellent book. 

But it’s not and never was a bestseller — at least not by my definition.

Within traditional publishing, a bestseller is a book that appears either in The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal on their top sellers list. Preferably in print. 

That is the only way you’re ever going to officially be a bestselling author in traditional publishing. 

The rules are stringent because publishers know that not every book can, or should, be a bestseller.

The bestselling books that I’ve been a part of were a whirlwind of extraordinary success. 

A book where the numbers came back and people’s jaws dropped in conference rooms. Where people asked “how the fuck is this happening,” and were genuinely thrilled, surprised, and excited.

Where thousands of copies sold in days and weeks, either through the author’s epic hustle or a miracle of hitting the cultural zeitgeist at exactly the right moment with the exact right message.

Or both.

You see, a bestseller should be special. It’s not a book that is listed as #2,044 in an odd subcategory on Amazon. 

It’s not a book that has only sold a few thousand copies (though that’s better numbers than I see for most self-published books). 

And it’s certainly not those multi-author compendiums that people are paying for in exchange for the ability to call themselves a bestselling author.

So — don’t fall for this bullshit, because that’s what it is — bullshit. 

The only bestsellers are here and here. 

Read them, learn from them, and by all means — try to be them instead of calling yourself a bestselling author for hitting #1 in some obscure category for a minute.