Ran across a pretty interesting article on how inaccurate the New York Times Bestseller list really is.

Basically, that list is missing all the mass market outlets (Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam’s Club), plus all the Christian bookstores. So it isn’t necessarily an accurate count of what everyone is buying.

Though not as easy to manipulate as Amazon’s Bestseller list, it is certainly possible, if you have a lot of buying power, to manipulate the New York Times Bestseller list. Reportedly, this is what The Church of Scientology did with the “bestseller” Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.

I think authors, especially new authors, pay way too much attention to these lists. The lists simply don’t capture the breadth of book-buying behavior. There are a lot of niches that can yield good money-making opportunities if authors would just look for them.