The Effects of World and National Events on Bestseller Lists

January 5, 2009 on 6:24 pm | By | In bluefreesky.com | The Effects of World and National Events on Bestseller Lists

If you happen to be a person who frequently chooses your reading material from the bestsellers list you may have noticed over the last few years that current national and world events have a tremendous impact on what makes the bestsellers list. Now, this is not to say that bestsellers lists are tweaked in order to reflect what happens to be going on in the world at the current time. They are actually based on sales data relating to transactions of books in comparison to particular market segments. However, historically speaking, books about current national and world events typically stand a better chance of making the bestsellers list than other books.

For example, in several instances, books about well known and celebrity personalities have made it to the best sellers list only when the person in question died. In 1994, books about both Richard Nixon and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis made it on the bestseller’s list when those two individuals died within weeks of one another. Nixed died on April 22nd and Onassis on May 19th. In Nixon’s case, his final book; Beyond Peace, earned the cut while several books about the life of Jackie made the list as well as a book that was edited by her daughter referencing the late First Lady’s best loved poetry. That same year, books related to the life and times of both OJ Simpson and his ex-wife Nicole Simpson made a leap in sales after Nicole Simpson and a male friend were murdered and OJ was considered to be the prime suspect.

In 1997, following the tragic death of Princess Diana; several books moved up on the list to favored bestselling spots. The Royals took the #1 spot on several bestseller lists. Toward the end of the year as the blockbuster hit, Titanic, was released at the box office, books regarding the 1912 sinking of the ill-fated ocean liner once again became instant best sellers.

1998 started off with a bang as President Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky hit the press. Naturally, before the end of the year was out; numerous writers were churning out books related to the scandal; presented from numerous viewpoints. As can be expected, some of them went on to become national bestsellers.

Books about the Kennedy family once again made the bestsellers list in 1999 when JFK, Jr., his wife and sister-in-law were tragically lost after his private plane went down just off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

In the fall of 2001, just weeks after the terror attacks in New York and Washington, an abundance of books about terrorists and Bin Laden in particular begin to flood the market and make it on to bestseller lists. Other popular favorites included subjects such as the Taliban and Militant Islam. Since that time, books related to these subjects have continued to fare well; especially since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

While world events can certainly be a predictor of how well various books about to be released may perform on the bestseller lists, this isn’t always a foregone conclusion. For example, in some cases when big news events hit there may not be any books currently scheduled for release related to that subject. In these cases, books that have been on the market for some time but that have never shown an indication of bestseller status will suddenly leap to the top. Writers may respond by quickly turning out related books, but by the time the book is actually released, the public’s interest in the subject may have waned. Watching the patterns of bestseller status can certainly provide advantages for writers aspiring to make the list someday; however.





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