Modern Bestsellers: The Art of Seducing Readers

Moderns Bestsellers vs Canon

A discussion about modern bestsellers and their dominance in the publishing market should begin with an examination of a much older category: the cultural canon. When compared to bestsellers, the canon proves to be an opposing yet somehow twin idea. Whence this contradiction?

The bestseller list reflects the most popular titles in a given time frame, while the canon is theoretically an immutable collection of our culture’s most outstanding works. It would comprise creations that have determined the direction of artistic evolution and still resonate in the latest ideas and actions of subsequent generations of authors.

The Desire for a Canon

Unlike bestsellers, the canon would be a fixed, even ossified structure, into which it is extremely difficult for a new work to gain entry. This immutability would translate into a community-building role – the canon would provide a space for encounters with the other, regardless of differences in views.

Greek tragedies, Shakespeare’s plays, Goethe’s poetry and prose, Dostoevsky’s monumental realist novels – although few reach for the originals today, these same canonical works constantly return to us in reinterpretations across various cultural dimensions.

The Marketization of the Canon

According to literary historian Jerzy Jarzębski, the canon can be illustrated as a “gigantic warehouse of books, records, and reproductions” which, like bestseller lists, promises to guide us through valuable texts, serving as a kind of reading signpost. However, it is not as objective and universal a set as it might seem. Jarzębski adds that the canon is also “a school curriculum with its hidden persuasive content.” With each change of education minister, we are reminded that the reading list always reflects a specific value system and is thus neither immutable nor universal. The selection of works in the canon is meant to influence us and shape our sensibilities and worldview. The problematic nature of this category is further illustrated by another phenomenon noted by the literary scholar.

The canon transformed into a commodity has become a fact, and its marketization has quickly led to the loss, or at least blurring, of its internal structure

– Jarzębski observes.

Humans still desire a guide to the world, a cultural signpost, or simply a list of valuable titles. The relativization of the canon, combined with the decline in the role of the professional critic, has created a void. This void, however, in accordance with market principles, was quickly filled. Modern bestsellers have become the filler, thus aspiring to the status of a new canon.

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What Exactly Is a Bestseller?

The domination of the book market by bestsellers is an indisputable fact. Brick-and-mortar and online bookstores, publishing house websites, and sometimes even literary awards conjugate the word “bestseller” in all its cases. We think about bestsellers, we sell bestsellers, and we are guided by bestsellers. The category itself is as obvious as it is bizarre, especially if we treat it as synonymous with a new literary genre. How can one lump together A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh and E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey? Or equate “high” print runs in the Polish and American markets?

We must begin by answering the question: what exactly is a bestseller? The word first appeared at the turn of the 20th century in The Bookman magazine, which began publishing lists of English-language books achieving the highest sales figures. Hence, we use this term to describe a book – or more broadly, a product – that has sold the largest number of copies in a given time and specific area.

Moreover, it is now specified that this high result should be achieved rapidly. A bestseller, in conquering bookstore shelves, must storm the market. Such a description of the phenomenon establishes its broad framework but does not exhaust the subject.

Modern Bestsellers: Geared Towards Profit

Małgorzata Mozer (Bestseller. Wstęp do problematyki badawczej i próba definicji) attempted to systematize this extensive category. The researcher acknowledged that we cannot speak of one type of bestseller but of many often mutually exclusive types. Mozer, drawing on international research in this field, distinguished bestsellers as: statistical, sociological, aesthetic, psychological, actual, or absolute.

The classification cited by Mozer shows us that the term bestseller need not be synonymous with sales success. An example is the designated bestseller – a book that did not necessarily have to be snapped up by readers. Instead, the publisher promotes it as a bestseller or compares it to popular titles to create an illusion of success.

If we add to this the spots on bestseller lists of popular distributors, which publishers can sometimes buy, we get a picture not so much of a democratic structure ruled by the reader, but of a marketized canon geared towards profit.

More Than Just Sales

Once, the primary source of information about the richness of current literature was reviews and lists of new releases; today, it’s the bestseller list. […] Thanks to bestseller lists, we can read literary history from a cash register receipt

– writes literary scholar Przemysław Czapliński.

The problem with modern bestsellers is not a question of artistic value. Among the most widely read books, we also find titles of literary distinction. The risk is the brief “shelf life” of titles and the reduction of the diverse literary world to a constantly updated TOP 10 ranking.

Czapliński defines this mechanism as a “return to centralization,” where only what is safe, proven, and repeatable is published. In other words, investment is made in known names and long publishing series. Publishing a debut novel or more experimental forms is fraught with risk and thus simply becomes unprofitable.

This distorted commercial mechanism, driven by the dictates of popular taste, leads to self-censorship. Ultimately, the possibilities of choice from an enormous list of titles prove illusory, and our decisions are susceptible to manipulation by publishers and distributors. In this return to centralization, there is no place or time for discussion about the cultural value of a text. This is replaced by marketing information or numerical ratings.

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Modern Bestsellers and Digital Community

The internet comes to the rescue. The online environment fosters the engagement of readers and authors, enabling the in-depth discussion mentioned by Czapliński. Here, grassroots canons are revitalizing community-building by uniting readers around themes and genres.

Microworlds have moved to the web, becoming global in the sense that they potentially encompass all interested recipients, regardless of geographical or social differences

– notes Maciej Maryl, a researcher from the Digital Humanities Centre.

Literary life on the web, to refer to the title of Maryl’s monograph, does not unfold in opposition to hierarchical bestseller lists and canonical works. However, it can supplement them with authors and reading tastes that do not qualify for the race of monetized popularity.

Translation: Klaudia Tarasiewicz

Polish version: Współczesne bestsellery albo jak nas kupić?