True or False: Is “The Most Beautiful” a New York Times Bestseller? False.
There is a rumor circulating throughout social media that The Most Beautiful by Mayte Garcia, first ex-wife of Prince, is a New York Times (NYT) bestseller. Although Mayte and her supporters would like for this to be true because the New York Times Bestsellers list is the most widely recognizable and most reliable of all lists that rank book sales, it is unequivocally NOT on this list, nor has it been since the book was released on April 4, 2017.
New York Times ranks about 15-20 books on its lists. They rank them in three major categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Children’s. Each category has sub-categories for hardcovers, paperbacks, and a combined list of print and e-books and tallies sales from large and small booksellers, as well as online sales. The Most Beautiful has not made an appearance on the NYT list since its release. On this week’s list, six of the 15 books are about politics, the rest are memoirs. The only memoir about the loss of an infant and spouse is the book that ranks #14 on the list and is by Ariel Levy, The Rules Do Not Apply. Levy is a reporter for NYT and her book was released on March 14, 2017, it is her fifth.
Mayte’s book is an Amazon bestseller, however, Amazon only calculates the books sold on their site and this can vary by hour or even include books that don’t exist. In 2016, Brent Underwood listed a bogus “book,” Putting My Foot Down, that wasn’t more than a “cover” with a picture of his foot and turned it into a #1 Amazon bestseller in several categories with only a total of three books sold. About his experiment, Underwood said, “they make it seem like an Amazon best seller is an actual achievement, because they stand to benefit in financially and professionally. Authors aren’t exempt from guilt, by the way. They are the ones paying these people to do this, but in some important ways I think the pusher is worse than the user.” Although Underwood’s experiment did result in an actual book deal, Amazon removed the bogus book after 14 “copies” were sold.
Because it is always best to check facts before spreading untruths. We at thefunksoldiers.tumblr.com always provide our sources. You can view the April 17, 2017 NYT Bestsellers and the April 9, 2017 list online. A full explanation of the methodology of NYT can be found here. The only book about Prince that does appear in the NYT Book Review is Ben Greenman’s Dig If You Will The Picture: Funk, Sex, God and Genius in the Music of Prince which garnered a feature article.
4/15/17 Update: As of this publication (April 14, 2017) it is expected that The Most Beautiful will make an appearance on the NYT Bestsellers list the week of April 23, 2017, two days following the the first anniversary of Prince’s death. This is not uncommon and we have seen the same with books on JFK appearing the week of November 22 and books on Michael Jackson appearing on the list the week of June 25. It will be interesting to see if it makes an appearance the week following, also how the new release sales on Tuesday April 18 will impact the rankings predicted for April 23, 2017. NYT says that a “version” of the online list will appear in the April 23, 2017 issue of their Book Review, this version will be adjusted for the reasons explained. Today is April 15, 2017, the April 17, 2017 NYT Bestsellers list applies until the week of April 23.
