Lists of The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers
This is a list of lists by year of The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers.
The New York Times Best Seller list was first published without fanfare on October 12, 1931.[1][2] It consisted of five fiction and four non-fiction for the New York City region only.[2] The following month the list was expanded to eight cities, with a separate list for each city.[2] By the early 1940s, fourteen cities were included. A national list was created April 9, 1942 in The New York Times Book Review (Sundays) as a supplement to the regular paper's city lists (Monday edition).[2] The national list ranked by weighting how many times the book appeared in each city list.[2] A few years later, the city lists were eliminated leaving only the national rankings, which was compiled according to "reports from leading booksellers in 22 cities," a system which remains essentially unchanged to this day (though the specifics have changed).[2]
A separate category for "Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous" books was created January 1, 1984. Its number one bestseller (The Body Principal by Victoria Principal) had been number ten and number twelve on the non-fiction lists for the two preceding weeks.[3]
The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers by Year
(links are to lists of The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers of YYYY)
References
- New York Times, October 12, 1931. 19
- Laura J. Miller (2000). "The Best-Seller List as Marketing Tool and Historical Fiction". In Ezra Greenspan (ed.). Book History. Volume Three. Penn State Press. pp. 286–304.
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"The New York Times Book Review Best Sellers", NYT January 1, 1984, page BR28.
"Best Sellers", NYT December 25, 1983, page BR13.