About Authors
Authors are the backbone of publishing. Romance authors are extremely active on social media and form a closer relationship with fans than authors of other genres.
Authors get vastly different receptions in publicity and media coverage. In one of my qualitative questions, I asked readers to list their favorite authors, authors they believe don’t get enough recognition and ponder why they are underrecognized.
Thoughts On Underrecognized Authors
The authors and/or themes are above each quote. Please note that some are anonymous, as participants could opt in or out of being credited.
Quote on Equitable Access in Schools
Quote in Reference to How Publishing Treats Minority Voices
Quote in Reference to Being "Niche"
For many readers, there were subtle or blatant dings to TikTok and how it’s pushed authors like Colleen Hoover instead of their favorites.
Quotes on BookTok Picking Winners & Losers
There are many opinion pieces on if BookTok is inauthentic or too corporate, but this quote from Barry Pierce’s British GQ article, “In The Shallow World of BookTok, Being 'A Reader' Is More Important Than Actually Reading,” says it best. “Actual reviews became few and far between and many of the smaller, genuine readers on the platform jumped ship.” Pierce reflects that BookTok’s rise is giving him a flashback to his time on BookTube. When he left for the same reason, it had become too corporate.²⁴ Beyond a social network, BookTok is an enormous marketing power.²⁵
Perhaps fellow readers, even influencers, are getting sick of the BookTok community and its part in pushing authors like Colleen Hoover to the exclusion of other authors.
Quote on Indie Publishers
Quote on Publishers Prioritizing Their Darlings
New York Times Best Sellers List
Next, I wanted to see how prestige like the New York Times Best Seller List impacts what readers choose to read next. I listed 18 names recognizable to most romance fans. The list is as follows: Ali Hazelwood, Ana Huang, Casey McQuiston, Colleen Hoover, Christina Lauren, Danielle Steel, Elena Armas, Elle Kennedy, Eloisa James, Emily Henry, Helen Hoang, Jasmine Guillory, Julia Quinn, Lucy Score, Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Tessa Bailey.
It is important to note that out of this list, only three are people of color: Ana Huang, Helen Hoang, and Jasmine Guillory. Lack of representation on what is known colloquially as “the List” is one of many ongoing criticisms. Despite popular author James Patterson’s perception that the publishing world is ageist, racist, and sexist against older white men like himself, this is far from the truth. Mr. Patterson’s publisher, Hachette, found that about 65% of their workforce was white, and about 78% of employees in management roles were white.²⁶
Other criticisms of the list boils down to the lack of transparency in how the Times collects book sales. A great comparison from Laura B. McGrath, an English professor at Temple University, compares the New York Times List to the original Coca-Cola recipe. “We have a pretty good idea of what goes into it, but not the exact amount of each ingredient.”²⁷
There are countless examples of authors and publishers buying their way into making the list, so much so that in 1995, the Times created a dagger (†) that they use to indicate books that may have benefitted from bulk orders (typically from the author or publisher). Even the former President purchased tens of thousands of copies of The Art of the Deal (1987) to inflate numbers to make the list.²⁸
Yet, even knowing all of this information, does the NYT List still hold weight for readers?
Chart 21: Fans of NYT Best Seller List Authors
Main Insight: Emily Henry and Christina Lauren reign supreme in this participant pool.
Surprisingly, Colleen Hoover ranked low at only 13%, despite her books being famous and frequently appearing on the List. Some participants don't consider her a romance author, which could explain why she's not a fan favorite. This theory relies on the fact that Chart 16 showed that 52% of respondents believe a romance book must have a happy ending. Since many of Colleen Hoover's books don't have happy endings, this may have affected her ranking on the chart.
Chart 22: NYT Best Seller List Influence on Readers
Main Insight: 55% of respondents indicated that the NYT List doesn’t influence their reading habits at all. These quantitative results of the study show that participants give little credence to the list. Some participants mentioned that they’ve never seen the list and/or don’t know how to access it.
Quotes on the NYT Best Seller List
Bookish content creator @asparagusisreading argues that many of the romance authors that make the list have problematic themes in their books.
For Tracey Livesay, author of American Royalty and The Duchess Effect, “the List” is a necessary tool.
Authors know that making the list is one indicator but by no way a definite marker of success.
Citations for this Section
Source 24:
Pierce, B. (2023, February 1). In the shallow world of BookTok, being 'A reader' is more important than actually reading. British GQ. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
Source 25:
Staff, The Economist. (2021, Nov 6). Booktok Has Passion-and Enormous Marketing Power. The Economist. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
Source 26:
Levenson, M. (2022, June 14). James Patterson apologizes for saying white writers face a 'form of racism'. The New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
Source 27:
Vershbow, S. (2022, December 12). The murky path to becoming a 'New York Times' best seller. Esquire. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
Source 28:
Nicolas, S. (2021, August 19). A history of buying books onto the bestseller list. BOOK RIOT. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
