The history of the NY Times bestseller list

The New York Times bestseller list was begun in 1942. It is based on the fact that bestseller books are news because they are integral to retail economics. This list has influenced the publishing industry in several ways, not always positively, and not without criticism.

The beginnings of the New York Times bestseller lists

Overview
Prestigious newspapers in many countries have a cultural function as arbiters of taste. These newspapers have a review of books section where their critics recommend which new books to buy. The New York Times is one of these, but its bestseller lists are not compiled by staff in its review section. First NY Times bestseller list
The New York Times bestseller list was started by news editors in 1942, compiling a survey of books actually sold in bookstores. This would give different results from the estimates of sales given by publishing houses, which tend to use sale-or-return figures, the number of books supplied to shops, rather than actual sales to individual book shoppers. The different New York Times best seller book lists
Separate lists are compiled for different categories of book. Broadly, these are the Fiction, Non-fiction and (lately) Children's categories of best-selling books. Each of these categories has developed extra sub-categories over the decades. Since 2010, there has even been an e-book list.

The New York Times bestseller lists today

Best books list reflects reality
The New York Times bestseller lists reflect what the general public or the masses actually read, rather than what arbiters of taste recommend that they read. This was a popular belief until evidence emerged that the list could be manipulated or be used to influence book sales. Benefits of the list
Analysis has shown that less well-known authors benefit most from their book being listed on a New York Times bestseller list. Established authors attract large sales through long term readerships and their sales are not thought to be strongly increased this way. Manipulating the list
1) The children's category was devised in 2000 to exclude J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, which had dominated the top ten fiction list for some years. 2) In the 1990s, authors of one title bought several thousand copies themselves to make sure their book reached high up the list, where it stayed for several weeks. Usefulness of the lists
It is known to inform booksellers as well as readers. The New York Times bestseller list placing is displayed on the book in chain bookstores and at supermarkets to help potential readers decide between books. Some consider that this more useful than reading new book reviews beforehand because it saves time.