Because of the high bar, the term “bestselling author” was [once] a term with some meaning. It was seen as something that was earned through a lot of hard work. But today, that designation has changed—for the worse. It’s like when you see a food described as “natural.” The FDA doesn’t actually regulate that term, so it’s basically meaningless.
It seems eerily easy to pick up any book in a bookstore and find the words “best-selling” on the cover, so much so that one might wonder if there isn’t a huge scam going on. Over at the Huffington Post, Brent Underwood exposes how it doesn’t take much to get Amazon’s little logo of “#1 Best Seller” next to your book. Even if that book simply happens to be just a picture of your own foot.
