The Bestseller List and its (Dis)contents
‘Bestseller’ is a pivotal and highly influential concept in the current literary market, where a title’s presence on a bestseller list also serves to reinforce the title’s bestseller status. In spite hereof, there is a lack of exact knowledge of bestselling patterns on the Danish book market, as wel...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Danish |
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Aalborg University Open Publishing
2013-12-01
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| Series: | Akademisk Kvarter |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/ak/article/view/2817 |
| _version_ | 1797228578586230784 |
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| author | Rasmus Grøn |
| author_facet | Rasmus Grøn |
| author_sort | Rasmus Grøn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ‘Bestseller’ is a pivotal and highly influential concept in the current literary market, where a title’s presence on a bestseller list also serves to reinforce the title’s bestseller status. In spite hereof, there is a lack of exact knowledge of bestselling patterns on the Danish book market, as well as a conceptual vagueness regarding the distinction between ‘the best and the rest’: how to define a bestseller and differentiate it from the remaining titles on the market? These two issues are addressed in the following article. Firstly, a Top 40 list of the bestselling fiction books from Danish book stores in the period of 2008-11 is presented, and its contents are analysed in terms of genre, nationality, and thematic qualities. Hereafter, the bestselling list serves as a point of departure for a discussion of the divergent and contingent criteria underlying possible definitions of bestsellers and their inclusion on bestseller lists, thereby developing a more facetted picture of the bestseller concept. Lastly, Robert Escarpit’s temporal distinction between fastsellers, steadysellers and bestsellers is related to the article’s empirical data in order to discuss a widespread assumption of the volatility of the bestseller.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:58:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8c8172459ebc4ab6bb1e8d8b15fd40d5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1904-0008 |
| language | Danish |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:58:56Z |
| publishDate | 2013-12-01 |
| publisher | Aalborg University Open Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Akademisk Kvarter |
| spelling | doaj.art-8c8172459ebc4ab6bb1e8d8b15fd40d52024-04-02T16:37:58ZdanAalborg University Open PublishingAkademisk Kvarter1904-00082013-12-01710.5278/ojs.academicquarter.v0i7.2817The Bestseller List and its (Dis)contentsRasmus Grøn‘Bestseller’ is a pivotal and highly influential concept in the current literary market, where a title’s presence on a bestseller list also serves to reinforce the title’s bestseller status. In spite hereof, there is a lack of exact knowledge of bestselling patterns on the Danish book market, as well as a conceptual vagueness regarding the distinction between ‘the best and the rest’: how to define a bestseller and differentiate it from the remaining titles on the market? These two issues are addressed in the following article. Firstly, a Top 40 list of the bestselling fiction books from Danish book stores in the period of 2008-11 is presented, and its contents are analysed in terms of genre, nationality, and thematic qualities. Hereafter, the bestselling list serves as a point of departure for a discussion of the divergent and contingent criteria underlying possible definitions of bestsellers and their inclusion on bestseller lists, thereby developing a more facetted picture of the bestseller concept. Lastly, Robert Escarpit’s temporal distinction between fastsellers, steadysellers and bestsellers is related to the article’s empirical data in order to discuss a widespread assumption of the volatility of the bestseller. https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/ak/article/view/2817‘Bestseller’ is a pivotal and highly influential concept in the current literary market, where a title’s presence on a bestseller list also serves to reinforce the title’s bestseller status. In spite hereof, there is a lack of exact knowledge of bestselling patterns on the Danish book market, as well as a conceptual vagueness regarding the distinction between ‘the best and the rest’: how to define a bestseller and differentiate it from the remaining titles on the market? These two issues are addressed in the following article. Firstly, a Top 40 list of the bestselling fiction books from Danish book stores in the period of 2008-11 is presented, and its contents are analysed in terms of genre, nationality, and thematic qualities. Hereafter, the bestselling list serves as a point of departure for a discussion of the divergent and contingent criteria underlying possible definitions of bestsellers and their inclusion on bestseller lists, thereby developing a more facetted picture of the bestseller concept. Lastly, Robert Escarpit’s temporal distinction between fastsellers, steadysellers and bestsellers is related to the article’s empirical data in order to discuss a widespread assumption of the volatility of the bestseller |
| spellingShingle | Rasmus Grøn The Bestseller List and its (Dis)contents Akademisk Kvarter ‘Bestseller’ is a pivotal and highly influential concept in the current literary market, where a title’s presence on a bestseller list also serves to reinforce the title’s bestseller status. In spite hereof, there is a lack of exact knowledge of bestselling patterns on the Danish book market, as well as a conceptual vagueness regarding the distinction between ‘the best and the rest’: how to define a bestseller and differentiate it from the remaining titles on the market? These two issues are addressed in the following article. Firstly, a Top 40 list of the bestselling fiction books from Danish book stores in the period of 2008-11 is presented, and its contents are analysed in terms of genre, nationality, and thematic qualities. Hereafter, the bestselling list serves as a point of departure for a discussion of the divergent and contingent criteria underlying possible definitions of bestsellers and their inclusion on bestseller lists, thereby developing a more facetted picture of the bestseller concept. Lastly, Robert Escarpit’s temporal distinction between fastsellers, steadysellers and bestsellers is related to the article’s empirical data in order to discuss a widespread assumption of the volatility of the bestseller |
| title | The Bestseller List and its (Dis)contents |
| title_full | The Bestseller List and its (Dis)contents |
| title_fullStr | The Bestseller List and its (Dis)contents |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Bestseller List and its (Dis)contents |
| title_short | The Bestseller List and its (Dis)contents |
| title_sort | bestseller list and its dis contents |
| topic | ‘Bestseller’ is a pivotal and highly influential concept in the current literary market, where a title’s presence on a bestseller list also serves to reinforce the title’s bestseller status. In spite hereof, there is a lack of exact knowledge of bestselling patterns on the Danish book market, as well as a conceptual vagueness regarding the distinction between ‘the best and the rest’: how to define a bestseller and differentiate it from the remaining titles on the market? These two issues are addressed in the following article. Firstly, a Top 40 list of the bestselling fiction books from Danish book stores in the period of 2008-11 is presented, and its contents are analysed in terms of genre, nationality, and thematic qualities. Hereafter, the bestselling list serves as a point of departure for a discussion of the divergent and contingent criteria underlying possible definitions of bestsellers and their inclusion on bestseller lists, thereby developing a more facetted picture of the bestseller concept. Lastly, Robert Escarpit’s temporal distinction between fastsellers, steadysellers and bestsellers is related to the article’s empirical data in order to discuss a widespread assumption of the volatility of the bestseller |
| url | https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/ak/article/view/2817 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rasmusgrøn thebestsellerlistanditsdiscontents AT rasmusgrøn bestsellerlistanditsdiscontents |