How Publishers and Booksellers Manipulate Your Book Choices

Key facts

• Philip Gwyn Jones, former publisher for 30+ years, now literary agent, says 'It's all about the art of persuasion.'
• Jamie Keenan, leading British book designer, notes covers are focus-grouped and changed at the behest of supermarket buyers like Tesco and Waterstones.
• Covers have moved toward iconic designs with bright colors and big type for thumbnail visibility.
• Copycat covers are common: cosy crime novels mimic Richard Osman's style, and Japanese fiction often features cats even if not central.
• Copywriters use Christopher Booker's 'The Seven Basic Plots' to craft blurbs that say 'It's the same but different.'
• Supermarket chart positions are often paid for, not earned, according to a publicist.
• Waterstones booksellers use shelf talkers, but if no one has read the book, they may steal reviews from Goodreads.
• Goldsboro Books' book clubs, with up to 2,000 members, can boost a book into top 10 bestsellers.
• Influencers like Jack Edwards (1.6M YouTube followers) can create huge interest, e.g., boosting Dostoevsky's 'White Nights' to 100,000+ copies.
• Some BookTokers expect to be paid to review books, which feels like 'breaking some sort of contract.'
• Publishers use 'GEO' (generative engine optimisation) to make books discoverable by AI chatbots like ChatGPT.
• Prizes remain important, and publishers strategically time publications to align with prize eligibility.
• Despite all tactics, 'Nobody knows anything' (William Goldman), and the final decision is the reader's.