How Do You Write a Bestseller? (Feat. @LindsayEllisVids) | It's Lit

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Here on It’s Lit!, we spend a lot of time pontificating on the high canon of books: Your Shakespeares, your Tolstoys, your… erotic beast wars fanfiction. But today we’re craving something a little lighter, a little fluffier… you know, novels you pick up for the sake of just having something quick-- your beach reads, your airport novels, your Books of the Month. Books that, while you might never have to read them for a seminar or a class or that sweet clout, somehow manage to dominate most water cooler discussions about literature. We’re talkin Your Dan Browns, your Jodi Picoults, your Where the Crawdads Sing, seriously, how has the book managed to be on the top of every bestseller lists for so many months, I don’t even KNOW what it’s about but it’s my mortal enemy

These are your blockbuster books, the bestsellers of the bestsellers--And whether or not you read them or turn your nose up at them, for better or worse, they are the tent poles that support the publishing industry.

Hosted by Lindsay Ellis and Princess Weekes, It’s Lit! is a show about our favorite books, genres, and why we love to read. It’s Lit has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.

Hosted by: Lindsay Ellis
Written by: Lindsay Ellis, Angelina Meehan
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Stephanie Noone
Editors: Mo Murphy
Writing Consultants: Maia Krause
Assistant Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing
Executives in Charge (PBS): Brandon Arolfo, Adam Dylewski

Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.

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[doom_delrey]

All four of my grandmothers, completely independent of one another, purchased a copy of Where the Crawdads Sing at roughly the same time, and all four of them cried while reading it.

[ZekeStaright]

Where the Crawdads Sing: Mortal enemy of Lidsay Ellis
Also Lindsay: Wears a lobster dress. 🦞

[majorfreakingcupcake]

The irony of Lindsay mentioning "Where the Crawdads Sing, " is great. Because at least some of us who had never heard/never cared about a book like this are AT LEAST going to go look it up since one of our favorite Influencers mentioned it a couple of times in her video.
Don't look at me. You were thinking it, too.

[DrewDesign]

‘Why The New York Times Bestseller list is meaningless’ by New York Times Bestselling author Lindsay Ellis.

[dougthedonkey]

Lindsay’s dress is calling to me... “Obey the lobsters, ” it whispers. “Listen to your lobster queen.” I see no reason to object, so I agree. All hail Lindsay Ellis, leader of lobsters. All hail Lindsay, all hail Lindsay...

[Draqua]

Don't be shy... drop them Beast Wars fanfic recs

[mhyzon]

I usually don’t know the back story of at least 60% of Lindsay’s snark in anything she does, but I’m 💯 here for it.

[chegeny]

I remember Steve Jobs discussing why companies forget what it means to make great products. Product people are driven out over time and replaced by sales and marketing people.

[cailinanne]

Ha- Hype House Blood Bath is definitely already in the works at Netflix.

[CT_Phipps]

Speaking as a guy who publishes in the indie scene and has been a "best seller" a few times on various lists, you are 100% correct that best-seller lists are primarily a marketing tool. It's not something that has any real meaning and plenty of lists exist to just make an astroturf demand.

But congrats on being the list, Lindsay!

[kneerunjun]

Eagerly awaiting James Squibbles’ debut best seller Hype House Blood Bath

[digitaljanus]

I remember an analysis from 10-15 years ago that concluded while Oprah's club is really good for the titles she features, it didn't do much for the publishing industry as a whole. Turns out there's a finite amount of regular book buyers, and Oprah doesn't really create more readers, she just directs the spending patterns of a significant portion of them.

[PonyusTheWolfdude]

As a audiobook addict and dyslexic, my view of this is kind of wierd to look at since my selection is more limited, and my distribution is even more limited, because I cant ever see a "Oprah book club" sticker and I don't care about the nyt bestsellers, I care about what has an audiobook right now.

[lis.anwell]

I love the way Lindsay talks. I also love It’s Lit. I run a used bookstore and recommend this channel to most of my customers.

[Adam-lcmk]

I see a notification of a video ft. Lindsay "the legend" Ellis and the day becomes a bit more informative lol

[KagamineProductions]

I worked in a bookstore for a while and it drives me crazy how much I see it, even when I don't work there anymore.

[danielhergert]

Algorithm appeasement comment and a laugh at the Shapiro jab

[MidLa]

I am also in the camp of "I have no idea what this book is about, but the very fact that it has remained #1 for so long infuriates me"

[Elinye]

I see the #feud has made it to PBS as Lindsay makes a bid for the title of Lobster Queen

[crows]

Jimmy Squibbles became my favourite youtube personality and then became problematic right around the time I saw he was associating with Logan Paul. Such a wild ride. I hope he redeems himself.

Also, how large is Lindsay's ironic wardrobe? An influencer necklace AND a crawdad dress? Bloody hell.