<Table> External image <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> New York Times Best - seller List Oct. 12, 1931 The first best - seller list was published with little fanfare for books sold in New York City only . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> New York Times Best - seller List Oct. 12, 1931 The first best - seller list was published with little fanfare for books sold in New York City only . </Td> </Tr> <P> Although the first best seller list in America was published in 1895, in The Bookman, a best seller list was not published in The New York Times until 36 years later with little fanfare on October 12, 1931 . It consisted of five fiction and four non-fiction books for New York City only . The following month the list was expanded to eight cities, with a separate list published for each city . By the early 1940s, fourteen city - lists were included . A national list was created on April 9, 1942, in The New York Times Book Review (Sundays) as a supplement to the regular city lists (Monday edition). The national list was ranked according to how many times the book appeared in the city lists . A few years later, the city lists were eliminated entirely leaving only the national ranking list, which was compiled according to "reports from leading booksellers in 22 cities". This methodology of ranking by bookseller sales figures remains to this day although the exact data compilation process is a trade secret and has evolved over time . </P> <P> By the 1950s, The Times's list had become the leading best seller list for book professionals to monitor, along with Publishers Weekly . In the 1960s and 70s, mall - based chain bookstores B. Dalton, Crown Books, and Waldenbooks came to the forefront with a business model of selling newly published best - sellers with mass - market appeal . They used the best - selling status of titles to market the books and not just as a measure of sales; thus placing increased emphasis on the New York Times list for book readers and book sellers . </P>

When is a book considered a best seller