James Patterson accuses New York Times of ‘cooking the books’ over bestseller list
Prolific author claims his latest book ‘Walk the Blue Line’ has outsold numerous titles ranking in the top 15
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.James Patterson has accused The New York Times of “cooking the books” in an open letter regarding the publication’s bestseller list.
The US author claimed that his latest offering Walk the Blue Line had outsold “all but three” of the books in the Times’ top 15 ranking according to other data providers.
“I understand you responded to a recent query from my publisher regarding a book containing what I believe to be important and illuminating first-hand stories by American police – by saying that you don’t just pay attention to ‘raw’ sales,” the 76-year-old wrote in the letter posted on Twitter.
“I guess that means you favour the cooked variety,” he wrote, adding: “As the nation’s bookstores and our publishing houses have known for years and can prove – your lists too often are outside the realm of statistically possible, much less plausible.”
He also claimed that the Times refused to publish his letter.
In an interview on Fox News on Sunday (2 April), the Alex Cross author doubled down on his comments, saying the Times’ list is “a little bit of fake news”.
In response to Patterson’s letter, a spokesperson for the Times told OutKick: “We responded to Mr Patterson to let him know that we take his concerns seriously and are always reviewing our methods in compiling the Best-Seller Lists to ensure that we are best serving our readers.”
“Our bestsellers lists are based off detailed analysis of book sales from a wide range of retailers, tens of thousands of brick-and-mortar stores of all sizes, and numerous online book-selling vendors to best represent what is selling across the United States,” the spokesperson added while mentioning that Patterson’s books have ranked on the list over 4,000 times.
The New York paper’s bestseller list has been compiled weekly since 1931.
Last year, Patterson apologised after suggesting that “white male writers” struggling to find work was “another form of racism”.
Patterson is one of the highest-paid writers in the world, earning an estimated $80m (£66m) in 2020 alone and holds the record for having the most books in The New York Times’ bestsellers list.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments