Comic-book killers: New York Times nixes graphic novel bestseller list
The paper of record just delivered a major snub to millions of graphic novel, comics and manga readers.
As of February 5, the New York Times will stop publishing its three "graphic book" bestseller lists (soft cover, hardcover and manga). The lists were first published in 2009.
The change was first spotted in an advance copy of the Times' bestseller lists by literary agent Charlie Olsen on Wednesday, and confirmed by the Times Thursday to comicbook.com.
Olsen led the Twitter charge against the change, with graphic novel luminaries such as Neil Gaiman joining in the conversation.
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That's a somewhat misleading tweet, since graphic novels can still be bestsellers in the main books list -- but given the relative expense of beautifully illustrated books, they tend to sell at a lower volume than pure prose.
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Comics and graphic novels were the largest area of growth for the entire book industry in 2016, according to sales charts compiled by ICv2, a website that tracks pop culture retail.
The Times said it was making the change to "focus on its core list." But the timing is especially curious given the buzz around Congressman John Lewis' award-winning three-volume graphic autobiography, March.
The third volume arrived last year, and the trilogy shot to the top of Amazon's bestseller list after Lewis was attacked by Donald Trump for refusing to attend his inauguration.
One thing is for sure: you will likely see fewer graphic novels with that coveted "New York Times bestseller" line on their covers in the future.
Update: New York Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul assured readers on Twitter that the publication would be expanding its graphic novel coverage. However, she also irked some by calling comic books a genre rather than a medium.
Topics Comics
Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of 'How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,' and co-host of the Doctor Who podcast 'Pull to Open.' Hailing from the U.K., Chris got his start as a sub editor on national newspapers. He moved to the U.S. in 1996, and became senior news writer for Time.com a year later. In 2000, he was named San Francisco bureau chief for Time magazine. He has served as senior editor for Business 2.0, and West Coast editor for Fortune Small Business and Fast Company. Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a long-time volunteer at 826 Valencia, the nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers. His book on the history of Star Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.
