The Spiegel bestseller lists for fiction and non-fiction are updated once a week. The previous week's sales data is analyzed on Monday afternoons. The bestseller lists are then updated every Wednesday afternoon. The number of copies sold per title determines the respective order in the rankings, so it may be that in some weeks a Spiegel bestseller can be achieved with a lower sales figure than in other weeks.
Media Control carries out this evaluation based on sales data from the merchandise management systems of bookselling outlets (e.g. bricks-and-mortar bookshops, online stores, etc.). As the data is imported into the Media Control database on a daily basis, a very precise picture of market developments is created.
In order to obtain meaningful bestseller lists, the titles are sorted according to content criteria (fiction, non-fiction, guidebooks, children's/young adult books) and book types such as hardcover, paperback and paperback.
For guidebooks and children's and young adult books, further criteria apply that are not based on the book types. For example, only original and first editions are included in the bestseller list for children's and young adult books.
The evaluation here can also take place at different intervals than for the other bestseller lists. For example, picture books are only evaluated once a month.
Further information on the exact requirements can be found on the Buchreport website. Search for "Determination of bestsellers" or follow this link: Buchreport website
