How to Have a New York Times Bestselling Book
A bestselling book deal is not won by having a great idea alone. It is earned long before your manuscript reaches a publisher — through the audience you build, the work you do when nobody is watching, and the experiences that make you impossible to copy.
Hosted by Meghan Stevenson, a traditional publishing expert and the founder of Meghan Stevenson Books, this episode explores what it really takes to secure a traditional nonfiction book deal, and what separates aspiring authors from the people whose books become bestsellers. Drawing on her experience as an editor at Simon & Schuster and Penguin, as well as more than a decade collaborating with authors, Meghan offers a candid look at author platforms, bestseller lists, and the long-term work behind commercial book success.
When Vivian Tu’s RICH AF hit the New York Times bestseller list, it was no accident. Vivian had built a personal brand, a massive social-media audience, and a loyal community around funny, insightful, accessible personal-finance content. She had done the foundational work that creates the conditions for a book to succeed. Her follow-up, WELL ENDOWED, also debuted on the New York Times bestseller list.
So, can you become a bestselling author? Maybe — but the answer depends less on your dream of writing a book and more on what you are willing to build before the book exists.
What does it take to become a bestselling author?
The bestselling authors Meghan has worked with tend to share two defining qualities:
They are willing to do the work for years — often without a guarantee that it will pay off.
They leverage a unique combination of expertise, experience, relationships, and perspective that helps them stand out.
A traditional book deal and a bestseller list are not simply rewards for writing well. They are often the result of building trust with an audience, becoming known in a niche, and creating a platform capable of bringing readers to your work.
That does not mean every author needs millions of followers. But it does mean that visibility, credibility, and a clear reason for readers to care matter.
A bestseller list is not always a sales ranking
Before setting a goal to become a bestseller, it helps to understand what bestseller lists actually measure.
The New York Times bestseller list is curated. In other words, it is not purely a straightforward ranking of the books that sold the most copies. The list is determined by the Times, and that means its selections may not always match the available industry sales data.
By contrast, the USA Today bestseller list is based on actual sales numbers. That distinction can make the USA Today list a more practical and achievable target for entrepreneurs, creators, and experts who want their sales performance reflected in a national bestseller ranking.
There is nothing wrong with putting “New York Times bestseller” on your vision board. But knowing how these lists differ can protect you from treating one subjective outcome as the sole measure of your book’s value, sales success, or impact.
Quality one: Do the work before you need the result
Many people say they want to write a book. Far fewer are prepared to do what it takes to build the business, reach, audience, and momentum that can support a successful launch.
The work can include:
Showing up consistently and becoming visible in your niche
Creating and sharing content people genuinely want to engage with
Building an audience that trusts your ideas
Developing your expertise over time
Growing a business, body of work, or public reputation
Continuing even when there is no immediate proof that it will lead to a book deal
This work may take years — or decades. It requires ambition, resilience, tenacity, and the willingness to keep going without certainty.
The encouraging truth is that many people have the potential to build a business, grow an audience, write a book, and pursue bestseller status. The harder truth is that potential only matters when it is matched with sustained action.
Quality two: Use what makes you different
Every bestselling author has something that helps them stand out. It may be their career, a specialized area of knowledge, an unusual personal history, a distinctive point of view, or relationships they have built in a particular industry.
Vivian Tu brought firsthand experience from Wall Street and BuzzFeed to her work as a financial creator. Caitlin V combined her background as a sex researcher with an understanding of YouTube’s educational and viral potential. Elaine and Ruchika drew on relationships and authority developed in corporate consulting.
Your advantage may be less obvious, but it still counts.
Professional writing experience, a communications background, early exposure to sales, work in a family business, service-industry jobs, management roles, public speaking, or years spent inside a particular field can all shape how you communicate, lead, teach, sell, and connect with readers.
The goal is not to invent a flashy origin story. It is to identify the real experiences that give you a perspective other people cannot easily replicate.
How to assess your bestseller potential
Ask yourself two direct questions.
Are you willing to do the work?
That means being visible, sharing ideas, building an engaged audience, and developing an author platform even though you cannot know exactly what will happen next.
What gives you a competitive advantage?
Look at your career, education, expertise, relationships, personal history, and the problems you are uniquely equipped to solve. The answer may reveal not only why you should write a book, but also what kind of book only you can write.
A bestselling book is rarely the beginning of an author’s authority. More often, it is a result of authority that has been built deliberately over time.
Questions answered in this episode
Can you become a bestselling author?
What qualities do bestselling authors have in common?
What does it really take to land a traditional nonfiction book deal?
Do bestselling authors need to build an audience before writing a book?
What is an author platform, and why does it matter?
Is the New York Times bestseller list based on actual sales?
How is the USA Today bestseller list different from the New York Times list?
Should aspiring authors aim for the USA Today bestseller list?
How do entrepreneurs, experts, and creators build enough reach to sell books?
What kinds of past experience can give an author a competitive advantage?
How do you determine what makes you uniquely qualified to write a book?
Are you willing to do the long-term work required to become a bestselling author?
