The New York Times Book Review

The New York Times Book Review (NYTBR) is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry.[2] The magazine's offices are located near Times Square in New York City.

Not to be confused with The New York Review of Books.
The New York Times Book Review
The cover of the June 13, 2004 New York Times Book Review
EditorGilbert Cruz[1]
FrequencyWeekly
First issueOctober 10, 1896 (1896-10-10)
CompanyThe New York Times Company
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City, New York
LanguageEnglish
Websitenytimes.com/section/books/review
ISSN0028-7806

Overview

The New York Times has published a book review section since October 10, 1896, announcing: "We begin today the publication of a Supplement which contains reviews of new books ... and other interesting matter ... associated with news of the day."[3] In 1911, the review was moved to Sundays, on the theory that it would be more appreciatively received by readers with a bit of time on their hands.[4]

The target audience is an intelligent, general-interest adult reader.[2] The Times publishes two versions each week, one with a cover price sold via subscription, bookstores and newsstands; the other with no cover price included as an insert in each Sunday edition of the Times (the copies are otherwise identical).

Each week the NYTBR receives 750 to 1000 books from authors and publishers in the mail, of which 20 to 30 are chosen for review.[2] Books are selected by the "preview editors" who read over 1,500 advance galleys a year.[5] The selection process is based on finding books that are important and notable, as well as discovering new authors whose books stand above the crowd.[2] Self-published books are generally not reviewed as a matter of policy.[2] Books not selected for review are stored in a "discard room" and then sold.[2] As of 2006, Barnes & Noble arrived about once a month to purchase the contents of the discard room, and the proceeds are then donated by NYTBR to charities.[2] Books that are actually reviewed are usually donated to the reviewer.[2]

As of 2015, all review critics are freelance; the NYTBR does not have staff critics.[6] In prior years, the NYTBR did have in-house critics, or a mix of in-house and freelance.[2] For freelance critics, they are assigned an in-house "preview editor" who works with them in creating the final review.[2] Freelance critics might be employees of The New York Times whose main duties are in other departments.[6] They also include professional literary critics, novelists, academics and artists who write reviews for the NYTBR on a regular basis.[6]

Other duties on staff include a number of senior editors and a chief editor; a team of copy editors; a letter pages editor who reads letters to the editor; columnists who write weekly columns, such as the "Paperback Row" column; a production editor; a web and Internet publishing division; and other jobs.[2] In addition to the magazine there is an Internet site that offers additional content, including audio interviews with authors, called the "Book Review Podcast".[2]

The book review publishes each week the widely cited and influential New York Times Best Seller list, which is created by the editors of the Times "News Surveys" department.[7]

In 2021, on the 125th anniversary of the Book Review, Parul Sehgal a staff critic and former editor at the Book Review, wrote a review of the NYTBR titled "Reviewing the Book Review".[8]

Pamela Paul was editor from 2013 to 2022, succeeding Sam Tanenhaus,[9] who was editor from 2004 to 2013.

Podcast

"Inside The New York Times Book Review" is the oldest and most popular podcast at The New York Times. The debut episode was released on April 30, 2006 and the show has been recorded weekly ever since.[10]

1983 Legion court case

In 1983, William Peter Blatty sued the New York Times Book Review for failing to include his 1983 novel, Legion, in its best-seller list. The New York Times had previously claimed that it based its "best-seller list" is based on computer-processed sales figures from 2,000 bookstores across the United States. Blatty contended that Legion had sold enough copies to be included on the list. Lawyers for The New York Times did not deny this, but stated that the content of the New York Times best-seller list is editorial in content, and is not an objective compilation of information. The court ruled in favor of The New York Times.[11][12]

Best Books of the Year and Notable Books

Each year since 1968, around the beginning of December, a list of notable books and/or editor's choice ("Best Books") is announced. Beginning in 2004, it consists of a "100 Notable Books of the Year" list[13] which contains fiction and non-fiction titles, 50 of each. From the list of 100, 10 books are awarded the "Best Books of the Year" title, five each of fiction and non-fiction. Other year-end lists include the Best Illustrated Children's Books, in which 10 books are chosen by a panel of judges.

1990s

2000s


2010s

2020s

Studies

In 2010, Stanford professors Alan Sorenson and Jonah Berger published a study examining the effect on book sales from positive or negative reviews in the New York Times Book Review.[64][65] They found all books benefited from positive reviews, while popular or well-known authors were negatively impacted by negative reviews.[64][65] Lesser-known authors benefited from negative reviews; in other words, bad publicity actually boosted book sales.[64][65]

A study published in 2012, by university professor and author Roxane Gay, found that 90 percent of the New York Times book reviews published in 2011 were of books by white authors.[66] Gay said, "The numbers reflect the overall trend in publishing where the majority of books published are written by white writers."[66] At the time of the report, the racial makeup of the United States was 72 percent white, according to the 2010 census (it includes Hispanic and Latino Americans who identify as white).[66]

See also

References
  1. "Gilbert Cruz Is Our Next Books Editor". The New York Times Company. July 28, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  2. "Inside The New York Times Book Review". C-SPAN. October 17, 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2015. A behind-the-scenes tour of the offices of the New York Times Book Review showed how an issue is created. Editor Sam Tanenhaus guided the tour through the editorial and production process of review while staff members described their various responsibilities. Included were selecting and rejecting books; choosing reviewers for books; fact checking and editing the review; composing the layout design; creating headlines, blurbs, and artwork; and selecting and editing letters from readers.
  3. The New York Times, October 10, 1896. Inaugural book review issue (announced on page 4, column 1)
  4. Dunlap, David W. (August 18, 2016). "1896 | The Book Review Is Born". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  5. Noah Charney (August 8, 2012). "Inside the NYT Book Review: 'How I Write' Interviews Sam Tanenhaus". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  6. Pamela Paul (January 1, 2016). "Answering the Most Frequent Questions About the Book Review". New York Times Book Review. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  7. Allen Pierleoni (January 22, 2012). "Best-sellers lists: How they work and who they (mostly) work for". The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  8. Parul Sehgal (February 26, 2021). "Reviewing the Book Review". The New York Times Book Review. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  9. Paoletta, Sam (April 21, 2022). "The New York Times Book Review at a Crossroads". The Nation. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  10. Paul, Pamela (September 14, 2015). "Listening to the Book Review". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  11. Hager, Philip (October 8, 1986). "Best-Seller Listing Is Issue in Lawsuit by Author". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  12. Laura J. Miller (2000). "The Best-Seller List as Marketing Tool and Historical Fiction". In Ezra Greenspan (ed.). Book History. Vol. 3. Penn State Press. pp. 286–304. ISBN 0271020504.
  13. "HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE; 100 Notable Books of 2010". The New York Times. December 5, 2010. p. 28. Retrieved January 7, 2011. (Page has links to previous years also.)
  14. "Notable Books 1998". The New York Times. December 6, 1998. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
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  65. Jenny Thai, "Bad publicity may boost book sales", the Stanford Daily, February 23, 2011.
  66. Roxane Gay (June 6, 2012). "Where Things Stand". The Rumpus. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
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