Ep. 178: Behind the Scenes of Amazon's Best Books Lists with Al Woodworth, Senior Editor & Manager of Amazon Books Editorial + Book Recommendations
1Description
In Episode 178, Al Woodworth, Senior Editor and Manager at Amazon Books Editorial, goes behind the scenes of Amazon’s editorial division, including the start-to-finish process of building the “Best Books” lists, what “best” might mean, and what helps a book make the list. Plus, Al shares some of her book recommendations!
This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).
CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog.
Highlights
- How Al fits reading into her busy weekly schedule
- The start to finish process of building the Amazon “Best of” lists
- How Amazon balances genre diversity in their “Best of” lists
- What “best” means to Amazon’s editorial team
- Publication date criteria for the Best Books of the Month and Year lists
- How the team discusses, votes, and makes decisions for the lists
- Whether sales numbers influence the year-end list
- How Amazon’s editorial team handles publisher influence
- What 2024 looks like so far for Al and the editorial team
Al’s Book Recommendations [38:26 ]
Two OLD Books She Loves
- Horse by Geraldine Brooks | Amazon | Bookshop.org [38:39 ]
- Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe | Amazon | Bookshop.org [40:20 ]
- Other Books Mentioned
- Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe [41:32 ]
Two NEW Books She Loves
- James by Percival Everett | Amazon | Bookshop.org [42:05 ]
- There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak | Amazon
| Bookshop.org [44:18 ]
One Book She DIDN’T Love
- Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff | Amazon | Bookshop.org [46:21 ]
One NEW RELEASE She’s Excited About
- The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami (Nov 19) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [48:54 ]
- Other Books Mentioned:
Last 5-Star Book Al Read
- There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak | Amazon
- Other Books Mentioned:
- John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg (Oct 8) [52:26 ]
Books From Our Discussion
- All the Worst Humans by Phil Elwood [9:25 ]
- The Wedding People by Alison Espach [14:54 ]
- Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie [18:05 ]
- All the Broken Places by John Boyne [18:11 ]
- All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker [19:38 ]
- James by Percival Everett [21:40 ]
- Educated by Tara Westover [22:07 ]
- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver [24:09 ]
- Spare by Prince Harry [25:25 ]
- The Testaments by Margaret Atwood [31:13 ]
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood [31:25 ]
- The 9/11 Commission Report by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks [31:34 ]
About Al Woodworth
More about Amazon Book Review
Website | Instagram | X | Facebook
Al Woodworth is a Senior Editor on the Amazon Books Editorial team and has spent more than ten years in the book industry, championing authors and their work. She’s never without a book or four in her bag and is happiest reading memoirs and literary fiction, especially sprawling stories that cross generations and countries. She lives in Brooklyn.
United States
