New York Times will have e-book bestseller list early next year

File under "Gee, ya think?"

In an acknowledgment of the growing sales and influence of digital publishing, The New York Times said on Wednesday that it would publish e-book best-seller lists in fiction and nonfiction beginning early next year.

The lists will be compiled from weekly data from publishers, chain bookstores, independent booksellers and online retailers, among other sources.

Read the rest here.

Is Bestseller Status Being Bought?

Here's my new plan for literary world domination: Strip the tape off of my change jar, which now reads "Starbucks $" and replace it with one that says "New York Times bestseller $." And set up a Paypal account for contributions, while I'm at it.

While I'm not so sure this would do the trick (not on my budget, anyway) Seth Godin's blog post, Payola, indicates that highly-esteemed -- and often financially rewarding -- New York Times bestseller status can easily be bought.

I've heard of this happening, and I've also heard that many books (romances in particular) which sell more copies than the listmakers are routinely ignored by the New York Times. As a member of the reading public, how do you feel about this? And how much are you influenced as you select your books by the bestseller status of the author?