Ep. 178: Behind the Scenes of Amazon's Best Books Lists with Al Woodworth, Senior Editor & Manager of Amazon Books Editorial + Book Recommendations

Sarah's Bookshelves Live

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!

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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:
  • 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami [51:09]

Last 5-Star Book Al Read

• There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak | Amazon | Bookshop.org [52:05]
• 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

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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.