His point has an analogue in traditional book publishing. Historically they would decide (at least, in the US, up to say the 90's) what was a "bestseller" only

His point has an analogue in traditional book publishing. Historically they would decide (at least, in the US, up to say the 90's) what was a "bestseller" only after first excluding any book or genre they did not approve of, like romance, westerns, military adventure, the Bible, etc. Which just happened to have very high and consistent sales. In other words, the actual bestsellers were first excluded, then among the remaining they decided which of those also-rans were the least also-ranny, and called them the bestsellers. Numbers: the best way to lie.