How does an author get on a bestseller list?

It felt too long since I read a romance, so I started a new one last night. The Moon Witch by Linda Winstead Jones.

I can really get into the stories by Linda Winstead Jones. She really entertains me. Why isn’t she on a bestseller list? And this makes me really wonder how the bestseller lists work. I don’t believe it’s because of her writing. She has written many books so she is obviously a steady selling author or the publishers wouldn’t keep publishing her work. How do you get on the bestseller list? Is it promotion? Is it who you know? I do believe many many things in life are about who you know.

Her website basically lists some of her books but not all. http://www.lindawinsteadjones.com/
Maybe she doesn’t promote herself enough. Could it be something so simple?

Now about my writing.

Yesterday I wrote in Chapter 3 of my SH#2. I finished an important Scene. The Scene began in the start of the Chapter and ended on the ninth page (of the chapter). I will have to reread to see if I made that scene too long… but not now… I’m trying to turn off the critical voice. That is so incredibly hard to do.

But my chapter ended on page 9! That’s not enough and I’m not sure what to do. Well, I guess I do. I will have to write the sequel to make the next goal since it was an important scene. My chapters usually end up between 12 and 16 pages long… usually on the longer side. 9 pages is too short for me to feel happy about it. But this is chapter 3. I wanted to end chapter 3 with a really strong hook. I have to end chapter 3 with a strong hook. I will have to think about a great new goal for the end of the sequel because it looks like I will have to add the sequel to complete my chapter. I’ve already written 4 and 5 but since I have a terrible memory, I’ll have to reread to make sure that Chapter 4 had a good goal because that is the goal I need to set in my chapter 3 sequel. Have I confused you yet LOL. I’ll just have to write the sequel and see what it looks like. Maybe I’ll read 4… if its dramatic enough… I suppose I could move some of 4 into chapter 3 if there is a good point to break/to hook the end of chapter 3. I’m thinking out loud… ignore me ;)