Let’s repeat that: there are no shortcuts to writing success.
You will often see people recommending that when you want to sell well, you have to copy what the bestsellers do.
Yes, you do, but there is a genuine way and a misguided way to go about it.
Misguided? Well…
Bestsellers have books with lots of reviews, so people will do all sorts of things to get lots of reviews. Make no mistake, it’s not a bad thing to give out copies to your fans to get a few reviews immediately when the book is published. But large-scale review-gathering? What’s the point? The successful books got those reviews because they sold a lot, not the other way around.
Bestsellers may have quotes from reviews in the description. Sure, if you have a quote that looks good, use it, but if you have to put “Amazon reviewer” in your quote, then it looks a bit silly, doesn’t it? Again, those quotes came about because people read the book. If you pay for quotes or reviews (Kirkus!) then you probably end up looking a bit desperate if the book doesn’t sell.
Bestsellers may have (emphasis on may) have made bestseller lists. While publishers have gamed these lists for many years, gaming by self-published writers has reached epic proportions, which is why the NYT bestseller list has combined some categories, making it harder to get on those lists.
But why would you want to, if you haven’t actually written books that have anywhere near earned their place? If readers go to a page of a touted whatever-list-bestselling author and all they can see there are books that don’t look in the slightest like they could have earned that listing, what are they going to think? It just devalues the list, if readers actually took notice in the first place.
So what does matter?
When you look at the pages of successful writers, you will see either of these things:
- One or two books that sell an insane number of copies a month
- Lots of books, most of which sell a decent number of copies each month
All of them sell books that people want to read. They get reviews because those readers love the books, and the writers occasionally make lists because people buy the books when they’re on special.
Goosing reviews or bestseller lists is putting the cart before the horse.
Write books first, work on your craft, produce material regularly. The rest will follow by itself. Yes, it’s likely to take a while.
You can toss any amount of money at tricks that will make you look better, but ultimately it is about the books. People are not dumb. Social proof comes about because people read the books, not the other way around. Therefore, make your books the best and spend your energy on doing that.
There are no shortcuts. You can’t buy long-term, viable success.
Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear.
Must Use Bigger Elephants 
When I first started writing, I really wanted to be popular and do well, but like you said, there are no short-cuts to success. In the end, you have to write, work on your craft, and then see what happens. Awesome advice =)