It seems to happen more with nonfiction than fiction, but there are ways to buy a place on The New York Times BestSeller List. No, no one pays the newspaper to get on the list. But, the newspaper’s list is so valuable to sales and prestige, that people (with money) do what they can to get on the list.
Check out Sarah Nicolas’ piece in BookRiot, “A History of Buying Books onto the Bestseller List.” https://bit.ly/2N15Hgs