February 4, 2013
Dear Children’s Book Publisher,
Publishers Weekly is once again compiling its yearly bestseller lists, based on publishers’ sales reports. This list will be printed in the 2012 Facts & Figures feature in our March 18 issue. We need your responses by Tuesday, February 26 (extended)..
We are requesting your sales figures (not in-print figures) on hardcover children’s books, published in 2012, that sold more than 100,000 copies in the calendar year 2012. Also supply figures on your bestselling backlist hardcovers that sold over 100,000 copies last year. In addition, we’d like information on paperback frontlist titles (originals or reprints published in 2012) that sold over 100,000 copies, as well as paperback backlist titles that sold over 100,000 copies. (Some of this information may end up listed on our Web site, not in the printed magazine.) And we would also like information on e-books that sold over 25,000 units.
Please supply us with five separate lists (hardcover frontlist, hardcover backlist, paperback frontlist, paperback backlist, e-books), and please list the books by those categories, not by your imprints. List titles in descending order, beginning with the biggest selling title, and include sales figures. Include sales from boxed sets as well. (Titles in boxed sets should be counted once, in the total sales for that title; please don’t include a separate listing for boxed sets.) Do not combine e-book sales with any print category – e-books will be a separate list (see details later in this letter).
Here are the categories that are needed:
Hardcover Frontlist: more than 100,000 copies
Hardcover Backlist: more than 100,000 copies
Paperback Frontlist: more than 100,000 copies
Paperback Backlist: more than 100,000 copies
E-books: more than 25,000 units
We are only interested in 2012 trade sales – that is, sales to bookstores, wholesalers, and libraries. Do not include sales units based on book club transactions, catalog sales, etc. Please be as accurate as possible (do not round off figures) and adjust 2012 shipped-and-billed sales to reflect returns through January 31, if at all possible. We cannot accept in-print figures for placement on the lists.
For all titles you are submitting, please supply author, illustrator, publisher/imprint, publication date, and number of copies sold. Please list complete first and last names for both author and illustrator. If a title is available in more than one edition, please tally up the sales figures and list the title just once, noting the different editions.
For backlist titles, also include original year of publication, not the date of the book’s most recent reissue. (For backlist publication information and years, you are invited to view last year’s article, so you can re-use the information we ran last time.)
Please be sure to write out each exact book title (including “The” or “A” at the beginning of the title, when it exists). Do not use ampersands if the word “and” is written out in the title. Also, please use “10” or “Ten” accurately, to reflect how the word actually appears on the book, as well as words like “Christmas” vs. “Xmas.” We need the title exactly as it appears on the book cover.
If you are generating a report on a spreadsheet, and if the titles of the books have been abbreviated on that spreadsheet, please rework the list into a form that provides us with complete title and author information, which also shows the book’s specific imprint. Also, if the report was supplied to you by your sales department, please go over it carefully to be sure that all information about the book is complete and accurate, all illustrators have been included, etc.
If a book you are reporting is part of a series, list the series title in parentheses, after the actual book title, and if relevant please tell us what number in the series the new title is.
List board books in the hardcover category. Please add the words (board book edition) in parentheses just after the book title, so that we can distinguish this edition from the original.
We will not be including coloring books, activity books, workbooks, and non-book products in this listing (i.e. calendars, kits, book-and-doll packages), so please do not include them in your submissions.
If you are releasing a new edition (a mass market edition, for instance) of a title that has previously been available in either hardcover or softcover, be sure to explain that, so that we don’t get the titles confused.
Info for e-books list: Supply to us information on any e-books for which your company sold more than 25,000 units in 2012. E-book sales should be reported separately, not combined with print sales. Also, please do not list free e-books – only books that have been purchased. Please combine frontlist and backlist, and submit just one combined e-book list to us. For each e-book title you report, please supply the author, illustrator if applicable, publisher/imprint, number of copies sold, and the book’s original year of print publication, as well as the month and year of e-book publication.
Please submit your lists to me by mail (preferably) or as an e-mail attachment (no faxes). If you are sending an attachment, please make it a Word attachment, and make sure it is easily readable and printable, with your company’s name written at the top of the Word file. If you are preparing an Excel sheet, please do not e-mail it, as Excel documents can be difficult to print out, and tabs are easily missed. Our mailing address is Publishers Weekly, 71 West 23rd St. Suite 1608, New York, NY 10010.
If you do not have any books that qualify for this list, there is no need to respond. And there is no need to submit art with your listings.
If you have any problems meeting the deadline, or if you have any questions, please e-mail me and put Facts and Figures into your subject line.
Many thanks for all your hard work!
Diane Roback
Children’s Book Editor
Publishers Weekly
