Parsing through the top 10 bestsellers of 2012 in a number of major publishing categories reads like a usual suspects list, as a small number of authors filled a large number of spots. The result: 2012’s bestseller lists showed relatively little variety, and the phenomenon wasn’t just limited to any one category.
The category that saw one of the few increases in unit sales in 2012 was also one of the most monopolized—the top 10 romance bestsellers had only four different authors (E.L. James, Sylvia Day, Nora Roberts, and Nicholas Sparks) from only three different publishers (Vintage, Berkley, and Grand Central). Overall, the romance category saw a hefty 35% increase in print units sold in 2012, compared to 2011, at outlets tracked by Nielsen BookScan. And while that number would be impressive in its own right, it’s even more astounding given the fact that only one other adult category, religion, saw any increase at all in 2012—and religion only increased 1% for the year.
All other adult categories experienced declines in units sold in 2012 from 2011. The biggest declines were in biography/autobiography (down 26%, partially because of the huge success of Steve Jobs in 2011), science fiction (down 21%), and business (down 18%).
Children’s fiction had a better year than adult fiction, even though the latter was helped by the Fifty Shades books. According to BookScan, adult fiction units declined 11% in 2012, while children’s fiction essentially held steady, declining only 2%. But, like romance, the children’s fiction top 10 was dominated by a few authors: only three authors made the top 10 (Suzanne Collins, Jeff Kinney, and Rick Riordan), and Collins alone filled six of the 10 spots.
But while many categories were filled with titles from the big six publishers, there were a few success stories from smaller publishers. In particular, the business category was a bright spot: four of the top 10 bestselling business titles in 2012 were from non-big-six publishers—five if you include the #2 title, Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover, which was first published in 2009 by Thomas Nelson, then not yet part of HarperCollins. Gallup Press continues to reap the benefits of Tom Rath’s books, as his blockbuster StrengthsFinder 2.0 was the #1 business book overall in 2012 and has sold over 2.5 million copies since it was first published in 2007 at outlets that report to BookScan.
The cooking category was also good to smaller presses in 2012, including Quail Ridge Press, which published the #5 bestselling cookbook of the year, Great Food Fast by Bob Warden. The book sold 122,000 print copies and is backordered for one to three weeks on Amazon, as of January 2013.
Adult Fiction Unit Sales
1. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. Vintage. 6,345,387
2. Fifty Shades of Darker by E.L. James. Vintage. 3,833,550
3. Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James. Vintage. 3,441,362
4. Fifty Shades Trilogy Box Set by E.L. James. Vintage. 787,271
5. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Crown. 701,271
6. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. Little, Brown. 590,272
7. The Racketeer by John Grisham. Doubleday. 552,943
8. Bared to You by Sylvia Day. Berkley. 506,379
9. The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts. Berkley. 318,625
10. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. Grand Central. 316,537
Total Category Unit Change for 2012: -11%
Children’s Fiction
1. The Hunger Games (paperback) by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic. 2,809,857
2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic. 2,611,680
3. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic. 2,302,461
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney. Amulet Books. 1,401,799
5. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. Hyperion. 704,695
6. The Hunger Games (hardcover) by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic. 651,538
7. The Hunger Games (movie tie-in edition) by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic. 631,050
8. The Hunger Games Trilogy Box Set by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic. 598,952
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney. Amulet Books. 584,234
10. The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan. Hyperion. 440,353
Total category Unit change for 2012: -2%
Romance
1. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. Vintage. 6,345,387
2. Fifty Shades of Darker by E.L. James. Vintage. 3,833,550
3. Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James. Vintage. 3,441,362
4. Fifty Shades Trilogy Box Set by E.L. James. Vintage. 787,271
5. Bared to You by Sylvia Day. Berkley. 506,379
6. The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts. Berkley. 318,625
7. The Lucky One (movie tie-in mass market edition) by Nicholas Sparks. Grand Central. 316,537
8. Reflected in You by Sylvia Day. Berkley. 277,705
9. The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts. Berkley. 258,994
10. The Lucky One (movie tie-in trade paperback edition) by Nicholas Sparks. Grand Central. 235,654
Total category unit change for 2012: +35%
Audio
1. Killing Kennedy 58,101 by Bill O’Reilly. Macmillan. Audio.
2. Killing Lincoln 52,696 by Bill O’Reilly. Macmillan. Audio.
3. Brave Read-Along by Nolan North. Disney Press. 45,508
4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Colins. Scholastic. 43,936
5. I Am Wishes Fulfilled Meditation by Wayne W. Dyer. Hay House. 31,965
6. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic. 31,858
7. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic. 28,083
8. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. Random House Audio. 22,336
9. Wishes Fulfilled by Wayne W. Dyer. Hay House.
10. Cars Toons: Moon Mater by David Jeremiah. Disney Press.17,548
Total category unit change for 2012: -7%
Mystery
1. Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich. Bantam. 289,671
2. The Affair by Lee Child. Dell. 218,723
3. Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich. Bantam. 208,201
4. 11th Hour by James Patterson. Little, Brown. 195,679
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (movie tie-in mass market edition) by Stieg Larsson. Vintage.180,194
6. Buried Prey by John Sandford. Berkley. 148,172
7. Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell. Berkley. 131,409
8. 10th Anniversary by James Patterson. Grand Central. 130,223
9. Stolen Prey by John Sandford. Putnam Adult. 122,993
10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (movie tie-in trade paper edition) by Stieg Larsson. Vintage. 121,664
Total category unit change for 2012: -11%
Science Fiction
1. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Tor. 100,387
2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Broadway. 50,593
3. Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno. Lucas Books. 31,543
4. The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Del Rey. 27,220
5. Star Wars: Apocalypse by Troy Denning. Lucas Books. 26,140
6. Dune by Frank Herbert. Ace. 25,532
7. A Rising Thunder by David Weber. Baen Books. 25,348
8. HALO: The Thursday War by Karen Traviss. Tor. 24,936
9. HALO: Glasslands by Karen Traviss. Tor. 24,932
10. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Ballantine. 24,120
Total category unit change for 2012: -21%
Biography/ Autobiography
1. Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander. Simon & Schuster. 408,467
2. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Random House. 377,044
3. American Sniper by Chris Kyle. William Morrow. 332,250
4. Bossypants by Tina Fey. Reagan Arthur. 321,555
5. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Simon & Schuster. 302,498
6. Thomas Jefferson by Jon Meacham. Random House. 291,181
7. Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Knopf. 276,204
8. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Harper. 257,990
9. The Vow by Kim Carpenter. B&H Publishing Group. 193,309
10. Night by Elie Wiesel. Hill & Wang. 168,653
Total category unit change for 2012: -26%
1. Barefoot Contessa Foolproof by Ina Garten. Clarkson Potter. 428,105
2. The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by Ree Drummond. William Morrow. 267,909
3. In the Kitchen with David by David Venable. Ballantine. 264,953
4. Eat More of What You Love by Marlene Koch. Running Press. 132,796
5. Great Food Fast by Bob Warden. Quail Ridge Press. 122,665
6. The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman. Knopf. 114,547
7. The Chew by The Hosts and Staff of ABC's The Chew. Hyperion. 109,020
8. The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond. William Morrow. 103,751
9. Weeknights with Giada by Giada De Laurentiis. Clarkson Potter. 95,040
10. Hungry Girl to the Max! by Lisa Lillien. St. Martin’s Griffin. 86,656
Total category unit change for 2012: -3%
Business
1. StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. Gallup Press. 529,413
2. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. Thomas Nelson. 146,674
3. It Worked for Me by Colin Powell. Harper. 131,303
4. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. Jossey-Bass. 117,065
5. Great by Choice by Jim Collins. HarperBusiness. 94,832
6. Taking People With You by David Novak. Portfolio. 92,250
7. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson. Penguin Putnam. 83,322
8. Good to Great by Jim Collins. HarperBusiness. 82,212
9. Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath. Gallup Press. 81,335
10. Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson. McGraw-Hill. 75,771
Total category unit change for 2012: -18%
History
1. No Easy Day by Mark Owen. Dutton. 908,097
2. Killing Kennedy by Bill O’Reilly. Henry Holt. 861,239
3. Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly. Henry Holt. 780,617
4. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. Broadway. 275.054
5. The Greater Journey by David McCullough. Simon & Schuster. 69,041
6. In the Dark Streets Shineth by David McCullough. Shadow Mountain. 54,848
7. 1491 by Charles C. Mann. Vintage. 51,959
8. Prague Winter by Madeleine Albright. Harper 49,166
9. Lost in Shangi-La by Mitchell Zuckoff. Harper Perennial. 48,556
10. Double Cross by Ben Macintyre. Crown. 46,692
Total category unit change for 2012: -7%
