The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia was Nielsen BookScan's #1 bestseller for the week ending February 3, selling nearly 60,000 print copies in its first week. A significant percentage of that number is likely preorders, as the book spent 100 days in Amazon's top 100 (many of them in the top 10) before it even released. The hardcover was published by Dark Horse.
Danielle Steel had the #2 and #3 bestsellers for the week, with Until the End of Time selling 34,000 copies and Betrayal selling 33,000 copies. The sales period ended only one day after the news of Chris Kyle's death, but that short period of time was enough for American Sniper to sell 7,500 copies, up from 1,600 copies the week previous.
When reached for comment, Dark Horse said, "All of us at Dark Horse are extremely pleased to be partnering with Nintendo on the number one book in the US. Dark Horse has topped Nielsen's graphic novel chart before but this is the first time we did it in overall sales. We believe the buzz on The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia is just beginning and will be reprinting as many as needed to keep up with demand."
Hyrule Historia is a guide and history of The Legend of Zelda series, which has been around for over 20 years. Outlets reporting to BookScan account for about 80% of print sales.
