Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming sold more than 725,000 units in all formats and editions in the U.S. and Canada on the first day of its publication, last Tuesday, November 13, publisher Penguin Random House said. Becoming’s first-day sales, including pre-orders, represent the largest single-day sales total for any book published in 2018 by Penguin Random House, it added
Becoming was published in the U.S. and Canada in print and digital formats by Crown Publishing with a first printing of 1.8 million copies of the hardcover edition. Based on demand across channels, the publisher has gone back to press for an additional 800,000 hardcover copies, which will bring the total number of copies in print in the U.S. and Canada to 2.6 million.
“We are thrilled by the extraordinary response to Mrs. Obama’s beautifully rendered and deeply personal memoir, and we are confident that Becoming will inspire millions of readers,” Madeline McIntosh, CEO of Penguin Random House U.S., said in a statement.
Barnes & Noble has confirmed that Michelle Obama’s Becoming had the biggest first-week sales of any book this year at the chain, surpassing Fear for the most copies sold, as well as having the best first-week start of any adult book in over three years. The company called it "the best first-week sales of an adult book since Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee, which published in July 2015. Fear, by Bob Woodward, had the second-most first-week sales for a book in 2018, B&N said, and was followed by A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, by James Comey.
“We knew Becoming was going to be one of the biggest books of the year, but it has now officially had the best first week of sales of any book in 2018, and is among the fastest sellers in Barnes & Noble history,” Liz Harwell, senior director of merchandising for trade books at Barnes & Noble, said in a statement. “This is definitely the must-have book of the holiday season.
