| Bestsellers | ||
Behind the Bestsellers Daisy Maryles -- 9/25/00 Kudos for the Elder Statesmen Banking on Baldacci | Cleaning Up with Oprah Kudos for the Elder StatesmenYou might notice that on PW's hardcover fiction bestseller list, only three titles landed before September. Contrast that with the nonfiction players--on that side, there are eight books with tenures ranging from nine to 149 weeks. Each list in September featured three or four new novels, with at least as many others selling briskly right below. This is the usual rhythm of the fall season--veteran writers and big budget books begin the season, followed by memoirs, gift books and retrospectives for the latter half, when the holiday buying spree begins. Last week's newcomer, PaganBabies by Elmore Leonard, moves up from #15 to #10. PW's starred Forecast led the chorus of excellent reviews, and movie rights have already sold to Universal Pictures and Danny DeVito's production company, Jersey Films. This is the author's 36th book, and, according to the NYT, he's "the greatest living writer of crime fiction today." Delacorte has gone back to press twice, for a total of 125,000 copies. The author, who turns 75 next month, kicked off his national bookstore and media tour in Denver, where he served as the official guest of honor at Bouchercon, the national mystery writers' conference.
Dick Francis turned 80 this year and his latest bestseller, Shattered, is his 38th mystery; it takes the #5 spot on PW's list this week. Putnam launched the book with a 250,000+ first printing and a national print ad campaign, plus online and print interviews. This is a writer who has won just about every mystery award there is, as well as the title of C.B.E.--Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Representing the younger crowd, first printing for Stephen Coonts's eighth national bestseller, HongKong, was 175,000; St. Martin's has already gone back to press for an additional 25,000 copies. Coonts claims sales of more than 15 million copies for his books. Banking on BaldacciDavid Baldacci is enjoying his third week at #1 on our mass market list with Saving Faith--the author's best performance so far. Warner has 1,650,000 copies after four trips to press. This bodes well for the October 24 one-day laydown for Baldacci's Wish You Well, which will launch with a 600,000-copy first printing. His new hardcover, a departure from the suspense novels that have built his audience, uses his family history to tell a story set in his native Virginia. PW's starred review called it "his best novel yet." Beginning October 20 and finishing in December, Baldacci will be on a 20-city coast-to-coast tour. Will the hardcover land in the top spot, too? Nothing else with that high level of first printing is coming out that week (Amy Tan's Bonesetter'sDaughter was planned to be released then with a mid-six-figure first printing but it is now rescheduled for February 2001), so he has a chance. Cleaning Up with Oprah Talking Dirty with the Queen of Clean has Oprah to thank for its quick jump onto the trade paper list. Author Linda Cobb did a segment on Oprah the day after the book went on sale. You know the rest--the book hit #1 on Amazon and publisher Simon & Schuster went back to press nine times, making 570,000 copies in print. All this before a 10-city tour and an October 2 Live! With Regis appearance and a People feature. | ||
Behind the Bestsellers
Sep 25, 2000
A version of this article appeared in the 09/25/2000 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline:
