Bestseller Stat Shot: Sex and Violence, a Sales Story
A year ago, the Fifty Shades and Hunger Games trilogies were burning up the bestseller charts. As of this same week in 2012, year-to-date print unit sales for the two trilogies had topped 12.1 million. So far this year, the 100 bestselling books in America have sold a combined 10.2 million print copies—though the #1 book in the country is another steamy piece of erotica, Sylvia Day’s Entwined with You (Berkley).
| Title | Pub date | First-week sales |
|---|---|---|
| Entwined with You | June 2013 | 134,697 |
| Reflected in You | Oct. 2012 | 100,648 |
| Bared to You | June 2012 | 22,086 |
From the Newsletters
Tip Sheet
Who are the worst fathers in the history of literature? Fiona Maazel, whose Woke Up Lonely (Graywolf) features a less-than-stellar dad, picks the baddest of dads, just in time for Father’s Day.
Children’s Bookshelf
A sneak peek at a highly anticipated YA novel for fall: Rose Under Fire (Disney-Hyperion) by Elizabeth Wein, a companion to 2012’s Code Name Verity, which won a Printz Honor.
Cooking the Books
Michael Romano, culinary director of Danny Meyers’s restaurant empire (you can thank him for publishing power-lunch spot Union Square Cafe) and author of Family Table: Favorite Staff Meals from Our Restaurants to Your Home (HMH), dishes on his three essential cookbooks.
Sign up for all newsletters here.
The most-read review on publishersweekly.com last week was MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood (Doubleday/Talese).
PW Radio
Sirius XM Channel 80, Thursdays at 3 p.m.
This week, Dallas Morning News columnist Rob Dreher talks about his memoir, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming (Grand Central). Next week, Jeffrey Selingo, author of College (Un)bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students (HMH/New Harvest) joins us.
Did you miss the original broadcast? Catch the re-air, Saturdays at 11 a.m.
Blogs
ShelfTalker
Get an inside look at four children’s book illustrators’ studios.
PWxyz
Remembering sci-fi legend Iain M. Banks, who died last week at age 59.
Podcasts
LitCast
J. Sydney Jones discusses The Keeper of Hands (Severn) and his series of historical mysteries set in the Vienna of Gustav Mahler and Arthur Schnitzler.
KidsCast
Samantha Berger and Dan Santat discuss their new picture book, Crankenstein (Little, Brown), about a boy whose reaction to getting out of bed in the morning is downright monstrous.
More to Come
The More to Come crew talks about the Man of Steel Superman reboot and what it means for DC Comics.
Subscribe to our podcasts in iTunes, or listen here.
Authors
Former Onion A.V. Club editor Nathan Rabin dives deep into the bizarre world of the rabid fans of jam band Phish and rap group Insane Clown Posse in his new book, You Don’t Know Me but You Don’t Like Me (Scribner). We talk to him about life among the Juggalos.
What does a detective have in common with the bodhisattva? More than you’d think. Mystery novelist Sara Gran explains.
