Bestseller Stat Shot
Unit sales of print books last week may be down 2% compared to the similar week in 2013, but compared to the previous week, sales are up 7%, as we enter the prime holiday book-buying season. Leading the charge, of course, is the new Wimpy Kid title, which sold nearly 319,000 print copies in its debut week and, along with a stream of holiday-themed picture book titles, created a week-over-week surge of 17% in children’s. A few other strong debuts on the adult side had positive impacts on a number of fiction and nonfiction categories. Here are some category movers and shakers from last week, and the most notable title for each.
| Children’s Fiction | Mystery/Detective | History/Law/Political Science | Health/Fitness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up 52% | Up 17% | Up 16% | Up 12% |
| The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney | The Burning Room by Michael Connelly | For Love of Country by Howard Schultz | JJ Virgin’s Sugar Impact Diet by JJ Virgin |
From the Newsletters
Writing tips from Pulitzer finalist Lydia Millet, whose new book, Mermaids in Paradise (Norton), earned a starred review and is just out now.
The true story behind The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, 25 years after the book’s publication.
After 50 years, the Christian Writers Guild is shutting its doors—though some staffers are looking for a way to keep the institution alive.
Book interior design 101 for indie authors.
A round-up of book properties generating buzz across the planet, from a debut by the Italian translator of 50 Shades to a Spanish novel about an Oxford professor drawn into a murder investigation.
Blogs
Great moments in epigraph history, featuring Larry Kramer; a dip into the PW archives; a smattering of book-related animated .gifs— these are just a few things you may have missed if you haven’t stopped by the PW Tumblr lately.
A gymnasium, a children’s author, and a whole lot of people wearing pajamas. What could go wrong?
Podcasts
Holly Black talks about returning to the realm of faerie fiction in The Darkest Part of the Forest, waking up to the news that she had received a Newbery Honor, and the pleasures of writing standalone novels.
Looking at the bounty of new TV shows—Gotham, Arrow, Constantine, The Flash, Agents of Shield—that are based on superhero comics.
PW senior writer Andrew Albanese breaks down the Hachette deal with Amazon—and where the debate over Amazon’s power goes from here.
Events
If you’re going to the Guadalajara Book Festival, be sure to stop by PW’s booth and pick up a copy of our special supplement dedicated to Spanish-language books.
Cory Doctorow, activist and author of Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free (McSweeney’s), explains why the Internet is an author’s best friend and DRM is not. Then PW editorial director Jim Milliot discusses the resolution to the long-running Amazon-Hachette dispute.
Introducing the PW Starred Reviews Annual, a collection of all 1,011 starred reviews of adult trade titles published in 2014. It’s available now in PW’s app, or as a free download at publishersweekly.com/stars. Check it out, and get ready for the Children’s Starred Reviews Annual, coming next week.
The most-read review on publishersweekly.com last week was Alphabetical: How Every Letter Tells a Story by Michael Rosen (Counterpoint)
