Thanks to ever-growing anticipation of the June release of the film adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, the 2012 novel was the most-buzzed-about book on social media in March. The first trailer for the movie, which stars Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley as teenage love interests, was released at the end of January and quickly went viral. “This story seems to have really struck a chord with loyal fans,” said Jeff Costello, v-p of CoverCake, which tracks how books are faring on social media.
As the film adaptation of Divergent (also starring Elgort and Woodley, this time as brother and sister), the titular first book in Veronica Roth’s series, dominated the box office after its March 21 release, all three titles in the trilogy lit up social media. Divergent hit #2, with the third book in the series, Allegiant, one step behind at #3. The second installment, Insurgent, sat in the #5 spot. Divergent was the top-selling print title for the week ended March 30, according to outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan, beating out The Fault in Our Stars, which came in at #5.
Huffington Post cofounder Arianna Huffington’s Thrive was the highest-ranking book on the list that was released in March, hitting #4. Other new releases included Nora Roberts’s latest, Shadow Spell, at #6, and former President Jimmy Carter’s A Call to Action at #7.
A Call to Action was the only title on the chart in March to have a higher percentage of commentary from men than women; men initiated 59% of social media conversations about the book.
CoverCake’s Top 10 Books in Social Media, March 2014
| Rank | Title | Author | BookScan* | Scale** | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Fault in Our Stars | John Green | 5 | 10 | 39% | 61% |
| 2 | Divergent | Veronica Roth | 1 | 9 | 43 | 57 |
| 3 | Allegiant | Veronica Roth | 4 | 6 | 41 | 59 |
| 4 | Thrive | Arianna Huffington | 12 | 5 | 48 | 52 |
| 5 | Insurgent | Veronica Roth | 3 | 3 | 38 | 62 |
| 6 | Shadow Spell | Nora Roberts | 2 | 2 | 39 | 61 |
| 7 | A Call to Action | Jimmy Carter | 36 | 2 | 59 | 41 |
| 8 | 12 Years a Slave | Solomon Northup | N/A | 2 | 49 | 51 |
| 9 | Catching Fire | Suzanne Collins | N/A | 1 | 40 | 60 |
| 10 | Blossom Street Brides | Debbie Macomber | 21 | 1 | 35 | 65 |
* For the week ended MARCH 30. If the book did not appear in the top 100 bestselling titles, the ranking is listed as “N/A” (not available).
** Based on the Number of conversations about the book in question for every 10 comments about the #1 book.
