Eagle-eyed readers of today's charts will note a novel occurrence—or rather, no novel occurrence. No new fiction titles debuted this week, an unusual situation that happened only three times last year. Two of the three nonfiction new arrivals, however, point to Harmony at Crown, with one title coming from each of those publishers.
Jumping into the #3 spot is Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential by Caroline Myss, which, according to Crown executive publicity director Tina Constable, "began selling strongly right out of the gate on January 8, when Caroline began her 18-city tour to sellout crowds." The author is averaging 300—500 people at each event, many of whom no doubt saw her January 25 Oprah gig (a full hour). Stores on the rest of the tour route, said Constable, "are frantically ordering books to keep up with the new demand." Publicity plans have included a barrage of local media as well as extensive coverage in the major spirituality publications. After four trips back to press, Crown's in-print total is 187,000.
Proving yet again that truth is often more riveting than fiction, Robert Baer's See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism has rapidly become a media favorite. Harmony's publicity campaign kicked off with a first serial in the February Vanity Fair, followed by a massive launch on the book's January 17 pub date. In the last two weeks of January, Baer's interview slate included Prime Time Live, NPR's All Things Considered, Good Morning America, The O'Reilly Factor, CNN, C-Span, Diane Rehm, the New York Times, etc. Total in print: 82,000
With reporting by Dick Donahue
