The mass market paperback list has been dominated by fiction for decades and usually gives up only one of the top 15 slots to a rack-sized nonfiction book. In most cases, the only category that can compete on this list is a diet book (Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution currently dominates the mass market chart; about a quarter of a century ago, it was The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet). Now, this fiction domination is happening on the trade paperback list; this week 12 of the top 15 are works of fiction, including the top four.
In the #1 spot is The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. St. Martin's Press was the very successful hardcover publisher of this debut novel—more than 852,000 sold and 32 weeks on PW's 2002 charts—and it put all of its muscle into the paperback launch: a heavy print ad campaign; outdoor advertising in the book's locale (e.g., ads at N.Y.C. subway entrances) through this month; and lots of online promotion targeting younger women (16—25). SMP reports 525,000 copies in print.
Last week's list topper, The Secret Life of Bees, another debut novel, slipped to #2; it already enjoyed a two-month run on the trade paper list. Penguin reports 530,000 copies in print after seven trips to press; first printing was 200,000. Author Sue Monk Kidd recently completed an 11-city promotional tour that drew packed crowds. RJ Julia Bookseller in Madison, Conn., had to move its event offsite, to a local high school, with 475 advance reservations. The book is a favorite handsell among independent bookstores—the hardcover, published last October, is a nominee for the BookSense Hardcover Fiction of the Year. It's already been selected as the SEBA Book of the Year. Penguin is aggressively promoting the book for Mother's Day and summer reading programs. Additional publicity plans include a packaged 26-minute radio feature to be sent to Christian and NPR radio stations
