Of the five new titles landing in this week's fiction top 10, the lead spot, not surprisingly, is occupied by Nora Roberts's latest mega-seller, Birthright, launched by Putnam with a 521,000-copy printing. Among the author's impressive statistics: with more than 200 million copies of her titles in print, an average of 18 of her books have been sold every minute over the last 21 years. Also, in 2002, her 10 mass market bestsellers accounted for about 8% of the spots on our list. To promote her latest, Roberts went on a three-week, 17-city tour. For one stop, in Bentonville, Ark., Putnam rented a tour bus (not too many flights serving that locale). The conveyance in question belonged to country singer Charlie Pride—a luxe vehicle whose many amenities include 12 bunks, a lounge, dinette and galley plus an entertainment center with DVD and satellite TV. Just the thing to restore a weary author who'd be signing about 5,000 books at that stop.
With reporting by Dick Donahue
