This is the season when it's hard to keep up with the many new hardcover fiction titles debuting on the charts. We still have three from the last two weeks to talk about, and the current list has three more novel landings.
High on the list this week is the eighth installment in Jan Karon's very popular Mitford Years series, Shepherd Abiding, landing in the #4 spot with a 700,000-copy first printing. Karon is one of the most successful crossover authors—she began her Mitford writing career selling mostly in the Christian retail market. Viking took her mainstream, and the house notes that there are more than 15 million of her books in print. She is still a favorite in the CBA marketplace—she was on the cover of Guideposts' November issue and was a featured interviewee on the 700 Club. Plus, the orange marmalade cake featured in the book was on the cover of the November issue of Cooking Light, with a story about how the Mitford books inspired one reader to re-create the cake. Karon's previous Mitford bestsellers have averaged more than two months each on PW's weekly charts.
Left Behind has broken sales records in the Christian market as well as in the general market; the 10-book series has sold more than 50 million copies. One of its co-authors, Tim LaHaye, has embarked on a new series, with a new publisher and a new co-author, and hits the charts after less than a week in the stores. Babylon Rising, co-authored with suspense novelist Greg Dinallo, lands at #10; Bantam launched the book with a 750,000-copy printing. Its aggressive marketing campaign includes excerpt booklets, national radio and print advertising, and a Web site.
Fantasy favorites David and Leigh Eddings land on the charts with the introduction of their fifth fantasy series, The Elder Gods: Book One of the Dreamers. Warner Aspect went out with a first printing of 101,000 copies and has gone back to press for an additional 15,000. The Eddingses' previous four series resulted in 15 consecutive national bestsellers.
Three other bestsellers from previous weeks continue to do very well. Sandra Brown, who boasts at least 50 national bestsellers, enjoys a third week among the top 10 on PW's list with Hello, Darkness. Simon & Schuster's first printing was 375,000. Brown did a summer pre-pub tour, visiting booksellers in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Ann Arbor, Mich. Her post-publication appearances have included Denver, Scottsdale, Ariz., and Austin, Tex.
Veteran crime writer Stuart Woods (27 books under his belt since his Edgar Award—winning 1981 debut novel, Chiefs) has books on both the hardcover and mass market charts. In his latest, Capital Crimes, his regular protagonist Will Lee is the newly elected U.S. president. Putnam reports 170,000 copies of the new book in print, and Signet has 725,000 copies of his previous book, Dirty Work, in print after three trips to press. Woods kicked off his book tour at the Novello Book Festival in Charlotte, N.C., and will be finishing at this week's Miami Book Festival.
Richard North Patterson has 350,000 copies in print of his newest hit, Balance of Power. His book, notes publisher Ballantine, "eerily mirrors real life." In the novel, a survivor of sniper fire sues a gun manufacturer and a powerful gun lobby, leading to a showdown in Congress (not unlike what happened in the D.C. sniper case). On-line promotion has been extensive, a three-month campaign that has included excerpts and book giveaways on Bookreporter.com; features in Chapter-A-Day Book Clubs (www.DearReader.com); a book giveaway on Random House's own "What's New" e-newsletter; and features in the Palm e-Book and Gemstar newsletters.
