Actually, four new fiction titles with five fiction authors. That's because Double Homicide: Santa Fe, marking its second week in the #14 slot, is by two veteran bestselling authors: the husband-and-wife mystery duo Faye and Jonathan Kellerman. Between them, they have had 24 bestsellers with a combined in-print total of 40 million copies. Double Homicide, published by Warner Books, is their first co-venture; it consists of two short novellas that the couple collaborated on. Total in print after three trips to press: 249,000.
Landing in the top spot after less than a week in the stores is prolific romance author Nora Roberts with
Northern Lights. This book introduces the NR logo (upper right corner), which will go on all her future titles to help consumers distinguish the new books from the reissues. Roberts began her annual tour at Turn the Page, her husband's store in Boonsboro, Md. More than 500 people showed, and she sold about 600 books. Putnam reports 570,000 copies in print.
Anita Shreve benefited more than most of her writing colleagues when her book The Pilot's Wife was an Oprah Book Club pick back in March 1999. She enjoyed increased sales not only for her backlist but for all subsequent new titles. Her latest,
Light on Snow, goes on PW's chart in the #7 spot with a 300,000-copy printing. Little, Brown kicked off Shreve's publicity campaign with her first solo appearance on TheTodayShow on October 12. Next month, she'll head out on a small library tour that will take her to Atlanta; Madison, Wisc.; and Chicago.
Another Putnam bestseller regular is thriller author Stuart Woods (the L.A. Times called him "a master of the genre"). His latest,
The Prince of Beverly Hills, rounds out our top 15 with 155,000 copies in print.
