Volume 261
Issue 25
06/23/2014
Bestseller Stat Shot
A number of titles saw their print unit sales double during Father’s Day week, and while the holiday had more than a little to do with a couple of the books, the book with the biggest jump can thank Oprah for the lift. Shefali Tsabary’s The Conscious Parent had been selling in the double and low triple digits in the weeks leading up to her May 18 appearance on Oprah. The week before her appearance, she sold 216 print copies. The week after: 2,822. Sales have taken off, with the title clearing 8,343 copies last week. On the Father’s Day front, comedian Jim Gaffigan’s Dad is Fat and Mercer Mayer’s Just Me and My Dad saw sales more than double; a case could be made that Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken saw a Father’s Day lift as well—its sales more than doubled leading up to the holiday for the second year in a row. Here are the top movers and shakers among last week’s 100 bestselling books.
| Title | Author | Week Ended 6/8 | Week Ended 6/15 | % Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Conscious Parent | Shefali Tsabary | 1,890 | 8,343 | 341 |
| I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings | Maya Angelou | 7,167 | 22,594 | 215 |
| Dad Is Fat | Jim Gaffigan | 3,464 | 8,119 | 134 |
| Orange Is the New Black | Piper Kerman | 3,515 | 7,847 | 123 |
| Unbroken | Laura Hillenbrand | 5,490 | 11,793 | 115 |
| Just Me and My Dad | Mercer Mayer | 3,979 | 8,220 | 107 |
From the Newsletters
Andrew Lewis Conn, author of the new novel O, Africa! (Hogarth), on seven ways to beat writers’ block.
A roundup of the big publisher activity at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas.
One weekend, three comics shows.
What’s cooking at Malaprop’s bookstore.
Blogs
A World Cup of literature bracket, a list of reasons people were committed to an asylum in the 19th century (including “Novel Reading”) on PW's Tumblr.
Meet a new addition to the ShelfTalker roster, Kenny Brechner, as he ponders the tipping point in holiday-themed books.
Podcasts
Declan Hughes discusses his new thriller, All the Things You Are (Severn), a twisted novel about the murderous ramifications of a childhood mistake.
Interviews from the Special Edition New York convention, including artists Frank Cho and Jason Latour and writer Jamie S. Rich.
This week: breaking down Apple’s decision to settle damages in its long-running e-book case, and why readers shouldn’t count on the next round of refunds just yet.
The most-read review on publishersweekly.com last week was Lock In by John Scalzi (Tor).
Ted Steinberg discusses his new book, Gotham Unbound (Simon & Schuster), plus senior writer Andrew Albanese previews ALA 2014.
