Amazon’s e-book bestseller list for January–June 2017 is dominated by titles from its own in-house publishing imprints, in contrast to the Apple e-book bestseller list and the NPD BookScan print bestseller list for the same period. Twelve of the 20 titles on Amazon’s list are from Amazon Publishing, whose e-books are sold exclusively by the e-tailer, meaning that their sales are not tracked by Apple.
Apple’s iBooks bestseller list for the first six months of 2017 includes the usual mix of psychological and legal thrillers, crime yarns, and beach-read romances by name-brand authors. The list has Grisham’s rare-book crime conspiracy Camino Island; Hilderbrand’s latest Nantucket beach romance, The Identicals; and Brad Thor’s action-packed spy thriller Use of Force in the top three slots. It continues with such familiar names as Paula Hawkins (Into the Water), Nora Roberts (Come Sundown), and James Patterson (Murder Games). On a topical note, Margaret Atwood’s dystopian sci-fi classic, The Handmaid’s Tale, is at #6.
Indeed, Amazon’s January–June 2017 list differed so much from its list for the same period last year—which included only one book from an Amazon publishing imprint—that PW contacted Amazon for an explanation. An Amazon representative denied any changes in how this year’s list was compiled, noting, “Nothing has changed in the way we count sales.”
Although the iBooks list does not track Amazon Publishing e-books, it does include three titles self-published via Amazon: The Knocked Up Plan by Lauren Blakely; Be Nice (Or Else!) by Winn Claybaugh; and Tycoon by Katie Evans.
Bestsellers on iBooks, Jan. 1–June 30, 2017 (USA)
Rank | Title | Author | Imprint |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Camino Island | John Grisham | Doubleday |
2 | The Identicals | Elin Hilderbrand | Little, Brown |
3 | Use of Force | Brad Thor | Atria |
4 | Into the Water | Paula Hawkins | Riverhead |
5 | Come Sundown | Nora Roberts | St. Martin’s |
6 | The Handmaid’s Tale | Margaret Atwood | Anchor |
7 | Murder Games | Patterson/Roughlin | Little, Brown |
8 | Hillbilly Elegy | J.D. Vance | HarperCollins |
9 | Tom Clancy Point of Contact | Mike Maden | Putnam |
10 | The Fix | David Baldacci | Grand Central |
11 | The Knocked Up Plan | Lauren Blakely | CreateSpace |
12 | Be Nice (Or Else!) | Winn Claybaugh | Von Curtis |
13 | The Force | Don Winslow | Morrow |
14 | A Gentleman in Moscow | Amor Towles | Viking |
15 | The Girl Before | J.P. Delaney | Ballantine |
16 | The Nighthawk | Cussler/Brown | Putnam |
17 | The Silent Corner | Dean Koontz | Bantam |
18 | Tycoon | Katie Evans | CreateSpace |
19 | The 16th Seduction | Patterson/Paetero | Little, Brown |
20 | Dangerous Minds | Janet Evanovich | Bantam |
Amazon Top 20 Kindle e-books, January 1–July 1, 2017
1 | The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (HMH) |
2 | Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan (Lake Union) |
3 | In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union) |
4 | Dead Certain by Adam Mitzner (Thomas & Mercer) |
5 | Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale (Lake Union) |
6 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, illus. by Mary GrandPré (Pottermore) |
7 | A Criminal Defense by William L. Meyers Jr. (Thomas & Mercer) |
8 | The Night Bird by Brian Freeman (Thomas & Mercer) |
9 | Beach Lawyer by Avery Duff (Thomas & Mercer) |
10 | Silent Child by Sarah A. Denzil (self-published) |
11 | 1984 by George Orwell (HMH) |
12 | Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine (Thomas & Mercer) |
13 | The Secret Wife by Gill Paul (Avon) |
14 | The Letter by Kathryn Hughes (Headline) |
15 | The Practice House by Laura McNeal (Little A) |
16 | Split Second by Douglas E. Richards (Paragon) |
17 | A Merciful Death by Kendra Elliot (Montlake Romance) |
18 | Only the Truth by Adam Croft (Thomas & Mercer) |
19 | Hemingway Didn’t Say That by Garson O’Toole (Little A) |
20 | Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (Harper) |