Great Expectations
by Daisy Maryles, with Dick Donahue -- Publishers Weekly, 8/4/1997
What book was birthed in the fall of 1984 with a 25,000-copy first printing, and now has 6.5 million copies in print after 90 trips to press (and still counting)? Yup, it's Workman's What to Expect When You're Expecting by Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi E. Murkoff, and Sandee E. Hathaway (reappearing at #12 on our trade paperback list this week to continue its 167-week run). In the intervening 13 years, this mother-and-daughters team begat several more bestsellers to help new moms, including What to Expect the First Year. That book, published in 1989, began life with a 125,000-copy first printing; 61 printings later, total copies in print is 3.9 million. The trio's next bestselling title, What to Expect the Toddler Years, was published in 1994 with a 200,000-copy printing; it has been reprinted 17 times and now has 1.5 million copies in print. Other spin-offs include What to Eat When You're Expecting (1986, 39,000 first printing; 650,000 copies after 21 printings) and the What to Expect Pregnancy Organizer (1995, 220,000 in print after six trips to press). Workman reports that America's pregnancy bible, What to Expect When You're Expecting, is well on its way to being the world's pregnancy bible. Twenty-six foreign editions have been published or are under contract, with the Austrian, Dutch, Hungarian and Polish editions especially popular. The publisher is planning a Spanish-language edition for the U.S. market this fall.
