A Grisham Summons

A new John Grisham title usually means record hardcover sales, with the strongest opening week for any new novel published in a given year. Here's what his competitors will have to beat this year— at just the three national chains (Barnes & Noble, Borders and Waldenbooks), The Summons sold close to 110,000 copies in week #1. The three chains' sales total for today's #2 fiction bestseller, Up Country by Nelson DeMille, was about 17,000 for the same week. While Grisham's latest numbers are impressive, it's his second-best opening week. Back in 1999, first-week sales for The Testament at the three chains exceeded 127,000 copies. But sales for The Summons were ahead of his two 2001 bestsellers—A Painted House and Skipping Christmas, both departures from his signature thrillers. Doubleday's first printing for Grisham's latest blockbuster was 2.8 million; the publisher reports that the book enjoyed record-breaking advance orders at Amazon.com prior to its February 5 on-sale date.

According to Random House Audio, first-week sales for The Summons audiobook were 30% ahead of first-week numbers for The Brethren. Also, according to the company, there's a shift toward stronger CD sales: opening-week numbers for The Summons are three times those for week #1 of The Brethren. First printing for the new Grisham audiobook was 155,000; after three more trips to press, that figure's up to 200,000.

With reporting by Dick Donahue