International Favorites

Publishing Trends, the monthly newsletter from Market Partners, recently printed a list of the 2002 international fiction bestsellers. In the top spot was the Lord of the Rings titles, published in 41 languages (ranked #7 in 2001). The four Harry Potter books, published in 55 languages, ranked #4 (#1 in 2001). The only other book making a second appearance was Umberto Eco's Baudolino, #5 in 2002 and #3 a year earlier; it was published in 32 countries. Other books that did well in the U.S. and abroad were John Grisham's The Summons, at #2 with publication in 29 countries; and Jean Auel's The Shelters of Stone, #3 with publication in 21 countries. Very few foreign bestsellers do well in the States—eight of the top 15 bestsellers on that list were books that did not appear on national charts in this country, and five of those have yet to be published in the U.S.