Bestseller Stat Shot
Louis Zamperini, war hero, Olympic track star and hero of Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling Unbroken, died last week at 97. His death made national news, and the book, which has sold steadily since its 2010 publication, saw an 89% increase in print unit sales over the previous week. Unbroken has also become a Father’s Day favorite, getting a nice lift ahead of the holiday for the past two years. Here’s the book’s sales history going back eight weeks.
From the Newsletters
A graphic novelist’s graphic review of Sharona Muir’s Invisible Beasts.
Didn’t make it to ALA in Las Vegas? We’ve got you covered with a photo essay of children’s authors and illustrators who made the rounds at the show.
From an action figure to the bestseller list: inside the Nom Nom Paleo phenomenon.
A woman writer lived a year according to Proverbs 31. The result: A Year of Biblical Womanhood (Thomas Nelson)
The most-read review on publishersweekly.com last week was The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley (Osprey/Angry Robot).
Blogs
“The only thing that is left for them to say is that I have emigrated permanently and become an Austrian.” —Mark Twain on Mark Twain gossip, from the June 19, 1898, issue of Publishers Weekly. This and other delightful book-world ephemera can be found at our Tumblr.
That whole thing about walking in a man’s shoes? What if that man is Waldo? One children’s bookseller finds out.
Podcasts
Tommy Greenwald talks about his latest, Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Making Money, and about how a dash of humor can hook reluctant readers.
Senior Writer Andrew Albanese examines how the usually secretive negotiations Amazon does with publishers have become a massive PR battle for the e-tailer and Hachette.
A preview of San Diego Comic-Con.
Listen to these and other podcasts here.
June Melby discusses her new book, My Family and Other Hazards (Holt). And PW’s own Mark Rotella previews the big cookbooks of fall 2014.
