Bestseller Stat Shot
Last week’s movers and shakers were led by Joan Rivers’s Diary of a Mad Diva, which shot up the bestseller chart in the days after the author’s death (see p. 11). John Brown’s Business Adventures, a collection of business reportage long out of print that got a boost (and a new life in print) after an endorsement by Bill Gates, continues to power along, racking up a 51% increase in sales over the previous week after having become widely available again in an Open Road edition published less than a month ago. The Day the Crayons Quit, the super-popular children’s book, is benefiting from a promotional push by publisher Penguin ahead of National Quitting Day on September 30 (go to publishersweekly.com/quittingday to find out more about that). Meanwhile, the movie tie-in edition of Gone Girl is seeing a sustained surge in the lead-up to the film’s October 3 release. Here’s a breakdown of titles that saw big week-over-week gains.
| Title | Author | This Week | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diary of a Mad Diva | Joan Rivers | 5,009 | 571% |
| Daring Greatly | Brene Brown | 2,141 | 66% |
| Business Adventures | John Brooks | 2,015 | 51% |
| The Day the Crayons Quit | Daywalt/Jeffers | 9,644 | 49% |
| Where the Wild Things Are | Maurice Sendak | 6,239 | 38% |
| Mercy | Jodi Picoult | 5,785 | 37% |
| It Starts With Food | Dallas Hartwig | 2,908 | 31% |
| Gone Girl (movie tie-in) | Gillian Flynn | 16,119 | 26% |
Source: Nielsen BookScan
From the Newsletters
Sophie Hannah writes about how she revived Poirot, Agatha Christie’s legendary sleuth, in her new novel, The Monogram Murders (Morrow).
Children’s book historian Leonard Marcus takes a look at the burgeoning children’s books scene in China.
New books of marriage advice from rock-star pastors and Darryl Strawberry.
The indie author’s guide to ISBNs.
The most-read review on publishersweekly.com last week was Gus & Me by Keith Richards (Little, Brown/Tingley).
Blogs
Some things you may have missed if you haven’t stopped by the PW Tumblr lately: the world’s top-earning authors, more great first pages in literary history, and the story behind nine great book covers.
Want to read former Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas’s autobiography, The Vermont Way? (Common Ground). You won’t be able to get it on Amazon.
Podcasts
YA author Ryan Graudin talks about the real-life inspirations behind her new novel, The Walled City (Little, Brown), about three teenagers trying to escape a lawless city.
It’s con-time: recapping Baltimore Comic-Con, previewing the Small Press Expo, and talking about the growth of conventions across the globe.
PW senior writer Andrew Albanese discusses B&N’s results and how consumers might spend Apple’s e-book settlement money.
Events
Join PW on Wednesday, Sept. 17, for a free live webcast with six new adult authors who will talk about how they’ve carved out their niches in this red-hot genre. Register today!
Diane Ackerman discusses her powerful new book, The Human Age (Norton). PW children’s reviews editor John Sellers highlights some under-the-radar kids’ books for fall.
