Bestseller Stat Shot
Want to know what makes Google, Google? Or what your online activities reveal about you? This month, there are new books for that. They’re part of a wave of books by big names in the tech industry that aim to take the nitty-gritty data and jargon minefield of Silicon Valley and translate its lessons—about entrepreneurship, ourselves, the way we live now, and the way we’ll live in the future—for the rest of us. Among them is How Google Works, by Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt and longtime Googler Jonathan Rosenberg; Dataclysm, by OkCupid cofounder Christian Rudder; Smartcuts, by journalist and Contently cofounder Shane Snow; and Zero to One, by former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel and Judicata cofounder Blake Masters. Perhaps not surprisingly, none are really taking off in print. According to data from Nielsen BookScan, which does not track e-book sales, print unit sales for each title have been respectable but not dazzling. Thiel’s has made the biggest splash, debuting at #4 on our Hardcover Nonfiction list last week and falling to #8 this week—five spots above How Google Works in its maiden week. Here’s how each has fared in the dead-tree world.
| Title | Author | Publisher | 1st Week Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zero to One | Thiel/Masters | Crown | 15,637 |
| How Google Works | Schmidt/Rosenberg | Grand Central | 5,617 |
| Dataclysm | Christian Rudder | Crown | 2,466 |
| Smartcuts | Shane Snow | HarperBusiness | 1,099 |
From the Newsletters
Pulitzer-winner Jane Smiley, whose Some Luck (Knopf) pubs this week, shares five writing tips.
You read it here first: the sequel to the monstrously popular The Day the Crayons Quit (Philomel) is slated for August 2015.
Get ready for New York Comic Con with our comprehensive show preview.
A look at three digital distribution options for indie comics creators.
Introducing the PW Global Rights Report, our new newsletter covering international book deals, news, and more. Sign up today here.
The most-read review on publishersweekly.com last week White Bird in a Blizzard by Laura Kasischke (Hyperion)
Blogs
Some things you may have missed if you haven’t stopped by the Publishers Weekly Tumblr lately: the first trailer for the Inherent Vice movie, a list of the most frequently challenged titles since 2013, and more.
Indeed, it takes a village: how the small businesses of one Vermont town organized a buy-local campaign.
Podcasts
An interview with comics legend Scott McCloud about the pressures of picking the works that went into The Best American Comics, 2014 (HMH).
John Rocco talks about the autobiographical origins of his new picture book, Blizzard (Disney-Hyperion) as well as what it’s like to get a call from the Caldecott committee.
PW senior writer Andrew Albanese discusses HarperCollins’s new program that offers authors higher royalties if they sell direct through the publisher’s website, and how the plan isn’t quite as simple as it seems.
Events
What’s new in self-help, and what’s going to work best in stores and libraries? Find out at our free Oct. 22 webcast, featuring PW reviews editor Marcia Z. Nelson and editors from Central Recovery Press and Hay House.
Going to Frankfurt? We are! Come see PW at booth 8.0 R28 or 4.2 E88. And be sure to check out the PW Frankfurt Show Daily. Even if you can’t make it to the show, each day’s issue will be available at digitalpw.com and in PW’s app, available for iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire.
Author Jana Bommersbach discusses the history and myth of Cattle Kate: A Mystery (Poisoned Pen). Plus, PW religion reviews editor Marcia Z. Nelson recaps the American Christian Fiction Writers conference.
