John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars was the top-selling e-book in 2014, according to data just released by PubTrack Digital, a unit of Nielsen BookScan. Three other young adult titles were in the top five: Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant held the third, fourth, and fifth spots, respectively. Gone Girl, at #2, was the only adult book to crack the top five bestsellers.
Unlike the point-of-sale system used by BookScan to track sales of physical books, PubTrack Digital aggregates e-book unit sales supplied by publishers. According to Nielsen, publishers send data on their confirmed e-book sales made through about 40 major e-book retailers. Nielsen then aggregates the data to develop an e-book sales tracking tool. Participating publishers include more than 30 of the largest trade houses, including all the Big Five. Of the top 25 e-book bestsellers last year, 14 were from Penguin Random House, while HarperCollins and Hachette Book Group each had five. Simon & Schuster placed one e-book on the list. All but two of the top 25 were fiction titles—including adult and juvenile—with two biographies cracking the list: Unbroken and Lone Survivor.
★ Top 20 E-Book Bestsellers, 2014
| Rank | Title | Author | Publisher | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Fault in Our Stars | John Green | Penguin/Speak | $10.99 |
| 2 | Gone Girl | Gillian Flynn | Random House | $9.99 |
| 3 | Divergent | Veronica Roth | HarperCollins/Tegen | $9.99 |
| 4 | Insurgent | Veronica Roth | HarperCollins/Tegen | $13.99 |
| 5 | Allegiant | Veronica Roth | HarperCollins/Tegen | $15.99 |
| 6 | The Goldfinch | Donna Tartt | Hachette | $14.99 |
| 7 | Unbroken | Laura Hillenbrand | Random House | $11.99 |
| 8 | The Husband’s Secret | Liane Moriarty | Penguin | $12.99 |
| 9 | If I Stay | Gayle Forman | Penguin/Speak | $9.99 |
| 10 | Orphan Train | Christina Baker Kline | HarperCollins | $12.99 |
| 11 | Gray Mountain | John Grisham | Random House | $9.99 |
| 12 | Big Little Lies | Liane Moriarty | Penguin | $12.99 |
| 13 | The Maze Runner | James Dashner | Random House | $9.99 |
| 14 | All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr | Simon & Schuster | $12.99 |
| 15 | Outlander | Diana Gabaldon | Random House | $9.99 |
| 16 | Fifty Shades of Grey | E.L. James | Random House | $9.99 |
| 17 | The Target | David Baldacci | Hachette | $14.99 |
| 18 | Sycamore Row | John Grisham | Random House | $9.99 |
| 19 | Personal | Lee Child | Random House | $12.99 |
| 20 | Divergent Series Complete Collection | Veronica Roth | HarperCollins/Tegen | $44.99 |
