Bestseller Stat Shot

Divergent has not only sold the most copies of any print book in the country so far this year (307,511 in paperback, and another 30,048 in hardcover as of Feb. 23), it’s also been the top-selling book in the country every week so far this year, except for two weeks in late January, when Robert M. Gates’s memoir, Duty (Knopf), bested it. This is a very different story from last year, when seven different books topped the chart in the same period. Here’s a comparison of 2014 to 2013.

2013

Week Title Author Wkly Sales
1 The Third Wheel Jeff Kinney 42,592
2 A Memory of Light Robert Jordan 155,178
3 Proof of Heaven Eben Alexander 34,057
4 Private Berlin Patterson/Sullivan 37,325
5 The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia Shigeru Miyamoto 58,728
6 American Sniper Chris Kyle 38,616
7 The Third Wheel Jeff Kinney 29,668
8 Alex Cross, Run James Patterson 63,140

2014

Week Title Author Wkly Sales
1 Divergent Veronica Roth 40,857
2 Divergent Veronica Roth 36,826
3 Duty Robert M. Gates 39,480
4 Duty Robert M. Gates 39,480
5 Divergent Veronica Roth 34,881
6 Divergent Veronica Roth 37,047
7 Divergent Veronica Roth 42,764
8 Divergent Veronica Roth 41,771

From the Newsletters

Tip Sheet

Seth Fishman, literary agent and author of the new YA novel The Well’s End (Putnam), gives some tips on how to write YA.

Children’s Bookshelf

Jay Asher, author of the bestselling novel Thirteen Reasons Why (Razorbill), discusses his part in a national campaign against bullying. Asher will tour all 50 states this fall and winter.

Religion Bookline

Author Cara Putman lucked into an accidental movie tie-in with her novel Shadowed by Grace: A Story of Monuments Men (B&H).

The most-read review on publishersweekly.com last week was Save the Date by Jen Doll (Riverhead).

Blogs

PWxyz

New books from Hippocampus Press explore H.P. Lovecraft’s relationship with a group of literary ladies.

ShelfTalker

Children’s bookseller Josie Leavitt on how supporting independent bookstores means more than shopping local.

Podcasts

The Week Ahead

The latest creative legal maneuvering in the Apple price-fixing case.

PW KidsCast

Richard T. Morris and Tom Lichtenheld discuss their new picture book, This Is a Moose (Little, Brown).

Authors

Maxwell Neally-Cohen drew from video games and the Bible for his debut, Echo of the Boom (Rare Bird Books). We talk to him about writing the end of the world.

Events

Why do some cookbooks thrive in traditional channels while others take off in specialty markets or nonbook chains? Find out during our March 21 webcast, hosted by PW senior reviews editor Mark Rotella and featuring panelists from the Taunton Press and Robert Rose Inc.

Come see us at PLA, March 11–15! We’ll be at booth 1417. See you in Indianapolis!

PW Radio

Terry Frei talks about his new book, March 1939: Before the Madness (Taylor Trade). PW comics reviews editor Heidi MacDonald has the latest from the world of graphic novels.