Bestselling books 2016: the ghosts of Christmas charts past

JK Rowling and Bill Bryson top the charts, while film tie-ins give Paula Hawkins and Jojo Moyes a second bite of the cherry – but this unpredictable year has also seen a welcome revival of humorous writingIt was a year when the No 1 book was a play script. When hyper-prolific James Patterson, dubbed the “library king” as Britain’s long-reigning most-borrowed author, could manage no higher than 60th place. When the anonymous, insanely difficult GCHQ Puzzle Book was 43rd, and so beat super-sellers like Patterson and Ian Rankin, not to mention all those much-hyped hygge books.The all-year sales rankings for 2016 are full of such surprises, as befits an unpredictable year, but also contain much that is comfortingly recognisable, such as the ghosts of Christmas charts past at the top. With Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, JK Rowling reclaims the No 1 spot that used to be reserved for her in the noughties, and her versatility is underlined by four other entries in various genres (12, 28, 64, 95). Bill Bryson reprised the round-Britain trip behind his mid-90s hit, Notes from a Small Island, in The Road to Little Dribbling (13) and the result is the list’s highest placed non-fiction title. Mary Berry (17), easily this year’s leading conventional cookery writer, was penning bestselling festive gifts long before either of them emerged. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2016-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital Books: ‘Enhanced’ — But for Whom?

Today's Wall Street Journal takes a look at a new lineup of "enhanced" digital books that incorporate music, video and high-tech graphics. But as one Wharton expert notes, the market for these elaborate productions remains to be seen. Continue reading at Knowledge@Wharton

[ Knowledge@Wharton | 2012-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fiction, Nonfiction Mix it Up: International Bestsellers January 2012

Germany’s top fiction title at the end of December, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out His Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson climbed up from #5, supplanting previous chart-topper Inheritance (Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance was also #2 in Spain). Jonasson’s novel has sold more... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ammo Books: Publishing in Small, Medium, and Large

For an indie publisher to launch its first line with a $300 art book takes guts and vision, but that’s what Ammo Books’ founders Paul Norton and Steve Crist did in 2006 when they published 3,000 copies of Gonzo by Hunter S. Thompson and sold out in less than a year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jones to leave The Book Depository

The Book Depository’s IT director Will Jones is departing the company after four years.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Appleton to head fiction at Hodder Childrens Books

Jon Appleton has been appointed to the newly-created post of editorial director for fiction at... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Germany joins World Book Night

World Book Night is continuing its international spread, with Germany now set to join the UK... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Viking: early book sales ‘promising’

Stationery retailer Viking has reported a “promising” start to its bookselling... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie publishers enjoy 'strong' Christmas

Independent publishers have reported a stronger Christmas than in 2010, with Waterstones showing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones launches 'book club' promotion

Waterstones has launched a "book club" promotion, with the strapline: "Books you... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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German book retailer to restructure to face digital challenge

The earnings of German book retailer Thalia's parent group Douglas Holding will be hit by the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Saqi Books launches non-fiction imprint

Independent publisher Saqi Books is to launch a new non-fiction imprint, with plans to publish... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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US book sales hold up, despite Borders collapse and ebook growth

Print books sales in the US fell 9% in 2011, with strong growth in digital sales appearing to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Transworld debut S J Watson tops the charts

Faber Academy graduate S J Watson's début novel, Before I Go to Sleep, has stormed to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Difficult" Christmas for Bertrams

Bertrams has revealed sales dropped by 0.6% on a like-for-like basis in the run up to the festive... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chinese Writers Sue Apple for Allegedly Hosting Pirated E-books

A group of Chinese writers has filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the company's App Store sells pirated versions of the authors' works. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2012-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Author Found on Penguin's Web Site Signs Book Deal

An imprint of Penguin Group USA discovered Kerry Schafer after she posted samples on Bookcountry.com, a site that lets writers share their work. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2012-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Elton John's first book to Hodder

Hodder & Stoughton has acquired music star Sir Elton John's first book, Love is The Cure... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Buzz Books at Winter Institute

Ever since Algonquin used the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute to get booksellers to read and fall in love with Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, which sold more than a million copies before being turned into a film, publishers have been using the winter bookselling confab to... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What Sold in E Over Christmas

Last year, when we asked publishers for their five bestselling ebooks over Christmas, we received lists full of frontlist bestsellers, with a handful of backlist hits in the mix. This year, we again approached publishers for the same lists—in most cases sales are only for December 25 and 26,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Watson joins 10 'unputdownables' for TV Book Club

"The TV Book Club" returns to More4 on Sunday 29th January with author S J Watson's... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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