The Digital Book World E-Book Best-Seller list tracks e-book sales ranking and price data across six major e-book retailers with the goal of providing the most accurate picture of which e-books are most often purchased by consumers and at what price point. The full methodology is available here.
When news that Robert Galbraith is in fact a penname for accomplished author J.K. Rowling leaked to the press earlier this month, sales of his first book The Cuckcoo’s Calling increased drastically.
Prior to the news, sales of the e-book version were reported to be around only 7,000. This week, the title tops DBW’s ebook best-sellers list.
Does this mean celebrity sells e-books? It’s more likely that celebrity founded upon a track record of good writing sells e-books. And the intrigue of it all certainly didn’t hurt matters.
After all, The Cuckoo’s Calling is a crime drama, complete with a main character who’s a private eye and a mystery to be investigated.
The Galbraith / Rowling’s title, from Hachette’s Sphere imprint, knocks ebook publishing powerhouse Penguin Random House out of the top position on DBW’s list. The publisher has nine titles on this week’s top 25 e-book best-sellers list. That’s two fewer than the previous week.
1. The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith, Hachette, $9.99
2. Inferno: A Novel (Robert Langdon), by Dan Brown, Penguin Random House, $12.99
3. The English Girl: A Novel (Gabriel Allon), by Daniel Silva, HarperCollins, $11.99
4. Second Honeymoon, by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, Hachette, $9.99
5. When I Found You, by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Amazon, $0.99
6. And the Mountains Echoed: A Novel, by Khaled Hosseini, Penguin Random House, $10.99
7. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green, Penguin Random House, $3.99
8. Gone Girl: A Novel, by Gillian Flynn, Penguin Random House, $12.99
9. Divergent, by Veronica Roth, HarperCollins, $4.66
10. Entwined with You (Crossfire Trilogy Series #3), by Sylvia Day, Penguin Random House, $8.89
Deanna Utroske is the Content Producer at Digital Book World and a member of New York Women in Communications, where she’s the Social Media Brand Director and actively involved with the Integrated Marketing & Communications Committee. Previously, Deanna worked in the editorial office of Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, a publication of the University of Chicago Press.