The launch of Kindle Unlimited last week put renewed focus on the Amazon Kindle bestseller list and, therefore, on the Digital Book World E-book Bestseller list.
According to Publishers Lunch:
But now it seems quite clear observationally that KU “reads” or “checkouts” are counted by Amazon towards the “paid” bestseller list, as if they were real sales — at least on the site’s “hourly” bestseller list. We won’t know how this affects their weekly lists for a little, but anyone compiling bestseller lists based on Amazon data (e.g. USA Today and DBW.com) should consider this very carefully.
We have been. In the wake of revelations that the Kindle First program free and cheap reads were being counted toward the Amazon Kindle bestseller list, we worked with Amazon in finding a way to continue to count the direct sales of these titles toward the list. We were unable to find a way and so removed them from the list.
We have contacted Amazon about Kindle Unlimited and will attempt to work with the retailer to continue to deliver to you the most accurate picture of what e-book buyers across retailers are buying when it come to e-books and how much they’re paying for them.
This week, three titles also included in Kindle Unlimited made the bestseller list: “Pines (The Wayward Pines Trilogy 1)” by Blake Crouch (No. 22, Amazon Publishing); “Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street” by John Brooks (No. 17, Open Road Media) and “Rhett” by J.S. Cooper (No. 20, self-published).
“The Fault in Our Stars”
The John Green hit “The Fault in Our Stars” is still No. 1 on this week’s e-book bestseller list, despite strong debut showings from “The Book of Life” by Deborah Harkness (No. 2, Penguin Random House) and “The Heist” by Daniel Silva (No. 3, HarperCollins). It’s the eleventh straight week that “The Fault in Our Stars” has been No. 1 on the list.
Bestseller Prices
The average price of a top 25 bestselling e-book remained steady at $7.57 this week, up just $0.05 from last week.
E-book bestsellers from the week ending 7/19:
1. “The Fault in Our Stars”, John Green, Penguin Random House, $4.99
2. “The Book of Life: A Novel” (All Souls Trilogy), Deborah Harkness, Penguin Random House, $11.99
3. “The Heist: A Novel” (Gabriel Allon Book 14), Daniel Silva, HarperCollins, $13.99
4. “Invisible”, James Patterson; David Ellis, Hachette, $8.99
5. “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption”, Laura Hillenbrand, Penguin Random House, $4.99
6. “Gone Girl: A Novel”, Gillian Flynn, Penguin Random House, $8.52
7. “The Goldfinch: A Novel”, Donna Tartt, Hachette, $6.99
8. “Act of War: A Thriller”, Brad Thor, Simon & Schuster, $12.99
9. “Top Secret Twenty-One: A Stephanie Plum Novel”, Janet Evanovich, Penguin Random House, $10.99
10. “Chill Factor: A Novel”, Sandra Brown, Simon & Schuster, $1.99
See the complete list of this week’s top 25 e-book bestsellers at Digital Book World.
Jeremy Greenfield is responsible for managing all editorial content on DigitalBookWorld.com, including the DBW Expert Publishing Blog, the Digital Book Wire and editorial email and social media communications. Prior to joining Digital Book World in October 2011, Jeremy spent three years as a careers editor at FINS.com. Jeremy lives and works in New York City and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
