DBW E-Book Bestsellers: Why are Big Publishers Dominating The List?

Gayle Forman’s “If I Stay” topped the Digital Book World E-book Bestseller list for a second straight week after ending a huge run at No. 1 for John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars.”

What else do the two titles have in common, aside from multiple weeks selling more than any other e-book out there? They’re both published by Penguin Random House.

The world’s biggest trade publisher brought to market 13 out of the 25 e-books on this week’s list. For those of you math majors out there, that’s more than half. The publisher’s titles were top-heavy, too, taking the first four spots on the list and seven of the top ten.

Part of the reason Penguin Random House in particular and big publishers generally have been dominating the e-book bestseller list over the past few weeks is due to the removal of Kindle Unlimited titles from the equation, which is explained here.

Meanwhile, the average price of a bestselling e-book this week jumped to $7.99, up about a half dollar from last week’s $7.48.

E-book bestsellers from the week ending 8/7:

1. “If I Stay”, Gayle Forman, Penguin Random House, $4.99

2. “Outlander: A Novel”, Diana Gabaldon, Penguin Random House, $4.99

3. “The Fault in Our Stars”, John Green, Penguin Random House, $4.99

4. “Big Little Lies”, Liane Moriarty, Penguin Random House, $10.99

5. “The Goldfinch: A Novel”, Donna Tartt, Hachette, $6.99

6. “Gone Girl: A Novel”, Gillian Flynn, Penguin Random House, $9.15

7. “Not a Drill: A Jack Reacher Short Story (Kindle Single)”, Lee Child, Penguin Random House, $1.99

8. “Divergent”, Veronica Roth, HarperCollins, $4.99

9. “Insurgent” (Divergent Book 2), Veronica Roth, HarperCollins, $6.99

10. “Where She Went” (If I Stay Book 2), Gayle Forman, Penguin Random House, $4.99

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.