The top seven e-book bestsellers this week are from Penguin Random House, the world’s largest publisher and its largest producer of bestselling books. Nearly half of the top 25 bestselling e-books are Penguin Random House.
Gayle Forman’s “If I Stay” held the No. 1 spot for a fifth straight week after it dethroned John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” (also from Penguin Random House) from a twelve-week run.
When Penguin and Random House first merged, other publishers — Hachette and HarperCollins, notably, kept it from completely dominating the e-book bestseller list with several big hits in late 2013 and early 2014. But those hits have given way, and PRH is clearly the most powerful e-book publisher, as it was in the first half of the year.
Some Indies Eschew Kindle Unlimited
Many self-published titles are a part of Amazon’s new subscription e-book service Kindle Unlimited. Since those e-books are offered to readers for free on a trial basis and then are not sold only at retail on Amazon like all the other books on the Digital Book World E-book Bestseller List, they are not included on the list.*
However, some indie authors are choosing not to be included in Kindle Unlimited — and still having bestseller success. On this list, No. 12, “The Arrangement 16” by H.M. Ward, and No. 24 “VAIN – Part Three”, are worth pointing out.
* A small correction has been made to this line to more accurately reflect how Kindle Unlimited books are sold.
Bestseller Prices
The average price of a best-selling ebook fell this week to $6.71, down from $7.56 last week. See the long-term trend here.
E-book bestsellers from the week ending 8/30:
1. “If I Stay”, Gayle Forman, Penguin Random House, $4.99
2. “Big Little Lies”, Liane Moriarty, Penguin Random House, $10.99
3. “Outlander: A Novel”, Diana Gabaldon, Penguin Random House, $4.99
4. “Where She Went” (If I Stay Book 2), Gayle Forman, Penguin Random House, $4.99
5. “The Fault in Our Stars”, John Green, Penguin Random House, $4.99
6. “Gone Girl: A Novel”, Gillian Flynn, Penguin Random House, $7.99
7. “Personal: A Jack Reacher Novel”, Lee Child, Penguin Random House, $11.84
8. “The Goldfinch: A Novel”, Donna Tartt, Hachette, $6.99
9. “The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, Book One)”, James Dashner, Penguin Random House, $5.99
10. “Mean Streak”, Sandra Brown, Hachette, $12.99
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.
