Nov 8 2007
USA Today Bestseller List, Week Ending November 4, 2007
Weirdly Don’t Bet Against Me by Deanna Favre made the extended list (no. 146) weeks after its release which I guess means that it is a) a good christmas present or b) good word of mouth. I suppose a combination of both.
Jeaniene Frost’s debut, Halfway to the Grave, and CL Wilson’s, Lady of Light and Shadows, a follow up to her debut, Lord of the Fading Lands, showed up in the top 100. Interestingly, Frost’s book is number 23 on the extended NYT List to be released on Sunday despite not making the top 50 of the USA Today list. Kresley Cole’s Wicked Deeds on a Winters Night debuted higher on the USA Today list and was 13 on the NYT list.
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Upon the Midnight Clear, Sherrilyn Kenyon (St. Martin’s Paperbacks), $6.99, No. 6 (debut).
Wife for Hire, Janet Evanovich (Harper), $7.99, No. 7 (debut).
Dead of Night, J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, Mary Kay McComas (Jove), $7.99, No. 13 (debut).
Christmas Wishes, Debbie Macomber (Mira), $7.99, No. 18 (Peak 11).
The Taste of Innocence, Stephanie Laurens (Avon), $7.99, No. 25 (debut). Paperback release of hardcover.
The Marriage Game, Fern Michaels (Pocket Star), $7.99, No. 26 (Peak 15).
Comfort and Joy, Fern Michaels, Marie Bostwick, Cathy Lamb, Deborah J. Wolf (Zebra), $7.99, No. 27 (debut).
A Lick of Frost, Laurell K. Hamilton (Ballantine Books), $24.95, No. 34 (Peak 6).
Santa Cruise, Mary Higgins Clark, Carol Higgins Clark (Pocket), $7.99, No. 35 (debut).
The Gift: Home For Christmas\All I Want For Christmas\Gabriel’s Angel, Nora Roberts (Silhouette Special Releases), $7.99, No. 43 (Peak 7).
Everlasting, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (William Morrow), $24.95, No. 53 (debut).
Holidays Are Hell, Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Vicki Pettersson, Marjorie M. Liu (Harper), $7.99, No. 59 (debut).
Wicked Deeds on a Winters Night, Kresley Cole (Pocket Star), $6.99, No. 60 (debut).
Taken By Storm, Tami Hoag (Bantam), $6.99, No. 63 (debut).
All Through the Night, Suzanne Brockmann (Ballantine), $16.95, No. 66 (debut).
Truly, Madly Manhattan, Nora Roberts (Silhouette Special Releases), $14.95, No. 68 (Peak 41).
The Dangers of Deceiving a Viscount, Julia London (Pocket), $6.99, No. 71 (Peak 42).
Halfway to the Grave, Jeaniene Frost (Avon), $6.99, No. 73 (debut).
Highland Wedding, Hannah Howell (Zebra), $4.99, No. 79 (debut).
Lady of Light and Shadows, C.L. Wilson (Love Spell), $7.99, No. 88 (debut). CL Wilson peaked at No. 127 with book 1, Lord of the Fading Lands, so she’s catching on.
Free Fall, Fern Michaels (Zebra), $6.99, No. 91 (Peak 8).
My Fair Mistress, Tracy Anne Warren (Ballantine), $6.99, No. 92 (debut).
Mine Till Midnight, Lisa Kleypas (St. Martin’s Paperbacks), $7.99, No. 95 (Peak 5). This is her 6th week on the list which ties for the best that any of her books have performed on the bestseller list: Someone to Watch Over Me, Suddenly You, and Scandal in Spring spent 6 weeks on the USA today list. Can she make it another week? I think its iffy. This past Tuesday was another big release date and so I think she might get pushed off. It was a good run, though.
On the Loose, Tara Janzen (Dell), $6.99, No. 96 (debut).
Cut Throat, Sharon Sala (Mira), $7.99, No. 113 (Peak 59).
Forever After, Catherine Anderson (Avon), $5.99, No. 134 (debut).
The Heir, Barbara Taylor Bradford (St.Martin’s Press), $25.95, No. 136 (debut). I’m not sure whether this is even romance.
Pandora's Daughter, Iris Johansen (St. Martin’s Press), $25.95, No. 139 (Peak 58). May be the biggest drop on the list.
The Boleyn Inheritance, Philippa Gregory (Touchstone), $16.00, No. 141 (Peak 36).
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Out of the list:
The Seance, Heather Graham (Mira), $7.99, No. 75 (Peak 18).
The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory (Pocket Star), $7.99, No. 83 (Peak 94).
Bloodfever, Karen Marie Moning (Delacorte), $22.00, No. 88 (Peak 41). This is the second in her new series.
Queen's Lady, Shannon Drake (Harlequin), $7.99, No. 101 (debut).
74 Seaside Avenue, Debbie Macomber (Mira), $7.99, No. 105 (Peak 1).
A Cold Day In Hell, Stella Cameron (Mira), $7.99, No. 122 (debut).
Secrets of a Proper Lady, Victoria Alexander (Avon), $7.99, No. 124 (Peak 27).
Becket's Last Stand, Kasey Michaels (HQN Books), $6.99, No. 129 (debut).
Mistletoe and Molly, Janet Dailey (Zebra), $6.99, No. 138 (Peak 61).
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Nov 08, 2007 @ 15:06:39
Deanna Favre’s book will be No. 13 on the NY Times list on Nov. 18. It’s a little more than word of mouth as she’s been everywhere. It was the Deanna Favre show on Monday Night Football two weeks ago, she was on Good Morning America with Robin Roberts, Greta VanSusteren’s show, Mike&Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio and a number of other ESPN shows. She’s gotten a lot of publicity for the book. Top 150 on the USA Today list is solid because it’s a hardcover competing aginst the cheaper softcover books.
Nov 08, 2007 @ 15:38:45
Jane says: “Out of the list: Cut Throat, Sharon Sala (Mira), $7.99, No. 59 (debut).”
Sharon Sala is still there at number 113. Caught my eye as I was glancing over list.
Nov 08, 2007 @ 18:59:36
I think I’m higher on the NYT because they gave a couple more days to tally sales, whereas USA ended on 11-4. Just a guess, though; all this is new to me :)
Nov 08, 2007 @ 19:55:04
Another reason would be that the NYT Times Bestseller breaks down their list by what format the book is released, hardcover, paperback, etc and whether it is fiction, non-fiction, etc.. USA Today does not do that. All books are not categorized at all, just based on the number of books sold, I think. Hence, it is always easier to get a bestseller spot in the NYT List than USA Today IMO because the competition is narrowed down. I much prefer to look at USA Today list than the NYT though lots of authors prefer to quote their NYT Bestseller status more than USA Today w/c is not surprising.
Nov 08, 2007 @ 22:47:25
The NYT list is an “opinion” of the bestsellers, rather than an actual depiction of what is really selling. (They recently dropped Night by Elie Wiesel because it wasn’t fresh enough even if it was selling better than other books). I blogged about that here.
The Times is a powerful list though. Dr. Sorensen who studies this stuff says that a first timer can experience a 57% increase in sales. I also think that it is self predictive – meaning that if you get on the list, you are more likely to be on the list in the future.
Nov 10, 2007 @ 10:46:47
Hi Jane–
Because the USA Today list includes all formats of books, it becomes difficult to hit high as the holiday season approaches. Gift books start to dominate, and generally speaking, romances aren’t considered gift books.
But the NYT divvies the list up, so that the romance titles are only competing against paperback fiction (and now only mass market titles.) There are few hot gift books in this category, so the odds of romances charting on the NYT remains pretty much unchanged. The USAT, however is a different story.
Best,
JQ
Nov 21, 2007 @ 12:16:28
thanks for the GREAT post! Very useful…
Aug 18, 2008 @ 12:01:49
hi jane,
i think you mentioned that you were looking for contemporary romance, and i’d like to recommend my book, “Forks in the Flowerpots.” it’s a little bit noir, but tongue in cheek, fast, romantic, sexy and you’ll want to “see what happens next.”
it’s available from all the usual suspects on line, or can be ordered from the publisher, blue mustang press, or if it’s easier, your local bookstore can order it for you.
if you do read it, please let me know what you think. i’d love the feedback. My next contemporary romance will be out soon.
enjoy.
jojo