Comments on: USA Today Bestseller List, Week Ending June 3, 2007

By: Bonnie Edwards

Bonnie Edwards — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:23:57 +0000

Wow, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to find this.

But we’re heading toward the end of July now and I’ve had two more releases hit the shelves.

I’ll let you off the hook, Jane, no problem,
Bonnie

By: Jennifer Ashley

Jennifer Ashley — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 20:41:51 +0000

The USA Today list is published every week (usually late Wed. night) at this URL: http://asp.usatoday.com/life/books/booksdatabase/default.aspx

Bookscan: If you are an RWA member, you can subscribe to Bookscan for $50 a year, but it’s ONLY the Romance top 100, not the whole shabang.

I find USA Today interesting because it shows ALL books for the week–hardbacks and paperbacks, non-fiction and fiction, children and adults. It’s like “what American is reading this week.” It’s also more closely based on point-of-sale numbers than NYT.

I like Bookscan because the romance list shows both single titles and HQ/Sil lines. Many of the line books have the same and better rankings as single titles. But–Bookscan does not include what sells at Walmart and grocery stores (anything distributed by Anderson News) so it’s only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the story.

And interesting–A book can appear in the middle of Bookscan and make the top 50 of USA Today, while a book can appear in the top 20 of Bookscan and not crack the top 50 of USA Today. That means the high-ranking USA Today book had better distribution at the big retailers like Walmart and Target than the high-ranking Bookscan book, which likely sold mostly at chain and indie bookstores.

Shutting up now–I’m just fascinated by the lists. They’re wild to watch!

By: sherry thomas

sherry thomas — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:15:57 +0000

Interesting. But I’m odd about things like this. I’ll put down $50 for a lunch without a second thought, but with everything else I’m really stingy. :-) But I guess that’s a tax deductible expense so it’s only $33 after tax. Maybe I will then.

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 02:05:15 +0000

Sherry, if you are a member of RWA, you can subscribe to the bookscan list online for $50 a year, I think.

By: sherry thomas

sherry thomas — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 02:01:05 +0000

Good, a longer list this time. Last few weeks I’d felt a little hungry still after making my way from top to bottom.

Thanks, Jane.

BTW, just to help out an ignoramus. Do you have to pay to get the list (and the bookscan data which you sometimes refer to)?

Sherry