Independent Bookstores: What’s Sellin’?
I’ve mentioned before that I work in a school library, not a bookstore. I know what students are checking out, but I’m not so sure about the books folks are actually buying these days. Sure, I have my opinions about what these books should be, but I always want to know what’s really moving units. The following links from the American Booksellers Association provide a piece of the puzzle. The rankings are based on sales figures from independent bookstores across U.S.
from sales the week ending January 13, 2008
(click each link to see the whole list)
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| 1. | The Book Thief Markus Zusak, Knopf, $11.99, 9780375842207 |
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| 2. | The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Sherman Alexie, Little Brown, $16.99, 9780316013680 |
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| 3. | The Sweet Far Thing Libba Bray, Delacorte, $17.99, 9780385730303 |
| 1. | Gallop! Rufus Butler Seder, Workman, $12.95, 9780761147633(click here to read the 100 Scope Notes Review) |
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| 2. | Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $8.99, 9780694003617 |
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| 3. | Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak, Harper, $17.95, 978006025492 |
| 1. | His Dark Materials (hardcover and paperback) Philip Pullman, Yearling |
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| 2. | Twilight (hardcover and paperback) Stephenie Meyer, Megan Tingley |
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| 3. | Magic Tree House (hardcover and paperback) Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca (Illus.), Random House |
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About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
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It varies so much from store to store. I work as a bookseller in a toy store (with a large book section) and our sales tend to skew younger than some of those mentioned above. So, we sell a lot of Gallop and the Magic Tree House, but we’re less likely to have customers interested in The Book Thief (even though we have it in stock and recommend it). And, while we certainly do sell Where the Wild Things Are and Goodnight Moon… they’re not bestsellers every week. They’re a bit more gradual (for us, at least). Books on our bestseller list include Fancy Nancy and Knuffle Bunny Too… and lots of board books.
-Susan