Publishers Weekly - October 13, 2014

BESTSELLERS SEPTEMBER 29–OCTOBER 5, 2014

Other Notable Debuts

Two web-to-print releases hit the lists this week.

• At #2 on our Hardcover Nonfiction list, The Skinnytaste Cookbook by blogger Gina Homolka netted some fat numbers, with 42K units sold. Marketing plans include a partnership with gift basket purveyor Harry & David.

• Matthew Inman’s The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances, at #6 on our Trade Paperback list with more than 10K sold, grew out of a character on his comics blog, The Oatmeal. (For more on this and other sports titles, see “Placing Bets,” p. 24.)

Tales from a Not-So-Small Debut Week

In 2009, Rachel Renée Russell introduced middle-grade readers to fictional diarist Nikki Maxwell, who has proven to be rather prolific. Eight (and a half) installments later, the comic-novel hybrid series is still going strong, with the newest title debuting at the top of our Children’s Fiction list.

Here’s how it stacks up against previous entries.

How to Get on the Bestseller List

Debuting at #13 on our Hardcover Nonfiction list with more than 6K copies sold, Steven Johnson’s How We Got to Now traces the history of six everyday objects, among them a refrigerator, a clock, and a glass of water, to show how innovation and creativity emerge from “collaborative networks” and the intersection of different domains. Fittingly, in the week leading up to publication, Johnson took to multiple domains to promote his book. He landed a segment on the Daily Show, followed by an AMA (“ask me anything”) q&a session on Reddit; he’s also hosting a related six-part documentary on PBS. How We Got to Now, which PW’s starred review called “fascinating,” grew out of research Johnson did for Where Good Ideas Come From (2010)—not a surprise to the author’s fans. In a September 2010 interview with PW, Johnson said that all his books are in conversation with one another: “This is exactly the network property of ideas.” —Annie Coreno

TOP 10

1 Killing Patton O’Reilly/Dugard Holt 113,891

2 Gone Girl Gillian Flynn Broadway 63,795

3 Gone Girl (movie tie-in) Gillian Flynn Broadway 59,910

4 Minecraft: Construction Handbook Scholastic Inc. Scholastic 58,443

5 Burn Patterson/Ledwidge Little, Brown 42,839

6 The Skinnytaste Cookbook Gina Homolka Clarkson Potter 42,350

7 Gone Girl (mass market movie tie-in) Gillian Flynn Broadway 41,617

8 Not That Kind of Girl Lena Dunham Random House 37,432

9 Dork Diaries 8 Rachel Renée Russell S&S/Aladdin 34,099

10 Edge of Eternity Ken Follett Dutton 25,707

THIS WEEK

RANK TITLE AUTHOR IMPRINT UNITS

#1 Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life June 2009 1,602

#2 Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl June 2010 7,695

#3 Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star June 2011 22,011

#3.5 How to Dork Your Diary Oct. 2011 7,841

#4 Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess June 2012 25,506

#5 Tales from a Not-So-Smart Miss Know-It-All Oct. 2012 22,328

#6 Tales from a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker June 2013 47,213

#7 Tales from a Not-So-Glam TV Star June 2014 26,096

#8 Tales from a Not-So-Happily Ever After Sept. 2014 34,099

TITLE PUB DATE SALES

‘Girl’ Gone Wild

With a reported $3.5 million advance for her first essay collec-
tion, Not That Kind of Girl, there was little doubt Lena Dun-
ham’s book would land on the bestseller list. This week, it de-
buts on our Hardcover Nonfiction list at #3.
Publicity efforts cranked up well before publica-
tion, with a September 14 interview in the New
York Times Magazine, the cover of which showed
Dunham rendered as a marble bust by artist
Victoria Diehl. Good Morning America previewed
the issue, and the Times later posted a behind-
the-scenes video of the process. Dunham is making the TV and
radio rounds—Good Morning America, the View, the Daily Show,
NPR’s Fresh Air, and Howard Stern—and appearing at sold-
out live events across the country. The tour continues this week
with dates in Austin, Pasadena, San Francisco, Seattle, Port-
land—and, naturally, Brooklyn. —Mark Rotella