Best selling books of 2011

by Guest Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:29 am

This years best sellers including amount sold and value. There is a table on the Guardian site, which I can't get to post, (at the bottom of article) and I can't screenshot - perhaps someone can kindly do that?

No.18

Madeleine: Our Daughter's Disappearance and the Continuing Search for H

McCann, Kate

Bantam Press

Volume = 246,939

Value £ = 2,504,671.44

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/dec/29/books-best-sellers-2011-nielsen

by TrollAng Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:25 pm

Pos.	Title	Author	Imprint	Volume	Value, £
1	One Day#	Nicholls, David	Hodder Paperback	935,355	5,157,015.10
2	Jamie's 30-Minute Meals	Oliver, Jamie	Michael Joseph	484,338	6,617,423.26
3	Tiny Bit Marvellous,A	French, Dawn	Penguin Books	413,800	2,013,459.89
4	Room	Donoghue, Emma	Picador	402,108	2,153,688.64
5	Help,The#	Stockett, Kathryn	Penguin Books	383,467	2,004,365.48
6	Guinness World Records 2012		Guinness World Records	381,175	3,613,236.28
7	Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,The: Millennium Trilogy#	Larsson, Stieg	Quercus	329,389	1,626,448.44
8	Confession,The	Grisham, John	Arrow Books	314,471	1,582,868.17
9	Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest,The: Millennium Trilogy#	Larsson, Stieg	Quercus Publishing Plc	311,529	1,511,433.36
10	Girl Who Played with Fire,The: Millennium Trilogy#	Larsson, Stieg	Quercus Publishing Plc	288,706	1,392,112.32
11	Brightest Star in the Sky,The	Keyes, Marian	Penguin Books	277,947	1,386,946.25
12	Jamie's Great Britain	Oliver, Jamie	Michael Joseph	260,061	3,012,818.32
13	Game of Thrones,A: Book 1 of a Song of Ice and Fire#	Martin, George R. R.	HarperVoyager	255,726	1,459,692.81
14	Family,The	Cole, Martina	Headline Book Publishing	255,006	1,177,644.62
15	Rodrick Rules: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Kinney, Jeff	Puffin Books	252,751	1,255,335.83
16	When God Was a Rabbit	Winman, Sarah	Headline Review	252,017	1,359,639.92
17	Worth Dying For: Jack Reacher	Child, Lee	Bantam Books	251,931	1,195,057.58
18	Madeleine: Our Daughter's Disappearance and the Continuing Search for H	McCann, Kate	Bantam Press	246,939	2,504,671.44
19	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Kinney, Jeff	Puffin Books	241,896	1,220,953.31
20	Started Early, Took My Dog	Atkinson, Kate	Black Swan	239,307	1,291,825.85
21	Last Straw,The: Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Kinney, Jeff	Puffin Books	237,430	1,177,111.06
22	Dog Days: Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Kinney, Jeff	Puffin Books	235,457	1,187,809.02
23	Hare with Amber Eyes,The: A Hidden Inheritance	De Waal, Edmund	Vintage	231,447	1,610,230.62
24	At Home: A Short History of Private Life	Bryson, Bill	Black Swan	230,929	1,339,576.74
25	Dukan Diet,The	Dukan, Pierre	Hodder Paperback	219,077	1,315,425.57
26	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever: Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Kinney, Jeff	Puffin Books	216,743	1,447,401.97
27	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth: (Book 5) : Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Kinney, Jeff	Puffin Books	210,961	1,630,179.56
28	Minding Frankie	Binchy, Maeve	Orion (an Imprint of The Orion	208,994	994,530.89
29	Port Mortuary	Cornwell, Patricia	Sphere	201,283	986,904.46
30	Life of Lee,The	Evans, Lee	Michael Joseph	198,243	2,004,246.41
31	Mini Shopaholic	Kinsella, Sophie	Black Swan	195,442	898,892.66
32	Snuff: Discworld Novel	Pratchett, Terry	Doubleday	194,034	1,952,481.42
33	Solar	McEwan, Ian	Vintage	193,973	1,118,308.32
34	Distant Hours,The	Morton, Kate	Pan Books	193,524	995,923.02
35	Red Queen,The	Gregory, Philippa	Simon & Schuster Ltd	193,263	999,145.15
36	Theodore Boone	Grisham, John	Hodder Paperback	188,031	951,035.34
37	Slap,The#	Tsiolkas, Christos	Atlantic Books	186,991	1,047,365.03
38	Caught	Coben, Harlan	Orion (an Imprint of The Orion	186,037	891,124.59
39	Broken	Slaughter, Karin	Arrow Books	182,780	779,881.32
40	Private	Patterson, James	Arrow Books	182,292	855,028.22
41	Baking Made Easy	Pascale, Lorraine	HarperCollins Publishers	182,258	1,932,327.55
42	Life and Laughing: My Story	McIntyre, Michael	Penguin Books	181,385	969,740.20
43	Never Let Me Go#	Ishiguro, Kazuo	Faber and Faber	179,225	1,067,757.54
44	Sister	Lupton, Rosamund	Piatkus Books	177,656	913,098.96
45	Great British Bake Off: How to Bake: The Perfect Victoria Sponge and Ot	Collister, Linda	BBC Books (Random House)	174,725	1,823,588.39
46	LEGO Minifigure Ultimate Sticker Collection		Dorling Kindersley Publishers	171,589	858,655.64
47	Fry Chronicles,The	Fry, Stephen	Penguin Books	171,304	988,252.47
48	Moshi Monsters: The Moshling Collector's Guide: Moshi Monsters		Sunbird	169,829	863,936.26
49	Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington,An	Pilkington, Karl	Canongate Books	169,410	918,502.83
50	Miracle Cure	Coben, Harlan	Orion (an Imprint of The Orion	169,204	783,720.36
51	Leopard,The	Nesbo, Jo	Vintage	167,653	865,784.09
52	Postcard Killers	Patterson, James	Arrow Books	165,438	745,231.29
53	Belle	Pearse, Lesley	Penguin Books	163,563	744,760.66
54	Spider Bones	Reichs, Kathy	Arrow Books	163,421	749,058.41
55	Don't Blink	Patterson, James	Arrow Books	163,014	708,744.90
56	Hand That First Held Mine,The	O'Farrell, Maggie	Headline Review	162,923	909,584.25
57	9th Judgement	Patterson, James	Arrow Books	161,629	757,567.14
58	Long Song,The	Levy, Andrea	Headline Review	161,466	863,649.92
59	River Cottage Veg Every Day!	Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hugh	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC	158,735	2,226,189.22
60	Home Cooking Made Easy	Pascale, Lorraine	HarperCollins Publishers	157,817	1,551,274.34
61	Never Look Away	Barclay, Linwood	Orion (an Imprint of The Orion	157,122	738,863.04
62	Week in December,A	Faulks, Sebastian	Vintage	155,379	972,461.43
63	Lily Alone	Wilson, Jacqueline	Doubleday Children's Books	154,760	1,225,698.87
64	Harvesting the Heart	Picoult, Jodi	Hodder Paperback	154,124	729,696.54
65	Cross Fire	Patterson, James	Arrow Books	153,830	693,583.77
66	Blind Fury	La Plante, Lynda	Simon & Schuster Ltd	153,596	707,927.08
67	Water for Elephants: a Novel#	Gruen, Sara	Two Roads	150,202	825,912.57
68	Inheritance: Book Four: Inheritance Cycle	Paolini, Christopher	Doubleday Children's Books	146,893	1,421,299.32
69	Devil's Star,The	Nesbo, Jo	Vintage	146,471	717,054.08
70	Redbreast,The	Nesbo, Jo	Vintage	145,263	752,792.22
71	Killing Place,The	Gerritsen, Tess	Bantam Books	145,177	670,103.73
72	Snowman,The	Nesbo, Jo	Vintage	144,804	784,730.58
73	Postmistress,The	Blake, Sarah	Penguin Books	144,625	826,909.76
74	Faithless,The	Cole, Martina	Headline Book Publishing	142,834	1,351,081.35
75	Dead Man's Grip	James, Peter	Pan Books	142,709	634,858.37
76	Clash of Kings,A: Book 2 of a Song of Ice and Fire	Martin, George R. R.	Voyager	141,212	795,421.04
77	World of Downton Abbey,The	Fellowes, Jessica	Collins	141,153	1,348,073.85
78	Finkler Question,The	Jacobson, Howard	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC	140,694	804,628.08
79	From the Dead	Billingham, Mark	Sphere	140,457	666,375.29
80	Gruffalo,The	Donaldson, Julia	Macmillan Children's Books	140,373	642,450.28
81	How to be a Woman	Moran, Caitlin	Ebury Press	140,034	1,229,973.33
82	Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography	Isaacson, Walter	Little,Brown	139,929	1,922,160.59
83	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy#	le Carre, John	Sceptre	136,174	791,697.11
84	You're Next	Hurwitz, Gregg	Sphere	134,959	675,708.87
85	Afterwards	Lupton, Rosamund	Piatkus Books	134,929	700,493.24
86	Jump!	Cooper, Jilly	Corgi Books	134,681	636,296.31
87	Breaking Dawn#	Meyer, Stephenie	ATOM	134,409	742,013.18
88	May I Have Your Attention Please?	Corden, James	Century	132,340	1,090,014.87
89	Our Kind of Traitor	le Carre, John	Penguin Books	132,137	747,402.89
90	Trick of the Dark	McDermid, Val	Sphere	131,915	643,677.92
91	Beano Annual: 2012		D.C. Thomson & Co.,	131,347	574,738.08
92	Reversal,The	Connelly, Michael	Orion (an Imprint of The Orion	131,312	628,029.77
93	Trespass	Tremain, Rose	Vintage	130,667	755,201.92
94	Tiger's Wife,The	Obreht, Tea	Phoenix (an Imprint of The Ori	130,566	772,610.43
95	Nemesis	Nesbo, Jo	Vintage	130,554	664,390.31
96	Only Time Will Tell	Archer, Jeffrey	Pan Books	129,060	565,003.26
97	Gruffalo's Child,The	Donaldson, Julia	Macmillan Children's Books	127,984	598,278.80
98	Beautiful: A Beautiful Girl. An Evil Man. One Inspiring True Story of C	Piper, Katie	Ebury Press	126,554	606,268.99
99	Spy Dog's Got Talent / The Great Pet-shop Panic	Cope, Andrew & Davies, Katie	Puffin / Simon & Schuster	124,701	124,234.24

by Guest Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:58 pm

Thanks TrollAng thanks

by tiny Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:24 pm

thanks, so are the mccanns still asking the public to donate to the kate and gerry fund.

by jd Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:26 pm

tiny wrote:thanks, so are the mccanns still asking for public donation to the kate and gerry fund.

Oh yes...all details of how to pay them are on their website

by tiny Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:31 pm

greedy f*****.perhaps people should consider donating to a REAL CHARITY FOR MISSING PEOPLE.

the mccanns make my blood boil,vile pair they are.

by TrollAng Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:42 pm

Any time Candyfloss.

You'd have to ask how much is really enough? There's still plenty of pocket\pensioners money to collect not to mention the people who were already enthralled by this literary masterpiece.

by rainbow-fairy Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:27 pm

How much will the McCanns potentially have made from these sales? Did they get an advance from the publishers?
From what I can see, sales of 245,000 odd books has made 2 million? Only £10 per book...
I ask because I wonder when if expenses have been paid, will the publishers break even? I thought I read of a £2m advance - did I dream that?!?

A thought - I wonder how many of the quarter of a million who bought (and I'm sure some read) the book had their stomachs truly turned, eg by page 129?
Not forgetting Kate kicking beds, howling in rages, blue curses at policemen - if only one in ten was appalled, that's still twenty odd thou appalled people.
I still remember a 'mumsnet' thread is stumbled upon when googling 'response to kate mccann book' back in May. There was a significant portion of the posters who had believed Maddie was abducted, then bought and read the book and did a 180 degree turn. They were then coming here and to mccannfiles etc and reading the PJ evidence. Let's just say, 'Madeleine' had the opposite effect to the one Kate intended with quite a few members there...

by **PeterMac** Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:41 am

Amazon was selling it at £ 10, so that might be about right.
But how much is the royalty on each copy ?

at www.brandewyne.com/writingtips/authorspaid.html we find
"Generally speaking, hardcover books pay standard royalty rates of 10%, 12%, and 15% of the cover price --- 10% on the first one to 250,000 copies sold, 12% on the next 250,001 to 500,000 copies sold, and 15% on anything sold above 500,000 copies."

So applying these figures we get a net royalty of only £ 250,000. Less any advance. Plus any fee for serialisation.

We shall have to wait for the Company accounts to see the details (!)

by rainbow-fairy Fri Dec 30, 2011 9:00 am

PeterMac wrote:Amazon was selling it at £ 10, so that might be about right.
But how much is the royalty on each copy ?

at www.brandewyne.com/writingtips/authorspaid.html we find
"Generally speaking, hardcover books pay standard royalty rates of 10%, 12%, and 15% of the cover price --- 10% on the first one to 250,000 copies sold, 12% on the next 250,001 to 500,000 copies sold, and 15% on anything sold above 500,000 copies."

So applying these figures we get a net royalty of only £ 250,000. Less any advance. Plus any fee for serialisation.

We shall have to wait for the Company accounts to see the details (!)

Yes, thank you PeterMac. I agree those accounts will be an interesting if bare read!
Obviuosly the bewk didn't raise the money they thought. Hence the;
Paper-back
Audio-version (Lesley Sharp, I thought better of you!)

Whatever next? I d-read to think...

by **tigger** Fri Dec 30, 2011 9:01 am

Generally speaking, I gather from the Writer's Yearbook, an author will be lucky to get one pound per copy for a hardcover. Rather less for paperbacks.
The sales have not covered the advance and I very much doubt they will now. I expect Transworld will have paid for the publicity trips but since they did not get the serialization rights, I would expect them to put those on top of the advance. Transworld haven't covered the advance yet, maybe crying themselves to sleep.
The Fund will have to pay a sizable chunk in taxes, cannot be dodged with such a widely publicised advance.
Well, I'm comforted that it didn't get her any prizes. Soon it will be five years - compassion fatigue set in long ago.

Re the Mum's net. Yes, before the book the site absolutely didn't allow anyone to say anything against the McCanns. Even blocked Mums who merely said that leaving your children alone was wrong. Good to know they came here.

by rainbow-fairy Fri Dec 30, 2011 9:37 am

tigger wrote:Generally speaking, I gather from the Writer's Yearbook, an author will be lucky to get one pound per copy for a hardcover. Rather less for paperbacks.
The sales have not covered the advance and I very much doubt they will now. I expect Transworld will have paid for the publicity trips but since they did not get the serialization rights, I would expect them to put those on top of the advance. Transworld haven't covered the advance yet, maybe crying themselves to sleep.
The Fund will have to pay a sizable chunk in taxes, cannot be dodged with such a widely publicised advance.
Well, I'm comforted that it didn't get her any prizes. Soon it will be five years - compassion fatigue set in long ago.

Re the Mum's net. Yes, before the book the site absolutely didn't allow anyone to say anything against the McCanns. Even blocked Mums who merely said that leaving your children alone was wrong. Good to know they came here.

So, Transworld won't be happy bunnies then? Serves 'em right really - they join an ever-growing list of those whose lives and businesses have turned to rot because of the McCanns...
Re mumsnet, I'm surprised to hear they blocked posters for showing any anti-mccann(ie, commonsense) sentiments? I'd never gone on there before, not the kind of site for me, but it was thrown up by google and seeing as I was registered here but for whatever reason couldn't post, I had a read.
I forget what the thread was called, but last time I read it back in late May it was up to 16 (long) pages... It consisted of a hardcore if probably 15 members, of those 2 only were defending the McCanns. Definitely some of the posters had already been here or elsewhere as they were very knowledgeable about the dog alerts and FSS. Several members said they intended buying GA's book. They were all disgusted by Kate's p129 comments! I wouldn't have a clue about comments allowed now, as I said, those sites aren't for me - just because I have children doesn't make me like all other mums! Its too flowery for me, and all the 'my lil one' pics make me feel a bit queasy. But each to their own!

by aiyoyo Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:06 am

PeterMac wrote:Amazon was selling it at £ 10, so that might be about right.
But how much is the royalty on each copy ?

at www.brandewyne.com/writingtips/authorspaid.html we find
"Generally speaking, hardcover books pay standard royalty rates of 10%, 12%, and 15% of the cover price --- 10% on the first one to 250,000 copies sold, 12% on the next 250,001 to 500,000 copies sold, and 15% on anything sold above 500,000 copies."

So applying these figures we get a net royalty of only £ 250,000. Less any advance. Plus any fee for serialisation.

We shall have to wait for the Company accounts to see the details (!)

Err...dont raise your hope about transparency.

by happychick Fri Dec 30, 2011 2:46 pm

tigger wrote:Generally speaking, I gather from the Writer's Yearbook, an author will be lucky to get one pound per copy for a hardcover. Rather less for paperbacks.
The sales have not covered the advance and I very much doubt they will now. I expect Transworld will have paid for the publicity trips but since they did not get the serialization rights, I would expect them to put those on top of the advance. Transworld haven't covered the advance yet, maybe crying themselves to sleep.
The Fund will have to pay a sizable chunk in taxes, cannot be dodged with such a widely publicised advance.

Maybe Transworld, like Carter Ruck, work quietly behind the scenes for no payment? And maybe the taxman won't charge the McC's any tax because they are very special friends of former prime ministers and he wouldn't want to be seen to take money away from their *search*?