Sales figures for "Mr. Mercedes"

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Rrty

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2007
1,394
4,588
Here's an interesting thing (to me anyway). When I was younger, I used to go to my local library every year to get the issue of Publishers Weekly that contained the top-selling books for the previous year. I'd find out how many millions of copies writers like King, R. L. Stine, John Grisham, etc., had sold for that time period.

As I got older, I didn't follow this as closely, but recently I tried to find those charts online at the magazine's site. Long story short, I was checking out some recent best-seller charts, and very fascinatingly, I discovered that, like box office charts, some books -- not necessarily all -- have the number of units sold for the week plus the total number sold for all the previous weeks.

I have a question for those who might know (maybe Bev, Ms. Mod?). Are those unit sales only for digital copies, or are they for physical copies as well? Are they estimates? Why aren't they reported more widely in the press? I would figure the actual numbers would be popular like box-office dollars are. Of course, I don't know if the figures are always reported, maybe they are only done on a monthly basis?

Also, I cannot get archived charts, but can you tell me what the reported numbers are for "Mr. Mercedes" and "Doctor Sleep?" I would assume Ms. Mod must have access to Publishers Weekly. If not, that's okay, as I will probably try to locate older issues at my library. And did these sales come in below or above expectations? Plus, I assume this is still under his deal where he gets most of the profits and a small advance, as was reported back during the "Bag of Bones" release?

[ Moderator ]
 
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Ms. Mod
Administrator
Jul 10, 2006
52,243
157,324
Maine
Here's an interesting thing (to me anyway). When I was younger, I used to go to my local library every year to get the issue of Publishers Weekly that contained the top-selling books for the previous year. I'd find out how many millions of copies writers like King, R. L. Stine, John Grisham, etc., had sold for that time period.

As I got older, I didn't follow this as closely, but recently I tried to find those charts online at the magazine's site. Long story short, I was checking out some recent best-seller charts, and very fascinatingly, I discovered that, like box office charts, some books -- not necessarily all -- have the number of units sold for the week plus the total number sold for all the previous weeks.

I have a question for those who might know (maybe Bev, Ms. Mod?). Are those unit sales only for digital copies, or are they for physical copies as well? Are they estimates? Why aren't they reported more widely in the press? I would figure the actual numbers would be popular like box-office dollars are. Of course, I don't know if the figures are always reported, maybe they are only done on a monthly basis?

Also, I cannot get archived charts, but can you tell me what the reported numbers are for "Mr. Mercedes" and "Doctor Sleep?" I would assume Ms. Mod must have access to Publishers Weekly. If not, that's okay, as I will probably try to locate older issues at my library. And did these sales come in below or above expectations? Plus, I assume this is still under his deal where he gets most of the profits and a small advance, as was reported back during the "Bag of Bones" release?

[ Moderator ]
I honestly have no idea what the current contract arrangement is with Scribner so can't confirm or deny what the terms are. We don't bother getting PW at the office but I'm not there in any case. I might be able to get numbers from Scribner, though, and an explanation of how they break those down.
 

Rrty

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2007
1,394
4,588
Okay. Was writing a lengthy post about the sales figures, and then the power went out for a second (literally) and went back on (haven't experienced that in years, scary when it happens). Lost what I was writing (which confuses me because I thought posts were automatically saved).

Anyway, did some searching, here's what I found. At least as of the end of June (but do not quote me on this, as I am not 100% sure of the accuracy of what I found), "Mr. Mercedes" has sold at least 100,000 units on a combined basis.

"Doctor Sleep" in its first weeks (whatever weeks is supposed to mean) of release sold 133,823 units. "Joyland" (again, first weeks) sold 74,583. "Dome": over 128,000. "11/22/63": over 83,000. "Wind/Keyhole": over 58,000. Source: Pub. Weekly. I'm not sure if linking is frowned upon in the forum (even though people do it, me on occasion, I think), so I eschewed doing that for the chart, but I'm sure those who want to can find it. And obviously these books sold more than this ultimately.

To Skimom: I know what you mean, but this is basically public info. And on his book deal: that was reported around the time of "Bag of Bones." I was just curious if he still did it this way. I would imagine an interviewer would feel comfortable asking that. Check out the Wikipedia entry for the book, it discusses it there.

I'm fascinated by changing business models for content in the age of digital media, so I would presume that his deal may have changed over the years. Who knows. The subject of King's sales in this new era would make an interesting post for Bev Vincent over at Cemetery Dance.