Sales stats

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

DiO'Bolic

Not completely obtuse
Nov 14, 2013
22,864
129,998
Poconos, PA
Absolutely. He already does books with other publishers--Joyland and The Colorado Kid were both with Hard Case Crime.
Good to know the corporate world can't hold him back. I remember from the movie Private Parts, Howard Stern had a corporate adversary he referred to as Kenny "Pig Vomit." Is there someone like that in King’s publishing environment?
 

Moderator

Ms. Mod
Administrator
Jul 10, 2006
52,243
157,324
Maine
Good to know the corporate world can't hold him back. I remember from the movie Private Parts, Howard Stern had a corporate adversary he referred to as Kenny "Pig Vomit." Is there someone like that in King’s publishing environment?
I'm not familiar with the character. Can't stand Howard Stern so would have avoided the movie on that basis alone. There probably is an equivalent but without knowing more about Kenny "Pig Vomit('s)" personality, can't say for sure. :smile2:
 

Ted Brautigan

Well-Known Member
Aug 5, 2009
79
230
Tampa
Actually, he had to do some convincing at Scribner that Mr. Mercedes would do well and the same for 11/22/63. I think he knew his fans a little better than they did. ;) If I remember correctly, Mr. Mercedes wasn't sold as a trilogy going in.

If you don't mind me asking, why was that? I could see a little hesitation on Mr. Mercedes (because even when MM and Revival were announced at around the same time I felt like Revival would be the better novel but I ended up enjoying MM even more. And then I liked it even more once I found out it was gonna be part of a trilogy.) but 11/22/63 is an absolute modern masterpiece. To me it is the best love story that I've come across so I'm astounded that it took some convincing to get published.

And you say MM wasn't a sold as a trilogy going in, but did SK have the idea from the trilogy from the start of writing MM or did it kind of just evolve into what became Finders Keepers and End of Watch?

Sorry for the long questions but the process of publishing is very interesting to me lol
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
If you don't mind me asking, why was that? I could see a little hesitation on Mr. Mercedes (because even when MM and Revival were announced at around the same time I felt like Revival would be the better novel but I ended up enjoying MM even more. And then I liked it even more once I found out it was gonna be part of a trilogy.) but 11/22/63 is an absolute modern masterpiece. To me it is the best love story that I've come across so I'm astounded that it took some convincing to get published.

And you say MM wasn't a sold as a trilogy going in, but did SK have the idea from the trilogy from the start of writing MM or did it kind of just evolve into what became Finders Keepers and End of Watch?

Sorry for the long questions but the process of publishing is very interesting to me lol
....I'll take a brief stab at it.....Publishers as a lot, seem to want to continue to milk the same cash cow....even with someone as well-established and successful as King, they don't want him to stray from a certain "formula"....it's sales figures that drive their thinking, not quality or imaginative writing....
 

blunthead

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2006
80,755
195,461
Atlanta GA
...And you say MM wasn't a sold as a trilogy going in, but did SK have the idea from the trilogy from the start of writing MM or did it kind of just evolve into what became Finders Keepers and End of Watch?...
Considering what I think sK's writing habits are, based on how he described them in On Writing, that he starts with the idea of a story and only the roughest plot outline, that he probably didn't start Mr Mercedes with the idea of it being the first in a multi-book story. It seems possible to me that that idea might've occurred to him at some point in the writing, which might've effected how the story got told, though as far as I'm concerned Mr Mercedes is a stand-alone story without the sequels.
 

Rrty

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2007
1,394
4,588
For data through November 19, I see that Bazaar has dropped to ninth place on the overall bestseller list over at Publishers Weekly. It has to date moved roughly 126,000 copies. On the hardcover fiction list, the book appears to be in fourth place, but I'm not certain of this because the preview to the list says fourth place, but when the link is accessed it jumps to old data. No matter, it's the number of copies sold that is probably more informative. Incidentally, that Wimpy Kid book is now over 600,000 copies in terms of unit sales. Rogue Lawyer by Grisham is over 300,000 copies.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kingricefan

Rrty

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2007
1,394
4,588
Another sales update.

Publishers Weekly says that Bazaar has sold over 330,000 copies through January 3. I'd have to check, but if I'm not mistaken, I believe this may have outsold the summer book from the Hodges trilogy; not sure what that eventually ended up selling after it stopped being featured on the charts.

I'll also mention here, so I won't have to start another thread, that the through-January-3 data mentions an interesting stat: the mass market paperback of Mr. Mercedes sold about 8,000 copies to place at number 8 on its first week on the chart (total copies came to over 9,000 copies, which I guess incorporates the week it was released, which probably wasn't a full week?). Is this the first time Mercedes has been in paperback? Was it previously released in trade paperback? And is the release of a book in trade paperback before mass market a new thing these days, or has that always been the case (may have asked this before, sorry)? I just can't remember; I usually buy hardcovers and don't follow the paperback racks, but when I got a copy of Revival a while back, I could only find a trade edition and not a smaller paperback.

It would be fascinating to know what all of King's catalog sells on any given day. As an example, in the U.S., were ten paperbacks of The Stand sold today? Five of Skeleton Crew? Twenty of It? What about in the rest of the world? I'd have to imagine there are days when some books sell zero.
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas
Another sales update.

Publishers Weekly says that Bazaar has sold over 330,000 copies through January 3. I'd have to check, but if I'm not mistaken, I believe this may have outsold the summer book from the Hodges trilogy; not sure what that eventually ended up selling after it stopped being featured on the charts.

I'll also mention here, so I won't have to start another thread, that the through-January-3 data mentions an interesting stat: the mass market paperback of Mr. Mercedes sold about 8,000 copies to place at number 8 on its first week on the chart (total copies came to over 9,000 copies, which I guess incorporates the week it was released, which probably wasn't a full week?). Is this the first time Mercedes has been in paperback? Was it previously released in trade paperback? And is the release of a book in trade paperback before mass market a new thing these days, or has that always been the case (may have asked this before, sorry)? I just can't remember; I usually buy hardcovers and don't follow the paperback racks, but when I got a copy of Revival a while back, I could only find a trade edition and not a smaller paperback.

It would be fascinating to know what all of King's catalog sells on any given day. As an example, in the U.S., were ten paperbacks of The Stand sold today? Five of Skeleton Crew? Twenty of It? What about in the rest of the world? I'd have to imagine there are days when some books sell zero.
I will tag marsha and see if she can answer this. Moderator . I've always wanted a breakdown of the United States sales. Which state buys the most king books? Which the least?
 

Moderator

Ms. Mod
Administrator
Jul 10, 2006
52,243
157,324
Maine
The trend I've seen most often in recent years is that there is either a trade paperback or mass market but not both. The paperback edition of Mr. Mercedes released January 6th is the first paperback edition will be the only paperback format to the best of my knowledge. I'd have to double-check that, though.