RE: How Many Book Sales

[Codger]

How many books do you have to sell to be considered a "top ten" nonfiction writer?

I remember a discussion about this from years ago, but can't recall the approximate number mentioned. It was not huge.

While I'm at it, where can I go to find this type of information?

[Chesher Cat]

Good question. I don't have the answer but would be interested to know where to find actual book sale numbers in non-fiction as well.

I was at the BEA last week and attended a conference that included the editor from NY Times Review. His explanation of how NY Times bestsellers was very convuluted - it was determined by a number of things, not just actual sales. What I really learned is that a connected publicist is necessary to get noticed because they can get your book looked at.

[Tish Davidson]

Many non-fiction books sell direct to libraries. I think the traditional best seller lists like the NY Times, the LA Times only count retail sales.

[TashaGoddard]

For the UK and from The Times, prepared by and copyright Nielsen BookScan:

Hardback General (which is nf)
Number 10 has 5,720 sales
Number 1 has 16,390 sales

Paperpack General
Number 10 has 75,966 sales
Number 1 has 29,440 sales

To put this in perspective, the same data for fiction:

Hardback fiction
Number 10 has 5,950 sales
Number 1 has 33,580 sales

Paperback fiction
Number 10 has 55,410 sales
Number 1 has 2,707,015 sales

Obviously, the numbers are going to be different for the US, what with it being bigger. I checked the NY Times lists, but that they don't show unit sales. I'm sure some judicious googling would net you the information you're looking for.

[kaliannah]

For the UK and from The Times, prepared by and copyright Nielsen BookScan:

Hardback General (which is nf)
Number 10 has 5,720 sales
Number 1 has 16,390 sales

Paperpack General
Number 10 has 75,966 sales
Number 1 has 29,440 sales

To put this in perspective, the same data for fiction:

Hardback fiction
Number 10 has 5,950 sales
Number 1 has 33,580 sales

Paperback fiction
Number 10 has 55,410 sales
Number 1 has 2,707,015 sales

Obviously, the numbers are going to be different for the US, what with it being bigger. I checked the NY Times lists, but that they don't show unit sales. I'm sure some judicious googling would net you the information you're looking for.

And I thought I was doing well with a whopping 297 sold. LOL.