Bestseller lists

In the summer of 2018, Putnam published an unusual debut novel by a retired wildlife biologist named Delia Owens. The book, which had an odd title and didn't fit neatly into any genre, hardly seemed destined to be a blockbuster, so Putnam printed about 28,000 copies.

It wasn't nearly enough.

"Once a day, I cast my eyes heavenward and say, ‘Thank you for Donald Trump,'" Michael Wolff said last spring.

He has good reason to thank the president. Without Trump, Wolff would not have made this year's rankings of the world's highest-paid authors.

Talk to anyone who worked in book publishing this year and no matter how chipper the conversation may begin, once you're a few drinks in the talk will turn gloomy. Sales are flat, or down. There have been no market-defining breakout hits, no hot new genres to plump up the annual earnings statement. Everyone blames this on the election and the news.  Read more

Three months ago, The New York Times cut 10 categories from its Best Sellers list, including manga, paperback and hardcover graphic novels, children's middle grade paperbacks and ebooks, young adult paperbacks and ebooks, ebook fiction and nonfiction, and paperback mass-market fiction.  Read more