The UpshotN.Y. Times to publish best-seller lists for e-books
As digital publishing picks up speed thanks to the success of the iPad, Kindle and other tablet devices, e-books are about to get another nudge into the mainstream.
The New York Times announced Thursday that it will publish fiction and nonfiction best-seller lists for e-books starting early next year. The Times list is the most influential gauge of print book sales in the country--and the addition of e-books just reflects the shifting habits of book buyers, newspaper officials say.
"The vibrant growth of digital publishing has created a need for an impartial, reliable source for tracking and reporting the top-selling eBooks across the country," said Janet Elder, the Times' news surveys editor, in a statement. "As with all The Times's rankings, these additional lists will benefit from corroborative sourcing and we will watch for trends in the industry."
For instance, "sales aggregated from a growing number of online service providers who sell e-books to consumers," according to a press release, will help determine the rankings. And the Times has partnered with a software platform called RoyaltyShare to fact-check the data.
As the Times notes in its own report on the announcement, 2010 has been something of a breakout year for e-books. Sales nearly tripled in the first nine months of the year, to $304.6 million from $105.6 million, according to the Association of American Publishers.
The top e-books will now appear in the Times' Sunday Book Review, whose best-seller section will get a facelift to accommodate the new digital rankings.
"The best-seller list is an essential part of the Book Review, and we're excited we'll be able to give readers newer and more complete information," said Sunday Book Review Editor Sam Tanenhaus.
(File photos of the iPad, top, and Kindle: AP)
