NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� USA Today's weekly list of bestselling books, a publishing fixture that had been on hiatus since December, returned Wednesday.
"We couldn鈥檛 be more thrilled because this content is important to our vast audience and uniquely supports the communities we serve,鈥� Kristin Roberts, Gannett Media's chief content officer, said in a statement.
Gannett had not run the list since was among hundreds laid off late last year. According to Erik Bursch, senior vice president for product and engineering, the logging of sales figures 鈥� entered manually by Cadden 鈥� has been automated. The list otherwise will be managed by the paper鈥檚 books editor, Barbara VanDenburgh.
The publishing industry has long valued the USA Today rankings as a comprehensive, data-focused way of measuring the consumer market. The list, which began in 1993 and includes the top 150 books, is 鈥渂ased exclusively on sales analysis from U.S. booksellers including bookstore chains, independent bookstores, mass merchandisers and online retailers.鈥� Unlike The New York Times and other lists, USA Today does not have separate categories for hardcovers, paperbacks, audio books and e-books, instead combining them all, no matter the genre or release date.
The top seller on Wednesday's list was Elin Hilderbrand's latest beach read, 鈥淭he Five-Star Weekend鈥�; followed by Bonnie Garmus' popular debut novel 鈥淟essons in Chemistry鈥� and Ali Hazelwood's comic romance 鈥淟ove, Theoretically.鈥� Others included range from such perennials as 鈥淭o Kill a Mockingbird鈥� and 鈥淭he Very Hungry Caterpillar鈥� to Paul McCartney's photography book 鈥�1964,鈥� David Sedaris' 鈥淗appy-Go-Lucky鈥� and the acclaimed novel by
Along with sales rankings, VanDenburgh says, USA Today will include feature stories on independent sellers from around the country and recommendations from independent store owners. The restored list is a partnership with the American Booksellers Association, the trade group for independent stores; Bookshop.org, an online retailer which shares revenue with independent sellers, and The Novel Neighbor bookstore in St. Louis.
鈥淎BA is excited about this partnership with USA Today and the opportunity to spread the word about the value of independent bookstores to communities and to readers,鈥� Allison K. Hill, CEO of the booksellers association, said in a statement.
The revival of the USA Today list follows news from last week that Bookforum, an online literary magazine that closed around the same time that Cadden departed, will return in August in partnership with the liberal weekly The Nation. Penske Media Corporation had shut down Bookforum in December, shortly after acquiring its sister publication, Artforum.
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
