Ebook Best-Seller Prices Edge up; Tragedy Propels American Sniper to No. 3
Following a slight decrease last week, the average price of a best-selling ebook edged up as several lower-priced titles were pushed off the list in favor of pricier ones. The average price of a best-selling ebook is now $8.60, up from $8.16 a week ago.
Heartsong by Debbie Macomber (Random House, $2.99), Someone to Love by Addison Moore (self-published, $0.99) and Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston (Macmillan $2.99) all dropped off the list and were replaced by titles like Lisa Gardner’s Touch and Go (Penguin, $12.99), James Patterson’s Alex Cross, Run (Hachette, $12.74) and American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice (HarperCollins, $8.99).
In the past several months we’ve observed ebook titles like The Hobbit and Life of Pi (both Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) move up the best-seller list due to events outside of the control of the publisher. In both of these cases, highly publicized movies were released of the same title. In the case of the last book mentioned above (American Sniper), a tragedy put the book in the news and thereby juiced sales.
On Feb. 3, the subject and co-author of the book, Kyle, was shot and killed; the New York Times online headline currently reads, “Untouchable in Iraq, Ex-Sniper Dies in a Shooting Back Home.” Yesterday, his funeral was held in Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
See the rest of the the best-seller lists for the week ending Feb. 10:
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $10.00 and Above
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $8.00 – $9.99
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $3.00 – $7.99
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $0.00 – $2.99
Read and comment on our methodology.
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| Rank* | Title | Author | Publisher | Price** | Change |
| 1 (1) | Safe Haven | Nicholas Sparks | Hachette | $ 6.28 | – |
| 2 (2) | Wait For Me | Elisabeth Naughton | Self-published | $ 0.99 | – |
| 3 (n/a) | American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History | Chris Kyle; Scott McEwen; Jim DeFelice | HarperCollins | $ 8.99 | New |
| 4 (3) | Gone Girl: A Novel | Gillian Flynn | Random House | $ 12.99 | -1 |
| 5 (n/a) | Rush (The Breathless Trilogy) | Maya Banks | Penguin | $ 7.99 | New |
| 6 (4) | Beautiful Creatures (Beautiful Creatures Series #1) | Kami Garcia; Margaret Stohl | Hachette | $ 5.80 | -2 |
| 7 (n/a) | Touch and Go | Lisa Gardner | Penguin | $ 12.99 | New |
| 8 (16) | Crazy Little Thing | Tracy Brogan | Amazon | $ 3.99 | +8 |
| 9 (5) | Private Berlin | James Patterson; Mark Sullivan | Hachette | $ 10.90 | -4 |
| 10 (n/a) | Lost to You | A.L. Jackson | Sapphire Star Publishing | $ 0.99 | New |
| 11 (19) | The Silver Linings Playbook: A Novel | Matthew Quick | Macmillan | $ 9.99 | +8 |
| 12 (10) | Fifty Shades Of Grey: Book One Of The Fifty Shades Trilogy | E. L. James | Random House | $ 9.99 | -2 |
| 13 (6) | Heartsong: A Novel | Debbie Macomber | Random House | $ 2.99 | -7 |
| 14 (8) | Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three Of The Fifty Shades Trilogy | E. L. James | Random House | $ 9.99 | -6 |
| 15 (7) | The Forgotten | David Baldacci | Hachette | $ 9.99 | -8 |
| 16 (9) | Fifty Shades Darker: Book Two Of The Fifty Shades Trilogy | E. L. James | Random House | $ 9.99 | -7 |
| 17 (13) | Mockingjay (The Hunger Games Trilogy – Book 3) | Suzanne Collins | Scholastic | $ 5.99 | -4 |
| 18 (11) | Suspect | Robert Crais | Penguin | $ 12.99 | -7 |
| 19 (15) | Beautiful Darkness (Beautiful Creatures) | Kami Garcia; Margaret Stohl | Hachette | $ 6.99 | -4 |
| 20 (n/a) | Alex Cross, Run | James Patterson | Hachette | $ 12.74 | New |
| 21 (22) | Until the End of Time: A Novel | Danielle Steel | Random House | $ 12.99 | +1 |
| 22 (17) | The Racketeer | John Grisham | Random House | $ 12.99 | -5 |
| 23 (23) | Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel | Sylvia Day | Penguin | $ 9.99 | – |
| 24 (18) | The Black Box (A Harry Bosch Novel) | Michael Connelly | Hachette | $ 7.50 | -6 |
| 25 (n/a) | Beautiful Chaos (Beautiful Creatures) | Kami Garcia; Margaret Stohl | Hachette | $ 7.99 | New |
* Previous week’s list rank in parentheses.
** Price reflects minimum price across all retailers throughout the week. Price may vary between retailers and may change throughout the week. Contact Iobyte Solutions for more information on e-book pricing.
Methodology available here.
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The death of a serial killer is a “tragedy”?
Thanks for the comment, Daniel. I won’t comment on the character of the person in question or that of his deeds. I know little about it and am unqualified to judge.
However, I do know that regardless of his sins or crimes, he was executed without a trial. And, at the very least, I’d consider that a tragedy.
Thank you for the reply, Jeremy. I wasn’t judging Chris Kyle when I called him a serial killer — I got that from the subtitle of his book. Execution without trial is what snipers do, so perhaps “irony” propels sniper to No. 3 would have been more apt — unless you’d call Osama Bin Laden’s death a tragedy.