The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene was first published in 2012. The book though quickly rose to #1 on the Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble bestseller lists months before it was even released, because every pre-order would be hand-signed by the author. Due to the runaway success of the film and the blitz marketing campaign Fault in our Stars was the top selling e-book of 2014.
How can we be sure that Fault in our Stars was the true number one bestseller of 2014? The information comes from PubTrack Digital, a unit of Nielsen BookScan. Unlike the point-of-sale system used by BookScan to track sales of physical books, PubTrack Digital aggregates e-book unit sales supplied by publishers. According to Nielsen, publishers send data on their confirmed e-book sales made through about 40 major e-book retailers. Nielsen then aggregates the data to develop an e-book sales tracking tool. Participating publishers include more than 30 of the largest trade houses, including all the Big Five.
What were the other top selling e-books of 2014? PubTrack Digital released the following list last week. If you are looking for a read and haven’t bought into the hype train yet, all of these books sold very well.
| Rank | Title | Author | Publisher | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Fault in Our Stars | John Green | Penguin/Speak | $10.99 |
| 2 | Gone Girl | Gillian Flynn | Random House | $9.99 |
| 3 | Divergent | Veronica Roth | HarperCollins/Tegen | $9.99 |
| 4 | Insurgent | Veronica Roth | HarperCollins/Tegen | $13.99 |
| 5 | Allegiant | Veronica Roth | HarperCollins/Tegen | $15.99 |
| 6 | The Goldfinch | Donna Tartt | Hachette | $14.99 |
| 7 | Unbroken | Laura Hillenbrand | Random House | $11.99 |
| 8 | The Husband’s Secret | Liane Moriarty | Penguin | $12.99 |
| 9 | If I Stay | Gayle Forman | Penguin/Speak | $9.99 |
| 10 | Orphan Train | Christina Baker Kline | HarperCollins | $12.99 |
| 11 | Gray Mountain | John Grisham | Random House | $9.99 |
| 12 | Big Little Lies | Liane Moriarty | Penguin | $12.99 |
| 13 | The Maze Runner | James Dashner | Random House | $9.99 |
| 14 | All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr | Simon & Schuster | $12.99 |
| 15 | Outlander | Diana Gabaldon | Random House | $9.99 |
| 16 | Fifty Shades of Grey | E.L. James | Random House | $9.99 |
| 17 | The Target | David Baldacci | Hachette | $14.99 |
| 18 | Sycamore Row | John Grisham | Random House | $9.99 |
| 19 | Personal | Lee Child | Random House | $12.99 |
| 20 | Divergent Series Complete Collection | Veronica Roth | HarperCollins/Tegen | $44.99 |
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.