Digital Bestseller Lists: Sapkowski and McGowan triumph

Andrzej Sapkowksi’s The Last Wish claimed the Publisher E-Book Ranking top spot for the week ending 4th January, boosted by its Netflix adaptation “The Witcher”. Mhairi McFarlane’s If I Never Met You also débuted in the top 10.

The Last Wish (Orion) follows in the footsteps of fellow fantasy-epic-turned-television-adaptation George R R Martin’s A Game of Thrones, which most recently topped the e-book chart last May, when its HBO adaptation came to a close. Sapkowski prevented an Adam Kay double at the top, with the former junior doctor’s festive title Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas (Picador) still selling strongly into the first week of 2020.
 
McFarlane’s If I Never Met You (HarperCollins) made its début in the Publisher E-Book Ranking in seventh place. The author’s Don’t You Forget About Me charted in the top 20 for four weeks in early 2019, reaching a high of fourth.
 
William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (Bloomsbury) also charted in the ranking for the first time, following a recommendation by former US president Barack Obama.  

For the second week of January, Claire McGowan’s What You Did (Thomas & Mercer), rose to the top of the Bookstat E-Book top 10, with an estimated 14,855 units sold. Once again, the chart was dominated by crime and psychological thriller titles, with only Nick Spalding’s Dumped, Actually (Lake Union) and Nicola May’s self-published The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay representing the lighter side of fiction.

In total, three self-published authors charted in Amazon’s bestselling self-published title of 2019 and Ross’ titles are a staple of the online retailer’s weekly charts. Sainsbury hit the Bookstat top 10 with his crime début.