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From a press release:

 

Hachette Book Group announced today that #1 bestselling author James Patterson has tripled his record-breaking ebook sales in less than a year’s time. To date, Patterson has sold 3,035,713 ebook units just 11 months after becoming the first novelist ever to surpass the one million ebook unit mark (as of July 2010).

David Young, CEO of Hachette Book Group, said, “James Patterson thrills and entertains readers, across all formats and all ages. To surge from 1 to 3 million ebooks sold in such a short period is extraordinary. This growth indicates that Patterson is maximizing the new ways digital can connect him with his readers, be it through ebooks, his major online presence, or the Patterson app.”

That major online presence includes the over 4 million visitors a year to JamesPatterson.com and Patterson’s 1.6 million-plus Facebook friends (numbers which grow daily by the thousands). The James Patterson app for iPad/iPhone has been downloaded close to 14,000 times, with 80 percent of Patterson’s app audience actively updated and engaged in the app’s content and features. In addition to this audience, there are also hundreds of thousands of followers on book-specific Facebook pages for Patterson’s young readers series such as Witch & Wizard and Maximum Ride. There is a dedicated website, an app, and interactive games for Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, Patterson’s latest title for young readers launching on June 27.

James Patterson said, “I’m delighted to see that the rise of ebooks means the rise of reading across the board. We’re finding more ways to get readers hooked on great books, and nothing could make me happier.”

4 COMMENTS

  1. Dude’s a baller. Get that money, mayne. Get that money like a fiend!
    James Patterson donates a lot of that cash-money to support independent bookstores and literary organizations like Small Press Distribution, so it’s cool he’s making that bank selling pulpy bull.
    Get that money, Patterson.

  2. James Patterson said, “I’m delighted to see that the rise of ebooks means the rise of reading across the board. We’re finding more ways to get readers hooked on great books, and nothing could make me happier.”

    Yes, if those readers can find their way past James Patterson’s books to some actual great books, that WOULD be terrific. We can only hope that Hachette will use some of their profits to develop additional (better) authors.

  3. Hardly surprising that readers would find Patterson attractive as an ebook. If my own experience watching my parents is indicative, most of his sales are single-read hardcovers. Ebooks are (generally) cheaper and are certainly easy to deal with afterwards (just delete the file and never see it again instead of having a big heavy lump of paper to lug around)

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