For the first time in two years, the Library of America has updated its list of “all-time best-selling titles.”

Once again, Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau led that list of major sellers prestigious publisher. The Library of America also released a list of the top backlist bestsellers in 2012, and we’ve included the top ten below–a look at the new classics. Check it out:

Of course, the methodology of the above list favors titles that have been out longer; the most “recent” title in the top 15 was published in 1995. Readers might be interested seeing which “backlist titles” (i.e., volumes published prior to 2011) sold the most copies last year, in 2012.

(Via Edward Champion & Michael Orthofer)

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GalleyCat readers constantly ask us: how many copies does it take to get on the Self Published Bestsellers List?

This is not an easy question to answer since all the major marketplaces for indie books carefully guard their sales figures. However, in Behind the Story: Interviews From 20 Self-Published Authors Who Made it BIG, author Denise Kim Wy managed to get sales figures from six different self-published authors.

We’ve included those sales figures below, complete with some quotes from the book. If you are an indie author and want to share how many copies you’ve sold, feel free to email GalleyCat a photograph to be included on this list.

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According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) StatShot report for the calendar year of 2012, adult fiction and nonfiction hardcover net revenues dipped nearly seven percent in 2012 compared to the same period last year (AAP chart embedded above).

At the same time, all categories of children’s and YA literature grew last year. eBook revenues in this category increased by nearly 121 percent. (AAP chart embedded below). AppNewser has more about the growth of digital book sales since 2002. Here’s more from the release:

With the December figures now available, the AAP monthly “StatShot” report of publishers’ net revenue shows that for calendar year 2012, US Trade publishers’ net revenue grew by 6.2% as compared to calendar year 2011

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According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) monthly StatShot report for November 2012, year-to-date revenues in the children’s and young adult category rose nearly 18 percent to  compared to the same period last year (AAP chart embedded above).

Hardcover revenues alone in this category rose more than 16 percent to $773.4 million. For comparison, adult hardcover revenues sagged by more than 5 percent during that same period.

Only one trade category did not grow in the report. Total religion revenues were down, dropping nearly 4 percent for the year-to-date. We’ve embedded the children’s and young adult sales chart below…

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In a long interview at The Onion‘s AV Club, novelist Neal Pollack gave readers a frank look at his bookselling track record.

He shared real numbers behind the career of a literary writer who achieved bestseller status and a big book deal. Aspiring writers should read the whole interview for more literary guidance.

What do you think–how many copies make a literary bestseller?

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According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) StatShot report for October 2012, year-to-date hardcover sales in the children’s and young adult category rose nearly 22 percent compared to the same period last year–rising to $675.6 million.

In the same category, paperback sales sagged more than 5 percent and eBook revenues rose a whopping 160 percent during that same period. Counting sales in all these formats, children’s and YA sales were up nearly 19 percent for the year-to-date (AAP chart embedded above).

Meanwhile, adult fiction and nonfiction hardcover revenues decreased by more than two percent, mass market paperback sank 17 percent and eBooks increased nearly 36 percent compared to the same period last year. We’ve embedded the adult fiction and nonfiction chart below…

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According to the Association of American Publishers monthly StatShot report, children’s and young adult digital book revenues exploded nearly 300 percent in May compared to the same period last year.

Here’s more from the release: “The overall industry (including all sectors:  Trade, School, Higher Ed and Professional/Scholarly) grew 7.3 percent year-to-date 2012 vs. YTD 2011 … Reflecting seasonal consumer buying trends, Paperbacks ranked as the #1 single format in May in the Adult Fiction/Non-Fiction category.”

For the year-to-date, total trade revenues increased 15.3 percent. The data was collected from 1,188 different publishers.

Digital books are now “the dominant single format” in the adult fiction category, according to a new BookStats joint report from the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group. eBooks exploded in the adult fiction category last year, accounting for 30 percent of net publisher sales in 2011–up from 13 percent the year before.

At the same time, net sales revenue from eBooks increased from  from $869 million in 2010 to $2.074 billion in 2011. That’s 15 percent of net revenues for publishers. AppNewser has more about how these numbers have affected the total US book market.

Here’s more about those eye-popping figures, from the report: “Adult Fiction eBooks revenue for 2011 was $1.27 billion, growing by 117% from $585 million in 2010.  This translated to 203 million units, up 238% from 85 million in 2010.  Similar to the broader overall Trade sector, the combined print formats also represented the majority of publishers’ revenue in the Adult Fiction category, at $2.84 billion.”

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Net sales revenue from eBooks have surpassed hardcover books in the first quarter of 2012.

According to the March Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report (collecting data from 1,189 publishers), adult eBook sales were $282.3 million while adult hardcover sales counted $229.6 million during the first quarter of 2012. During the same period last year, hardcover accounted for $335 million in sales while eBooks logged $220.4 million.

Here’s more from the report (Q1 2012 chart embedded above): “In Q1 2012, net sales revenue for eBooks was higher than that for Hardcover; this represents a switch of  positions in the category vs Q1 2011.  In both quarters, however, Trade Paperback remained a clear #1 in net sales revenue despite some erosion. While eBooks continue to show growth, downloaded audiobooks also keep accelerating vs last year – as some experts have said, tied to ongoing popularity and acquisition of smartphones and mobile devices.”

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U.S. trade publishers earned a net sales revenue of $357.4 million from export sales in 2011, according to a new report from the Association of American Publishers (AAP). This was a 7.2 percent increase from $333.3 million the net sales revenue earned in 2010.

According to the report, about 90 percent of U.S. publishers export English-language print and/or eBooks to more than 200 countries worldwide. eBook sales abroad are growing even faster.

Check it out: “Total eBook net sales revenue for 2011 was $21.5 million, a gain of 332.6% over 2010; this represents 3.4 million eBook units sold in 2011, up 303.3 %. As comparison, print formats (Hardcover, Paperback and Mass Market Paperback) increased 2.3% to $335.9 million in 2011. In 2011, eBook sales grew 218.8% in Continental Europe, 1316.8% in the UK, 201.6% in Latin America and 636.8% in Africa.”