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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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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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.

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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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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.”

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The categories saw a nearly 72 percent increase in hardcover sales and almost 63 percent increase in paperback sales compared to the same period last year. Overall children’s and YA sales jumped by 74.6 percent, up from $153.3 million in February 2011 to $267.6 million this January.

Check it out: “Coming off strong January 2012, Children’s/YA physical book sales again demonstrated high double-digit increases over Feb 2011 and over YTD 2011; the C/YA eBooks segment again showed impressive triple-digit gains in both monthly and YTD comparisons. According to some publishers, this is primarily due to the ongoing success of several blockbuster franchises in YA and Children’s markets.  Also noted was the escalating trend of Adults reading YA titles, particularly in eBook format.”

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The categories saw a nearly 69 percent increase in hardcover sales and almost 62 percent increase in paperback sales compared to the same period last year. Overall trade sales jumped by 27 percent, up from $396 million in January 2011 to $503.5 million this January.

Check it out: “While Children’s/Young Adult physical format Hardcover and Paperback both saw strong double-digit growth ( and 61.9% respectively), AAP’s first monthly data on Children’s/YA eBooks showed a massive +475.1% increase from 2011 to 2012. Some publishers have attributed this to the availability of more options for devices aimed at those demographics as well as a number of popular new releases.”

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According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report for December (chart embedded above), adult mass market paperback sales dropped 40.9 percent compared to the same period the year before. Overall trade sales declined almost three percent, dipping from $561.3 million to $545.1 million.

As you can see by the year-to-date chart embedded below, overall trade book sales saw a four percent drop and mass market paperback sales declined nearly 36 percent for the year. While eBook sales increased 117 percent last year, they still have not closed the gap with declining print sales.

Here’s more from the release: “The December report represents data provided by 77 publishers and only sales of the participants are reported. NOTE: All numbers have been rounded to one decimal point and may not add up to 100%.”

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According to the latest Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report, adult hardcover sales plunged 20.9 percent in November 2011, dipping from $219.9 million to $174 million compared to the same period the year before. At the same time, total trade book sales dipped 3.5 percent.

Above, we have embedded a year-to-date chart above for 2011, but we still need to wait for the December numbers to get a complete picture of book sales in 2011.

Here’s more from the release, drawn from publishers’ insights: “While the November over November e-books number [65.9 percent increase] is still high, it dropped below the triple-digit percentages we’ve seen in the past year.  The year-to-date percentage growth remains pretty consistent with what we’ve been seeing all year.”

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According to the latest Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report, the adult mass paperback category declined nearly 38 percent (to $37.2 million) in October compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, adult hardcover sales dropped 17 percent (to $213.3 million) while eBook sales increased 81 percent (to $72.8 million). Above, we’ve embedded the AAP’s sales chart for the year-to-date–including a 4.5 percent decline in total trade revenues the year so far.

Here’s more from the release: “For the second month of the Fall sales season but ahead of the traditional holiday purchasing window, several categories showed declines while others, particularly those which have seen continuing growth over the past year, have maintained momentum … Details for the above follow.  The October report represents data provided by 80 publishers and is produced by the Association of American Publishers.”

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