Crying Wolfe

When Farrar, Straus & Giroux published I Am Charlotte Simmons, it announced a first printing of 1.5 million copies — “a figure which, in the wink-wink world of publishing,” the Times’ Edward Wyatt writes, “usually means a commitment to actually print about half that many copies.” But, according to Nielsen BookScan, Wolfe’s book has sold fewer than 250,000 copies — making the 12-week bestseller, recalculated according to industry laws of relativity, a discount-bin disappointment.

Bob Wietrak, a vice president for merchandising at Barnes & Noble, counters, “[I Am Charlotte Simmons] was a huge success, a big best seller for us.” And, proving counters can get shabbier than my kitchen’s: “But there are still a significant amount of books that are still out in the marketplace.”

Related Reading:
-“I Am George Bush: Why the President Loves Wolfe”
-GC’s I am Charlotte Simmons cheatsheet, front & back

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