Tag Archives: USA Today
Where Barker’s Best-Seller Ranks Today on Major Lists
We discussed the business best-seller rankings today, and specifically, how fast books move on and off these lists.
The book that I presented a synopsis of this morning, Barking Up the Wrong Tree (Harper One, 2017) by Eric Barker, is no longer on a published list. I first saw it on the Wall Street Journal list a few weeks ago.
Yet, its performance is very strong on one source, and that is the Amazon.com list. This one continually updates the status of book sales, and has become one of our favorite sources for determining the books that we will present at the First Friday Book Synopsis.
As of 3:15 p.m. today (7/7/2017), Barker’s book is in the top 25 in three Amazon.com sub-categories, and is in the top 100 in three major categories. You can review all of those categories by CLICKING HERE.
There are many sources for business best-seller lists, and we do not confine ourselves to any single list. However, the New York Times list, due to its monthly publication, is the one that we consider the most reliable. These sources publish best-seller lists, and we look at all of them:
Amazon.com
Bloomberg Business Week
Fortune
New York Times
USA Today
Wall Street Journal
Do You Know Martin Lindstrom?
On Friday, August 5, I present a synopsis of the best-selling business book, Small Data: The Tiny Clues that Unocover Huge Trends” (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2016) at the First Friday Book Synopsis in Dallas. You can register by clicking HERE.
But, you may not know much about the author, Martin Lindstrom. Here is a bio from the Washington Speakers’ 
Bureau that represents him (see citation below).
“Martin Lindstrom was named one of TIME magazine’s “World’s 100 Most Influential People” and is the author of several New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling books, including Buyology (Doubleday, New York, 2008), Brandwashed (Crown, New York, 2011) and Small Data (St. Martin’s Press, 2016). He is a trusted brand-and-innovation advisor to numerous Fortune 100 companies, including McDonald’s Corporation, PepsiCo, American Express, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Walt Disney Company and GlaxoSmithKline.
“Lindstrom is recognized as one of the world’s leading brand experts, having pioneered the introduction of brands on the Internet (1994), using our five senses in branding (2004), introducing neuroscience in advertising (2007) and exploring the next generation of subconscious communication (2010). He was named a top “Thinkers50 Global Management Thinker” in 2015.
“Due to his groundbreaking work, Lindstrom often features in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Economist, Harvard Business Review, The Independent, The Guardian and Der Spiegel. He regularly appears on ABC, CNN, CBS, FOX and the BBC.
“Buyology was voted “pick of the year” by USA Today, and it appeared on ten of the Top 10 best seller lists in the U.S. and worldwide, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. His book BRANDsense was acclaimed by The Wall Street Journal as “…one of the five best marketing books ever published.” His books on branding have been translated into more than 50 languages and published in more than 70 countries worldwide.
“Lindstrom is a regular contributor to Fast Company, TIME and NBC’s Today with his popular “Main Street Makeover” TV series.”
Source: https://www.washingtonspeakers.com/speakers/biography.cfm?SpeakerID=4168
A Tidy-Up Book Cleans Up on the Best-Seller List
This is a book that you probably don’t want to see. Yet, plenty have, as it has become a New York Times best-seller since its initial distribution in October, 2014. Even today, it remains at #39 on 
the Amazon.com best-seller list.
Marie Kondo wrote The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (Ten Speed Press). This is actually her third book on organizing.
Who is Marie Kondo? The London Times described her as “Japan’s preeminent guru of tidiness, a warrior princess in the war on clutter.” Her actual business is as a consultant in Tokyo, assisting clients to change the look and feel of their homes and offices.
How many books on clutter have you seen become a television drama? It happened for this one on Japanese television. Articles have appeared about her in the Wall Street Journal, Red, You, New York Times, USA Today, NPR’s Here & Now, Slate, and Family Circle. Her method of organizing is known as the KonMari method, and consists of gathering together everything you own and then keeping only those things which “spark joy”, and choosing a place for everything from then on.
These are the key five tips from her book that appear in today’s Wall Street Journal. You can read the entire article by clicking here. These tips are called “How to Kondo.”
- Tidy by category: Clothes first, then books, papers, miscellany and sentimental items.
- Don’t foist your unwanted stuff on family members who might take it out of guilt. Give it to charity.
- There is nothing more annoying than papers.’ Throw them all away, unless they are absolutely necessary.
- Forget fancy storage containers. Drawers and shoeboxes often suffice.
- Avoid piles. Tip items up on their sides and store them next to each other, rather than stacking them. (p. D2)
You can rest assured we won’t present this one at the First Friday Book Synopsis in Dallas. The guilt might be overwhelming. I read this response from Mrs. Paul Iverson online: “It’s sad to think that we need a book to tell us it’s okay to be neat, clean and tidy. To discard stuff that we don’t need, never should have bought in the first place, or is broken! I guess this is good for anyone that didn’t learn it at a young age!”
Hawkins’ Book Has Formidable Splash Debut
It is remarkable and rare that an author’s first book, on its first week out, hits the # 1 spot on the fiction best-seller lists, such as the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon.com, and the Wall Street Journal. Yet, that is where The Girl on The Train (New York: Riverhead Books, 2015) by Paula Hawkins finds itself.
Who is Paula Hawkins? We don’t know much about her. First, be sure you understand this is not the Republican senator with the same name. Hawkins lives in London, and worked as a journalist for fifteen years before writing her first fictional book. She was born and raised in Zimbabwe. In 1989, she moved to London and has stayed there ever since. 
What is the book about? Here is what her Facebook page says about it:
A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives. Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good? Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut.
You can read a review of the book from the New York Times by clicking here. It has already been translated and published in numerous languages. The book has been optioned for film by Dreamworks. Note: It is easy to get confused. You will find this same title used on several previous books and movies.
When I bought my copy at Barnes & Noble, there was only one more remaining on the display.
To say that it is “selling like hotcakes” would be accurate. The book is receiving massive publicity in papers and talk shows throughout the country.
You should get it, read it, and react to it, before you hear all about it from someone.
