'Steve Jobs' Tops Amazon's List of Best-Selling Print and Kindle Books for 2011

[MacRumors]

Last week, we noted that Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs had become Amazon's top-selling book of 2011, a feat all the more notable due to the fact that the book was not released until late October.

But that ranking only encompassed print sales, and with digital books now representing a majority of book sales at Amazon, rankings including Kindle e-book sales need to be included in order to generate a more complete picture of overall book sales.

Amazon has done just that today, releasing its list of best-selling books of 2011, and Isaacson's Steve Jobs once again topped the list.

"After the year of recommending books to our customers, it's always fun to see what books really resonated with them," said Chris Schluep, Senior Editor of Books, Amazon.com. "We chose 'Steve Jobs' as one of the Top 10 best books of the year, and even though it was published in October, the sales have been phenomenal in both formats. And we're really excited that Kindle Direct Publishing authors have taken two of the top spots this year for book sales overall."

The top 10 best-selling books overall are:

1. "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson
2. "Bossypants" by Tina Fey
3. "A Stolen Life" by Jaycee Dugard
4. "The Mill River Recluse" by Darcie Chan
5. "In the Garden of the Beasts" by Erik Larson
6. "A Dance with Dragons" by George R.R. Martin
7. "The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain
8. "The Litigators" by John Grisham
9. "The Abbey" by Chris Culver
10. "Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle)" by Christopher Paolini

Amazon's list includes all books that were published as first editions in 2011 and includes only paid sales. Highlighting the growing influence of digital books and their impact on publishing, Amazon notes that both The Mill River Recluse (#4) and The Abbey (#9) are independently-published books made available only via Kindle e-book.

Article Link: 'Steve Jobs' Tops Amazon's List of Best-Selling Print and Kindle Books for 2011

 

[ECUpirate44]

It was a fascinating biography. Thumbs up to Isaacson and Jobs.

 

[MultiMediaWill]

Isn't there already a post about this?

 

[ECUpirate44]

Isn't there already a post about this?

You always have the most enlightening comments

 

[*LTD*]

Isn't there already a post about this?

Read the article again.

 

[transmaster]

It looks like Amazon is doing to the printed book business what iTunes did to the recording industary.

 

[hobo.hopkins]

As well it should. It was a very informative and well-written book.

 

[archipellago]

In the half price sale at my supermarket and local bookstore....

where the ramblings of an egotistical, downright unpleasant maniac should be.

 

[Ugg]

I wonder how much money Isaacson made?

 

[KnightWRX]

6. "A Dance with Dragons" by George R.R. Martin

Nice to see this. I've read through the whole series this year and frankly it's great fantasy/fiction. To have it be so popular is nice, really gives credibility to the genre.

----------

You always have the most enlightening comments

Well, he's not wrong :

https://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/06/steve-jobs-becomes-amazons-best-selling-book-of-2011/

This story adds the "Kindle" bit. Frankly, did we really need 2 stories about basically the same thing ?

 

[rdowns]

This story adds the "Kindle" bit. Frankly, did we really need 2 stories about basically the same thing ?

Or 4 stories on the 5th Avenue Store glass or 7 on the Grand Central Terminal store or ...

 

[Lordskelic]

I loved this biography.

 

[The Great Boony]

The man was a god, so this is not surprising

 

[Navdakilla]

what else is new.. didn't some people on here purchase many many copies?

 

[spyguy10709]

Steve Jobs,
Always #1!!

 

[rmwebs]

The man was a god, so this is not surprising

Dont over do it

 

[KnightWRX]

Or 4 stories on the 5th Avenue Store glass or 7 on the Grand Central Terminal store or ...

Criticizing store openings and stories will draw the ire of some moderators, you shouldn't do it.

 

[the8thark]

Isn't there already a post about this?

Yes there was. And here's the link to it.
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/06/steve-jobs-becomes-amazons-best-selling-book-of-2011/

The last one said #1 in Print sales.
This one says #1 in kindle store sales.

adds the "Kindle" bit. Frankly, did we really need 2 stories about basically the same thing ?

No. But the MacRumors staff like to do this.

 

[Akack]

rip Steve

 

[Akarin]

Speaking of Amazon and Steve Jobs, I just bought "Steve Jobs: Revolutionary" on the Kindle. It's a collection of interviews of Steve Jobs with Wired magazine over the course of 20 years. Really good insights too when placed into context.

 

[Steve's Barber]

The man was a god, so this is not surprising

A bit too much idol worship for my tastes.

A well written book. Very enlightening about Mr. Jobs. Nice to read he was just a guy with the right amount of "*******", timing and luck. I do think the ******* mentality is what made him great though.

 

[h4ck]

poorly written, factually inaccurate, and repetitive.

otherwise, yeah - fascinating.

It was a fascinating biography. Thumbs up to Isaacson and Jobs.

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have you read many books prior to this?

it's terribly written. the author never finds a voice of his own, he simply presents his data in a very bland and direct manner.

he seemingly did absolutely no fact checking, and didn't bother to intertwine himself in the industry which he was to be writing about. its written from a complete outsiders perspective as if he was just presenting a slideshow. the timeline was strange, he was repetitive and inaccurate and a lot of the information he presented was never expanded on enough that someone who doesn't know the company or the industry would left saying "huh?"

to put it bluntly, it sucked. choosing isaacson was the biggest mistake of Steve's legacy.

As well it should. It was a very informative and well-written book.

 

[Themaeds]

poorly written, factually inaccurate, and repetitive.

otherwise, yeah - fascinating.



----------

have you read many books prior to this?

it's terribly written. the author never finds a voice of his own, he simply presents his data in a very bland and direct manner.

he seemingly did absolutely no fact checking, and didn't bother to intertwine himself in the industry which he was to be writing about. its written from a complete outsiders perspective as if he was just presenting a slideshow. the timeline was strange, he was repetitive and inaccurate and a lot of the information he presented was never expanded on enough that someone who doesn't know the company or the industry would left saying "huh?"

to put it bluntly, it sucked. choosing isaacson was the biggest mistake of Steve's legacy.

100% agree with this. Read anything by Neil Strauss and you will agree. This book was a snoozer

 

[sonicboom]

What an honor to beat out "bossypants" by Tina Fey.

Who buys these books?

 

[admanimal]

100% agree with this. Read anything by Neil Strauss and you will agree. This book was a snoozer

Not to mention that the chapters about the development of the Mac were basically just a poor ripoff of Revolution in the Valley.

Basically Isaacson didn't have the technical knowledge (iPhoto is Apple's competitor to Photoshop? Really?) to go deeply into any interesting technical issues, and he didn't have the intelligence to make any interesting breakthroughs into Steve's personality. The only good parts of the book were the new quotes from Steve himself.