The International Digital Publishing
Forum (formally the Open eBook Forum), the trade and standards
association for the eBook industry, has released its tally of the best-selling eBooks of 2005.
Heading up the list is the tome based on the top grossing movie of last year, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Viewing the final installment of George Lucas's space adventure wasn't enough for many, it seems; they had to read about Anakin Skywalker's final steps into the dark side electronically as well.
Publishing world phenomenon Dan Brown landed three titles—The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons and Digital Fortress—in the top 5. These eBooks, in fact, comprised 2004's top 3 eBooks. We won't be surprised if we find them in 2006 top 30 as well, especially with the movie based on The Da Vinci Code due to hit theatres this year.
In addition to popular fiction, the list includes a dictionary and thesaurus, the bible, romance, and titles from independent publishers like Rosetta Books and Fictionwise.com.
International Digital Publishing Forum executive director Nick Bogaty enthuses, "Never have we seen such diversity in our annual eBook bestseller list. Bestselling romance titles, independently published eBooks and reference combined with the electronic versions of the major print hits of '05 show that eBooks are coming into the mainstream of the reading public."
2005 eBooks Bestsellers
1 - Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith by George Lucas
(Del Rey, $7.99)
2 - The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
(Doubleday, $14.95)
3 - Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
(Pocket Books, $6.99)
4 - State of Fear by Michael Crichton
(HarperCollins, $7.99)
5 - Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
(St. Martin's Press, $5.99)
6 - Embers Falling on Dry Grass by Robert Jordan
(Simon & Schuster, Inc., $3.50)
7 - Deception Point by Dan Brown (
Pocket Books, $6.99)
8 - Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition
(Merriam-Webster, $25.95)
9 - Holy Bible, New International Version
(Zondervan, $14.99)
10 - The Narrows by Michael Connelly
(Little, Brown, $5.95)
11 - The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason
(Dell Publisher, $6.99)
12 - Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
(HarperCollins, $19.95)
13 - Alien Infection by Darrell Bain
(Double Dragon Publishing, $5.99)
14 - Raising Atlantis by Thomas Greanias
(Pocket Books, $6.99)
15 - The Year Ahead 2005 by Susan Miller
(Barnes & Noble Digital, $12.95)
16 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
(RosettaBooks, $8.99)
17 - Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear
(Del Rey, $6.99)
18 - Darwin's Children by Greg Bear
(Del Rey, $6.99)
19 - Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold
(Fictionwise.com, $2.49)
20 - The Closers by Michael Connelly
(Little, Brown, $17.95)
21 - Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus
(Merriam-Webster, $17.95)
22 - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
(RosettaBooks, $8.99)
23 - Office Slave by J. W. McKenna
(Renaissance E Books, $4.99)
24 - Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
(RosettaBooks, $8.99)
25 - So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
(RosettaBooks, $8.99)
26 - A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
(Broadway Books, $9.95)
27 - The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren
(Zondervan, $15.99)
28 - Fallen Angels by Terence West
(Double Dragon, $5.99)
29 - Punished by Kimberly Zant
(New Concepts Publishing, $3.99)
30 - Getting Things Done by David Allen
(Penguin Putnam, $14.00)
The association says bestsellers are
calculated by aggregate unit sales from reporting retailers and
distributors, including eReader.com,
Fictionwise and OverDrive, a company that helps
libraries setup eBook loaning systems.
