Bestsellers in the British Book Industry 1998-2005

摘要

Bestsellers are an important commercial and social phenomenon. The paper defines and analyses bestsellers in the UK between 1998 and 2005, following on earlier work by one of the authors. It is concluded that there is a core groups of genres and authors dominating the bestseller lists, although there are also unexpected successes, especially at Christmas time. There is some evidence of long-term changes in taste, including the apparent decline in the popularity of romantic fiction and the growth of fantasy literature. It is also shown that media and movie adaptations and spin-offs are now an integral part of this dimension of the book industry.