This is a bit random, but do publishers like Penguin move a lot of classics each year? Middlemarch’s rank in the Amazon USA list would seem to indicate it sells around ten copies a day. Does that seem reasonable? I thought it seemed a bit low, but my opinion is truly random. There are >12 different paperback editions, so that would seem to argue for popularity…
No, classics are not hot sellers. You will never see one on a bestseller list, unless Netflix has a new adaptation.
The classics do, however have very, very large total sales: they were a bestseller once, and they keep selling, a few every month, forever.
Speaking as someone who’s worked in both new and used books, classics are purchased far more often from used retailers than new. I worked at a massive used bookstore and we couldn’t keep most of the classics on the shelves, but at the new retailer I worked at I found they only really sold if they had a fancy binding or cover.
I don’t know the answer to this, but I imagine one of the factors at play is that most used book retailers are flooded with copies of popular classics. If I didn’t already own Middlemarch and wanted a copy, I’d head to my local used bookstore and get a copy for ~$3/4. The fact that the authors for classics are no longer alive means I would always go for used copies over new.
So the number of copies that are being purchased and read includes more than just how many copies Amazon is selling new. Also, I wonder how this metric is arrived at. Because if ~10 copies of Middlemarch sold per day is just reflective of one of the many, many editions of the book available on Amazon, then I could see it. But if it’s all editions of Middlemarch, then that does seem a little low. We’re talking about the number one book retailer in the world.
It’s maybe worth noting that Penguin Classics and other similar publishers release a lot of new translations of works, as well as often providing in depth introductions and notes in their books, so you’re not just getting the same stuff you’d get in a public domain version. This stuff is great for people who want to read them more than casually, but not to the extent of fully studying the works and getting multiple books about them.
The Iliad has been riding high in new book sale lists over the last few weeks specifically because Emily Wilson’s new translation carried a lot of hype. Kind of cool to see.
I imagine 10,000s are purchased by schools every year.
well most actual classics are in the public domain now and can be read for free so yeah sells of those books would be kind of low when you can obtain them for free.
I was an independent bookseller for 7 and 1/2 years. Yes, the classic still sell. And, a bunch of the publishers will reissue the classics with different covers or forwards to get people excited about them. I’m pretty sure Harper Collins did this as well as Penguin classics. Penguin Random House would always have good deals on the Penguin classics, so I could set up a display and give good discounts to the customers.
I worked in a bookshop and was always very frustrated that we only ever kept one copy of The Tenant of Windfell Hall in stock at a time because it would only be on the shelf for a day or two before it was bought, and there was another week wait for it to come back in again.
Great book!!
The major bookshop chain in the UK usually has a substantial display of classics in most of its stores - so there must be at least some economic value to them for bookshops.
Pretty sure all of those books are public domain, so there’s no author or estate to pay for publishing them.
As a reader, I only buy books new specifically when I want to support the author. Otherwise, I buy used or get it from the library.
I think some people have a favourite classic and will buy a few copies of it or are gifted them if they are particularly nice e.g. Macmillan collectors’ library editions. I have three different editions of Persuasion.
My information comes from 20 years ago:
Before the 21st Century book sales were tracked by the New York Times (and others) by surveying various booksellers around the country. The books were then ranked, but sales numbers were unknown except to the publishers who often did not share that info. In 2001 Bookscan was introduced which counted book sales based on the ISBNs scanned in at point-of-sale. In a surprise, it became apparent that the classics sold far better than had been thought and and that led to a boom in classics publishing. I’m told the introduction of Soundscan led to a similar boom in country western music.
I was in a big London bookshop a couple of weeks ago and there was a massive table of those Penguin clothbound classics near the entrance, which makes me think they believe people still want to buy classics as Christmas presents at least.
I recently purchased the complete Sherlock Holmes collection.