Listed! Times! Bestselling! (now with proof)

Posted on by scott

Well, that headline pretty much says it all.

This morning (it’s Thursday here) my editor emailed me to say that Specials has appeared at number 6 on the New York Times chapterbook bestseller list!

I believe the word is . . . w00t.

Thanks to all of you who told your friends and librarians, made your parents drive you to the store, and forced some poor bookstore employee open a box early (you know who you are). You have been counted! Thanks to Rodrigo Corral for his ace cover designs. Thanks to S&S for being an excellent publisher.

Oh yeah, and thanks to J.K. Rowling, who single-handedly forced the Times to create a set of children’s bestseller lists. Because, like, they got sick of Harry Potter books getting all up in Salman Rushdie’s and James Patterson’s face. (Hah! YA rules!)

That little story reminds me to mention that all bestseller lists are mysterious and kind of fake. No one really knows what books are selling everywhere in the country (much less the world), so it’s all done by polling a hundred or so bookstores. And every list picks stores that tend to sell the kind of books that they like. And of course putting things into categories is always fraught; like, Specials is a chapter book and the latest Potter is a series book? Huh? The USA Today list doesn’t even bother with categories, just goes by raw Bookscan data, which misses non-bookstores like Target and K-Mart.

But you know what? I’ll take it. Because the NY Times is the list everyone’s HEARD OF! And that’s all that really matters, this big fat banner of credibility:

What’s REALLY annoying is that it’s not online yet, because the Times has this crazy system where they don’t publish lists until a fortnight after the end of the week in question. (Why? Why?) This news came from my editor (who must have some sort of Secret Publisher Decoder Ring) leaving me half wondering if a Terribly Embarrassing Mistake has been made.

But probably not, so once more . . . w00t!

Also, Midnighters fans will note that Specials is my thirteenth novel! Trideca-liscious!

(By the way, this little surprise is STILL not the big news I’ve been talking about. Soon, baby, soon.)

UPDATE: I have proof! (Thanks, Shana.)

82 thoughts on “Listed! Times! Bestselling! (now with proof)”

  2. CONGRATULATIONS! We publishers get the list emailed to us every Wednesday night, so I’m sure it’s not a mistake. ๐Ÿ˜‰ Woo hoo!

  4. Yes, Holly. It’s insanely wondrous to visit the club.* Though I’m still not fully accepting the reality of this.

    Thanks Jen and Jason! (And thanks for the explanation, Jen. Gee, publishers get all the cool secret data. Like, do you know where Santa Claus lives?)

    *That club where all the books in a certain series with the word “Spiderwick” in the title friggin’ hang out for MONTHS.

  6. Scott,

    That’s so insanely awesome, Scott. My dumb town book stores weren’t going to have the book in for like a week after it was released, so (and I hope this marks me in the ‘true fan’ cattergory) I paid nearly $12 of shipping on Amazon.com to get it in two days. But you know what? It was COMPLETELY worth the money. The ending was brilliant, you know. I was sitting there reading (forgot to eat all day, I was so excited) and thinking ‘how in Hell is he going to end this?’ and you DID IT. It was amazing.

    Anyway, talking of grouping books together I was wondering if you had any book suggestions for me. I figure, who better to ask than my favorite author? I’ve read your wondrous authoress wife’s books which are brilliant as well. (When does the next one come out, Justine???) But if there are any books out there like yours I have yet to find them. Science fiction suggestions? Fantasy? Young Adult? Anything NOT Gossip Girl esque? I’d love to have your thoughts.

    Again, congrats. You deserve it.

    -Hannah

  7. lol, i paid 35 dollars in shipping for a midnighters which wasnt the one in the united states.

  8. Hey Hannah,

    Thanks for the praise! My favourite YAs of late:

    Fantasy
    Holly Black’s Tithe and Valiant
    Elizabeth Knox Dreamhunter
    Laura Whitcomb A Certain Slant of Light
    Cassandra Clare City of Bones (Though you’ll have to wait till early next year. SO worth the wait. It’s one of my faves fantasy books in ages.)
    Naomi Novik’s Temeraire books (though they’re sold as adult)

    Not fantasy or sf, but still fabulous
    Jaclyn Moriarty’s books
    Barry Lyga’s The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl (Though sadly it’s not out till October)

    Hope that helps. And so you don’t bust your wallet—Tithe, A Certain Light and the Temeraire books are available in paperback.

  9. SCOTT CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!! that is sooo amazing, in the times again! only this time its about you, and your books, not about you and your fans, which is really important! I think this is really great, and i predict a great spike in the purchase of the uglies series in the next couple of months! lol. well i think this totally rocks scott! you rock and deserve this! yay for you!

  10. So all my book reccomendations have worked. I’ve gotten five people to buy your books so far. And about five mmore to read your books.

  11. Oh, Scott, that’s just….bubbly!

    It’s wonderful and amazing and fabulous and incredible and and so so so well-earned! I’m so thrilled for you! Congratulations!!!!!!

    I’ve been waiting for this, ever since I heard Specials would be out in hardcover. Ever since I read Uglies and saw what a wonderful thing you had on your hands. Great job!

  15. wow, scott. congratulations! can i still claim you as a friend or will the nyt disallow bogus friendship claims based entirely on status? they should have a policy. i do.

  16. Yes, wonderful news, & very much deserved! I feel the thirteenth-novel bit is ESPECIALLY appropriate. I have been holding off so that I can read all three of the novels in one big gulp, it is what I am going to do in June….

  19. Way to go, man! I was kind of impressed to see the Scott Westerfeld section in the local Borders at the Park Mall in Tucson – historically it’s been as likely that there would be nothing there as that there would be something there, but today there was a copy of Uglies, a copy of Pretties, and two very noticable gaps where other books had been snatched up. I had to make them go hunt for their remaining stock of Specials, but it turned out that they had nineteen copies in the store – they just hadn’t put them on the shelves yet. I had to get Uglies at Amazon when it came out, and I had to hunt for Pretties, but got it locally; getting Specials was dead easy.

  20. Yes w00t indeed… is that your 13th book involving the powerpuff one? Diamonds are for Princesses… o.0?

  25. Congrats Scott!——–
    you do not know how much i have been waiting for Specials to come out and just finished reading it yesterday and like Hannah, i didn’t know how you were to going to finish it when there were like……….40 pages left of the book but i love the ending. I wonder what happens afterwards with Tally………………….

  29. Many congratulations, Scott! Hard to imagine what kind of other big news could top this!

  31. i’m sorry to say that i don’t have any good stories about finding the books, which i borrowed from my creepy older sister. i did, however, wait a very long time to read the last one. ofcourse, it was definateley worth the wait! i stayed up ’till four in the morning last night reading, and just finished it less than a minute ago. any suggestions on another series fro someone who has thoroughly enjoyed this one, as well as the Holly Black ones mentioned before?

  32. Congratulations, Mr. NYTBA! Can’t wait to say it with sake next time you’re in NYC.

    I’m *so* not surprised, though. It’s where you belong!

    I just did my bit for getting you on the Canadian Times Bestseller list, cuz I want my Specials to match! ๐Ÿ™‚

  37. YES! CONGRATS! w007!!!
    You are a FANTASTIC writier, with an awesome series that TOTALLY deserves the honor! As for the stuff about the lists being fake, well, psh…lol. Details, details.
    I’m so psyched Specials is out!!!!!! Totally bubbly, of course. I am now on Pretties and plan on finishing it ASAP to read Specials. So excited!!!

  38. A million kudos to you Scott!!! I’ve talked up your books so much at school that about 6 people nearly beat me up for my pre May-9th copy of Specials, and now when I say “My favorite author is Scott Westerfeld” people not only know who I’m talking about, they agree with me. Whoa. What a difference one school year can make.

  39. Thanks for all your congrats! Much appreciated.

    Hmm, suggestions. The thing is, I’ve been reading all graphic novels the last couple of weeks. Scott Pilgrim totally rocks, as does Ex Machina (which is old news, I know). Also there’s this Shojobeat manga called Nana that’s really, really good.

    Regular-books-wise: I’m about to start Philip Reeve’s third book, Infernal Devices. Oh yeah, and there’s a great book called Pucker, by Melanie Gideon, that comes out next week. It’s got a blurb by me on the cover. A really cool parallel-world book, with some of the same themes as Uglies, but very different.

  41. and p.s. Aussies totally rocking out on the NYT bestseller list! Scott and Markus!

    (scott, I’m claiming you as an aussie)


  42. yay!
    this is me so happy,
    i dance when i’m happy.
    good job scott!!!
    (i always spell your name scoot…)

    also,
    i hope you know i’m drawing pictures for you,
    instead of doing homework.
    tsk tsk

  44. I loved Just Listen!!!! Sarah Desson is my favorite non-fantasy, YA, romance-but-still-plot-filled author. Wow, two of my favorite authors on the NYT list at the same time… will the world now implode?

  45. Yes! NY Times! That is so awesome. I have been contributing to your list of fans with my reccomendations, too. My freinds are all urging each other to read faster.

  46. YAY! Good job Scott! Although in my opinion, anything by you should be NUMBER ONE!
    P.S. Abberdoodles, hurry up. BTW, note that I am LooLoo, not LolaStarr*

  47. Yay! Thats so awesome!

    I wanna go get the book sooooooo bad. The day it came out was supposed to be the day I got my license. But I didn’t get a chance to go…. So now I have this thing where I HAVE to drive myself to go buy it without the ‘rents. I’ll get it Saturday! I can’t wait!

    Once again, congrats! ๐Ÿ˜€

  48. Yes! Specials is out! Finally got a copy. It should be number one instead! Ward off the darklings! It’s the ‘thirteenth’ book! I miss Jess and the other midnighters! I hope you create another trilogy.

  54. YAY!!! that awsome, i bet you are more excited that we are!!! but we already knew that you wrote great books, now everyone else knows!! YAY FOR YOU!!! lets have a party

  56. Alright, Scott!
    NYT! You totally deserve this. Your ideas of the Uglies universe are damn cool (the characters are so alive some people thought I have imaginary friends..) I haven’t found Specials in KL yet. T_T I totally hogged the bookstore’s computer in search for it, I think I annoyed some people…
    Anyway, rawk on!!!

  58. Congratuations, you deserve it.

    Is the surprise that you’re going to be a father? A special delivery for you and Justine? Oh, the suspense!

  59. omyGOSH! Finally, a title of credibility for Scott Westerfeld! Lol, just kiddin, we all know your books are EXCELLENT.
    Sigh. I don’t visit the site for like, two days, and there’s exciting news and like, 60 comments to read.
    w00t!

  60. Why is it 14+ up? I thought Sarah Dessen’s book Just Listen would have gotten the 14+ as opposed to the 12+ that it got, due to the sex and whatnot. Hm.

  61. I’m so excited for you! i read specials recently and it was amazing, i’d been eagerly awaiting it for months. i really hope that the so yesterday movie will actually happen, and on that note when is the sequel supposed to come out? Soon, i hope! Thanks for writing books that make me question the world around me!
    Abby

  62. Maggie: Yeah, I thought 14+ was weird. Maybe the cutting?

    I also thought that “In a futuristic world” was a bit lame. It’s just in the future, after all. Is the future futuristic?

    Abby: The sequel to So Yesterday? There isn’t one planned. The Last Days, sequel to Peeps, comes out September 7.

  63. My wife is reading Peeps now and enjoying it, but she’s suspicious, because so many books of such good quality have arrived from you in such a short time. She worries that you have several very bright Korean kids chained up in the basement, and that you’re feeding them nothing but gruel. I assured her that this was impossible because it would be too difficult to get them through Australian customs.

  65. LOL!!!
    but congratulations!
    now you have to beat that with last days,
    we gotta make it come in first place!!
    lol

  67. Congrats! I was so excited to get Specials last tuesday. I drove to the bookstore as soon as I got home from school. Then I sat in my car and read the first chapter becuase I couldn’t stand having the book sitting there without being opened ๐Ÿ˜€ I was a bit dissapointed that it was a hardcover (It cost more then Pretties and Uglies and it doesn’t match them on my bookshelf) but I suppose there could be worse things. And it certianly hasn’t kept me (or my friends that are reading the book) from buying it.

    Anyway, the book as amazing. I beleive someone else said in a comment that they were thinking “How the hell is he going to end that” – and that was my thought exactly. But you did a wonderful job.

    [EDITED DUE TO SPOILAGE]

    Hopefully by next week Specials is #1. I couldn’t think of a book that deserves it more!

  68. wow, congrats on getting #6 book. It should be number one soon.
    I thought the trilogy was the best three books I have ever read and ever will. I’ve been counting down the days for it to come out since I found out the date. I begged my dad weeks before it came out to get it for me that day. I was so excited when I got home to find it there. I started reading and just couldnt put it down.

    Specials was the best of the three. I couldnt stop myself from looking at the last line of each chapter. and when I had the temptation to look at the last sentence of the book I just got angry with myself.

    Anyways, it was the best book Ive ever read, and Im sad that that was the last one. you are simply wonderful

  69. This is a guess about the Big News.

    It has something to do with your work, probably, because you said somewhere that you had to consult your agent before you could release it. Probably not anything personal that doesn’t relate to writing. So it’s probably not a baby. Cuz on Scott’s little facts thingy, he says that he has no plans for kids. But it’s still possible.

    It could concivably (sorry ’bout the bad spelling) be a huge media thingy, but probably not, because there was a big media thingy not so long ago.

    Possibly the release date for The Last Days? Although that’s not really that big. I’m exited and everything, but wouldn’t you want people to go around having your devoted fans anouncing the release date to the entire world? Get the word out there as soon as possible? More time to accumulate exitement?

    What about the dramatization of So Yesterday or The Midnighters? I don’t understand why they’d want to keep that quiet, but maybe they don’t want a bunch of people auditioning for roles, if that makes any sense.

  70. I think (I hope :D) the announcement will be for an upcoming book. Since we already know bits about the other stuff, and it seems early to find out for sure about the movie, I’m thinking that a new book would be the most plausible. Last Days is out on Sep. 7 (presumably, although I will make no mistakes this time–I’m pre-ordering) and agents usually do stuff that’s book-related (right?) so logically, it MUST be a new book. ๐Ÿ˜‰ ๐Ÿ˜€ Me hopes.

  71. kudos, mr. new york times bestselling author!! ๐Ÿ˜€ specials is wonderful, and deserves to be recognized. yay yay yay!

    i know this isn’t news to you, but you have a very talented wife. i read magic or madness today, and it is fantastic. *highly* recommended to anyone who hasn’t read it yet. i’m gonna get me a copy of magic lessons asap!!

  72. Congratulations on making the list!
    Im a first time poster and was moved to post by reading a new york times magazine article found about the black spot shoe found here — eerily similar to that lovely so yesterday device.

    Now i haven’t checked the archives so I hope I am not rehashing old stuff, regardless, as a librarian in training i’ve been book pushing your wares, keep up the great material! ๐Ÿ™‚

  73. รขโ‚ฌล“I believe the word is . . . w00t.รขโ‚ฌย ๐Ÿ™‚

    Congrats on making the list! *sits and waits for the big news*

  75. various: Heh, heh. Keep guessing on the big news.

    Brazos: Yeah, those black spots came out right after I turned in So Yesterday, and I was annoyed at first. Now I’m more, like, proud of myself for being a good sf writer and seeing ten minutes into the future.

  76. i am so glad that your book is finally being recognized thoughout the world..it probley already was known to the world but not to my small southern school!!! I have never beens so ecited about New York Times since they gave a great review to the movie Homeword Bound!!! It still gets me everytime Shadow falls down into the pit thing and gives up but goes back to see peter!!!!! YAHHHH…..JK but still major brownie points to you scott!!!

  77. the list says ages 14+, but ur book says ages 12+

    noooooooooo! now kids will b sad when their parents r strict and wont buy the books 4 their kids =(

  78. i get all sad when shadow falls in the pit 2! he’s all muddy and he gives up… poor shadow! but in the end we all know he comes home 2 c peter!

    YAY SHADOW

  79. Ack. I am waaaaay behind the times because I was out of town for awhile, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to send massive, heaping quantities of congratulations your way. Not that this makes you any awesome-er than I already knew you were, but it’s nice to have NY Times validation.

  81. CONGRATS X INFINITY … or maybe more cuz you really deserve it!
    I love your books, keep up the fantastic work!

    Hannah ๐Ÿ˜‰

  82. I think you are an awesome author! I just bought your book Uglies and I just started reading the first couple of pages and it’s good. I am going to read all of your books. You are my 3rd fan. I’ll have to start buying all of your books.
    -PEACE ^-^

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