Bestselling Author James Patterson Breaks E-book Sales Record

(Press Release) NEW YORK - July 6, 2010 - Hachette Book Group announced today that #1 bestselling author James Patterson has broken yet another record—this time with tremendous ebook sales. To date, Patterson has sold 1,141,273 ebook units, making him the first novelist ever to surpass the 1,000,000 mark.

Patterson is once again at the helm of an important game-changing publishing trend. According to the International Digital Publishing Forum's aggregated data, ebook sales (across the board) have more than tripled over the past year and show no signs of leveling off in the near future, reinforcing what the New York Times Magazine's cover story on Patterson posited earlier this year: that he's a writer who has "transformed book publishing," and continues to do so.

David Young, CEO of Hachette Book Group, said, "This digital publishing milestone proves that James Patterson's creativity defies boundaries and embraces all formats. He is one of the authors most engaged in the evolution of the book, and his readers expect and appreciate the constant innovation he delivers."

And James Patterson said, "Things have really changed in the digital space. With more and more people reading on iPads, Kindles, and Nooks, taking time to create interesting, user-friendly, enhanced ebook editions is becoming more and more important. And if ebooks get people who might otherwise not be reading to pick up a book, then that makes me happy."

Since his first novel, "The Thomas Berryman Number," won the Edgar Award in 1977, James Patterson's books have sold more than 205 million copies worldwide. His Alex Cross series, including "Kiss the Girls" and "Along Came a Spider," is the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years. In total, his Maximum Ride, Daniel X, and Witch & Wizard series for younger readers have spent more than 200 weeks on national bestseller lists, and all three series are in Hollywood development. His lifelong passion for books and reading led James Patterson to launch the website ReadKiddoRead.com to give adults an easy way to locate the very best books for kids. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a leading trade publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the second-largest publisher in the world. HBG publishes under the divisions of Little, Brown and Company, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Grand Central Publishing, FaithWords, Center Street, Orbit, and Hachette Digital.