Fast Stats

76,000 The number of copies of “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down,” by Kaylene Johnson—the only biography of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin—regional publisher Epicenter Press printed in a few days, due to an overwhelming, nationwide demand in the week following the announcement of her Republican vice-presidential nomination. That same week, Zondervan announced that it would release a biography of Palin in October entitled “Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader.”
Source: Book Business Extra, Sept. 12, 2008

10,000 Number of copies Barnes & Noble (B&N) originally ordered of Robert Kuttner’s “Obama’s Challenge: America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency.” The retailer cut its order after learning that the book’s publisher, Chelsea Green, had agreed to first make copies available exclusively through Amazon.com for two weeks. B&N said it now will sell the book through its Web site, but not in its stores.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 19, 2008

153% Percentage growth in users worldwide that Facebook experienced from June 2007 to June 2008, surpassing MySpace as the top global social-networking site.
Source: ComScore

Percentage increase in trade e-book sales in June 2008, which totaled $4.9 million, compared to June 2007. Calendar year-to-date revenue was up 43.3 percent.
Source: Association of American Publishers/International Digital Publishing Forum