Vintage Books

Official government documents may not have topped most holiday wish lists in the past, but several such reports found their ways under Christmas trees with increasing frequency the last several years. “The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward—A New Approach” hit bookshelves in early December 2006 and, like a couple of its recent predecessors, has earned overwhelming success. Already in its third printing at the time of this story, the book’s release was made all the more remarkable by the circumstances surrounding its publication: a 24-day turnaround time. Government reports have, on occasion, sounded blips on literary radar screens in the past—perhaps most

Fast Stats Used-book Sales Top $2.2 Billion Sales of used books in the United States topped $2.2 billion in 2004, representing more than 111 million copies sold and 8.4 percent of total consumer spending on books. Source: Book Industry Study Group E-book Unit Sales Flat E-book publishers reported a 23-percent increase in e-book revenues in 2005, over 2004. However, there was no change in the number of e-book units sold. The number of e-book titles published increased 20 percent over 2004, to 5,242. Publishers reported approximately 1.7 million e-book units sold and $11.9 million in revenues for 2005. The figures