'Hunger Games' passes 'Harry Potter' as bestselling Amazon series
鈥淕irl wonder beats boy wizard,鈥� crowed . 鈥淭ake that, Harry Potter,鈥� wrote the .
The reigning wizard of book sales has just been overthrown 鈥� again 鈥� by Suzanne Collins鈥檚 "Hunger Games" trilogy, which surpassed the "Harry Potter" books to become the best-selling series on Amazon.com, the company announced.
鈥淪ince debuting in 2008, Katniss Everdeen and the Hunger Games have taken the world by storm, much as Harry Potter did a decade before,鈥� Sara Nelson, the editorial director of books and Kindle at Amazon, said in a statement. 鈥淚nterestingly, this series is only three books versus Harry Potter鈥檚 seven, and to achieve this result in just four years is a great testament to both the popularity of the work and, we think, the growth in reading digitally during that time.鈥�
Earlier this month, staff writer Molly Driscoll broke the news for Monitor readers that 鈥�Fifty Shades of Grey鈥� by E L James surpassed Harry Potter to become the bestselling book in British history.
Though Amazon declined to produce specific sales figures for 鈥淗unger Games,鈥� Scholastic, the publisher for both books, told the has 150 million copies of the "Harry Potter" series and more than 50 million copies of the 鈥淗unger Games鈥� trilogy in print in the US. Amazon鈥檚 sales figures include both print and digital sales. (鈥淗unger Games鈥� has been a huge seller in e-book format; the "Harry Potter" series was unavailable for sale in digital format until March of this year.)
Collins鈥檚 trilogy is set in a postapocalyptic world in which children fight one another to the death and is wildly successful among teenage audiences, just as Harry Potter once was.
First 鈥淔ifty Shades鈥� and now 鈥淗unger Games.鈥� Why Harry Potter鈥檚 waning popularity? The answer, we think is shockingly simple: Harry Potter is a decade old now. Hard to believe, right? Though he鈥檚 flagging now, the longevity of his sales record is a testament to J.K. Rowling and her boy wizard.
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
