In spite of recession, Finnish bookstore sales in 2009 down by only 2.5%
American Stephenie Meyer was best-selling author in Finland last year
Stephenie Meyer
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In 2009, a total of 216,000 copies of vampire books written by the 35-year-old American writer Stephenie Meyer were sold in Finland.
This was an all-time record, while not even J.K. Rowling - the creator of Harry Potter - has ever reached such sales figures.
The closest Rowling ever got was in 2001 when the sales of her three books amounted to slightly less than 200,000 copies.
Among Meyer’s four books, Breaking Dawn, published in Finnish last year, was the biggest seller, with nearly 68,000 copies shipped.
However, this is far from Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the sales of which exceeded 170,000 copies at Finnish bookstores in 2004.
Meyer’s books have never before been among the 20 best-selling books in Finland.
Following the success of Twilight (2005, and subsequently made into a hit movie), Meyer expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008).
The second best-selling author in Finland in 2009 was Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. A total of more than 200,000 copies of his three detective stories were sold in paperback and hardcover versions.
Finnish illustrator and children’s author Mauri Kunnas took third place largely on the strength of his new book Robin Hood, which was the best-selling volume in Finland in 2009.
A total of slightly under 150,000 copies of Kunnas’s books were sold, while the figure for Robin Hood alone was 89,000.
The surprise of the year 2009 in book sales was that regardless of the economic decline, bookstore sales were down only by 2.5 per cent.
However, not all sectors in the book industry managed as well as bookstores.
The total sales of publishing houses went down by 7.4 per cent, if sales to other than bookstores are included. The sales of non-fiction books were even lower than in the previous year.
At the same time, the popularity of fiction improved. In fact, sales of fiction were up by 5 per cent compared with 2008.
When it comes to individual books rather than authors, the second best-selling volume after Robin Hood was Pihkovan kellot (”Bells of Pihkova”), by novelist Laila Hirvisaari (formerly known as Laila Hietamies).
Isku ytimeen (”Strike to the Core”) written by Finnish thriller novelist Ilkka Remes was the third on the list of best-selling novels.
Hirvisaari’s novel sold a total of 82,400, while that of Remes sold 72,900 copies.
In fact, the popularity of Remes has been declining since 2006. The highest number of copies sold of an individual Remes book is 150,000.
One very brisk seller was Dan Brown, whose Lost Symbol, published in December, sold as many as 67,900 copies in just two weeks. Apparently a lot of people got it wrapped up for Christmas.
Puhdistus (Purge), written by Finnish authoressSofi Oksanen and published in 2008, continued to be a best-seller even last year. A total of 102,200 copies of Puhdistus were sold in 2008, while the figure for last year was a healthy 38,300.
Among non-fiction works, one of the greatest surprises last year was the biography of former Kone Chairman Pekka Herlin, written by John Simon. Koneen ruhtinas – Pekka Herlinin elämä (“Prince of Kone, the Life of Pekka Herlin”) sold 42,100 copies, which makes it one of the most popular Finnish biographies in history.
Kone is a Finnish elevator manufacturer, owned by the Herlin family.
This was an all-time record, while not even J.K. Rowling - the creator of Harry Potter - has ever reached such sales figures.
The closest Rowling ever got was in 2001 when the sales of her three books amounted to slightly less than 200,000 copies.
Among Meyer’s four books, Breaking Dawn, published in Finnish last year, was the biggest seller, with nearly 68,000 copies shipped.
However, this is far from Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the sales of which exceeded 170,000 copies at Finnish bookstores in 2004.
Meyer’s books have never before been among the 20 best-selling books in Finland.
Following the success of Twilight (2005, and subsequently made into a hit movie), Meyer expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008).
The second best-selling author in Finland in 2009 was Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. A total of more than 200,000 copies of his three detective stories were sold in paperback and hardcover versions.
Finnish illustrator and children’s author Mauri Kunnas took third place largely on the strength of his new book Robin Hood, which was the best-selling volume in Finland in 2009.
A total of slightly under 150,000 copies of Kunnas’s books were sold, while the figure for Robin Hood alone was 89,000.
The surprise of the year 2009 in book sales was that regardless of the economic decline, bookstore sales were down only by 2.5 per cent.
However, not all sectors in the book industry managed as well as bookstores.
The total sales of publishing houses went down by 7.4 per cent, if sales to other than bookstores are included. The sales of non-fiction books were even lower than in the previous year.
At the same time, the popularity of fiction improved. In fact, sales of fiction were up by 5 per cent compared with 2008.
When it comes to individual books rather than authors, the second best-selling volume after Robin Hood was Pihkovan kellot (”Bells of Pihkova”), by novelist Laila Hirvisaari (formerly known as Laila Hietamies).
Isku ytimeen (”Strike to the Core”) written by Finnish thriller novelist Ilkka Remes was the third on the list of best-selling novels.
Hirvisaari’s novel sold a total of 82,400, while that of Remes sold 72,900 copies.
In fact, the popularity of Remes has been declining since 2006. The highest number of copies sold of an individual Remes book is 150,000.
One very brisk seller was Dan Brown, whose Lost Symbol, published in December, sold as many as 67,900 copies in just two weeks. Apparently a lot of people got it wrapped up for Christmas.
Puhdistus (Purge), written by Finnish authoressSofi Oksanen and published in 2008, continued to be a best-seller even last year. A total of 102,200 copies of Puhdistus were sold in 2008, while the figure for last year was a healthy 38,300.
Among non-fiction works, one of the greatest surprises last year was the biography of former Kone Chairman Pekka Herlin, written by John Simon. Koneen ruhtinas – Pekka Herlinin elämä (“Prince of Kone, the Life of Pekka Herlin”) sold 42,100 copies, which makes it one of the most popular Finnish biographies in history.
Kone is a Finnish elevator manufacturer, owned by the Herlin family.
Helsingin Sanomat