NEW ON THE LIST AND IN PUBLISHING
Rowling rollin’: J.K. Rowling ’s magic touch has come up a tad short on USA TODAY’s BestSelling Books list. The author’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay lands at No. 3. The Fantastic Beasts movie, a Harry Potter spinoff, raked in $75 million its opening weekend. Rowling ’s screenplay about magizoologist Newt Scamander, her first, went on sale Nov. 18, the same day the movie was released, so USA TODAY’s list tracks three days of sales (FridaySunday). Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the play script, landed at No. 1 on Aug. 4 and spent six straight weeks in the top spot. It hit No. 1 with just one day’s worth of sales tabulated.
On the trail:
In the wake of the presidential election, two new politically themed books have emerged as winners. Readers cast their votes for Settle for More by Megyn Kelly of Fox News and
Our Revolution by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Kelly’s memoir lands at No. 5, while Sanders comes in at No. 12. Both authors have made major media and bookstore appearances. Kelly became part of the news cycle during what she calls her “Year of Trump.” Sanders, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton, obviously still has lots of fans who are feeling the Bern and buying his book, in which he recounts his months on the campaign trail and lays out his vision for a “political revolution.”