James Wolcott's Wild in the Seats makes its debut as the eighth best-selling non-fiction e-book single for the week of June 9, according to the Thin Reads analysis. Who knew there'd be a receptive audience for a work about a ballet performance in Paris from exactly 100 years ago? But the strength of the Wolcott name -- he's the cultural critic for Vanity Fair -- helped drive sales in its first week on the digital book shelf. Wolcott's latest e-book single transports readers to a May night in 1913 when a trio of avant-garde Russian artists including Nijinsky caused a near riot with their bold new work at the ballet. Wild in the Streets is Wolcott's second e-book single. His first, The Gore Supremacy, which was about writer Gore Vidal, was published a year ago.
Mayflower: The Voyage from Hell, remains the top-selling non-fiction Kindle Single for the second week in a row. Kevin Jackson's saga spotlights the Pilgrim's epic crossing of the Atlantic and what happened when they reached the dangerous shores of North America. It's been the #1 non-fiction e-book single for five of the last ten weeks. Thin Reads describes Jackson's you-are-there writing style as terrific, which may account for its long-standing success.
One surprising absence on the Kindle Single non-fiction top 10 best-sellers list is Anthony Swofford's e-book single about fallen U.S. sharpshooter Chris Kyle called Death of an American Sniper. Byliner released the Single May 13 a few weeks in advance Kyle's new long-form book American Gun. Kyle's first long-form book American Sniper currently ranks #10 on The New York Times's best-sellers list. Swofford's e-book single ranks #26. Let's see what happens next week.
New York Times reporter Barry Meier's e-book single A World of Hurt continues to look strong in its second week. It ranks #4 for the week of June 9, down from #3 in its debut week. It will be interesting to see if it has legs.
Of course, the best legs in the e-book single non-fiction business belong to Stephen King. Guns, his short essay on gun control, ranks #3 for the week, up from #4 the prior week. It's been a top 10 e-book single since January.
Non-fiction e-book singles about dating remain popular. Brian Donovan's Not a Match: My True Tales of Online Dating, is back on the list after a one-week absence and ranks #6. It replaces Drinking My Way Through 14 Dating Websites, which dropped (or perhaps stumbled) to #14 from #8 for the week of June 2. But these types of self-deprecating dating confessionals appear popular and readers should expect more in the future. What's next? Dating My Way Through 14 Drinking Websites?