For a personal research project I'm doing I need have reasonable
estimates of the quantity of the following books have been sold
globally and, if possible, in
Australia since the books were first published and up until the most
recently available date for which the data can be obtained, hopefully
by March 2004. I appreciate that good publication data is virtually
impossible to obtain, so I would be happy with reasonably based rough
approximations, or rankings, which show indicative numbers like
approximately 150,000 or 20,000, or 1.5 million an so on. I would
really like to have the method(s) by which you obtained the estimates
set out, as well, as part of the answer. I have a few suggestions
about methods below.
A fair bit of work is involved in obtaining this data, so I am setting
the maximum price of $US200. In addition, I will pay all costs that
you would incur in accessing some data bases and purchasing parts of
the answers. In addition, I am willing to pay a reasonable "tip"
which, we could negotiate, in view of the effort that could be
involved in getting the information.
The books are:
The Sexual Life of Catherine M by Catherine Millet published by
Serpent's Tooth (UK, 2002) and Grove Press USA 2003, (originally
published in French in Paris in 2001);
The Bride Stripped Bare by Anon., (actually Nikki Gemmel) published by
Harper Collins 2002;
A Round Heeled Woman by Jane Juska published by Chatto and Winders USA 2002;
Sophie?s World by Jostein Gaarder published by Orion Books UK 1996,
originally published in Swedish in 1992);
Einstein's Heroes by Robyn Arianrhod (Queensland University Press 2004);
The Number Devil by Hans Magnus Enzenberger Published in 1997 by
Granta Books in the UK,(this has been published in German and
English);
Emma and Max: An Erotic Adventure by Lisa Meekison and Mathew Toms
published by Text Publishing Australia 2001.
Conversations in a Brothel by Jacquelynne Bailey published by Hodder
Australia 2002.
There are several approaches you could explore. One is examining the
publishers' websites. For example, Granta states that the Number Devil
has sold more than a million copies (but I'm not sure of the time frame).
There are four publications by Australian authors:
The Bride Stripped Bare by Anon., (actually Nikki Gemmel) published by
Harper Collins 2002;
Einstein's Heroes by Robyn Arianrhod (Queensland University Press 2004);
Emma and Max: An Erotic Adventure by Lisa Meekison and Mathew Toms
published by Text Publishing Australia 2001).
Conversations in a Brothel by Jacquelynne Bailey published by Hodder
Australia 2002.
I would like Australian publication data for these, if you can get it.
I understand that three of these have only been published in
Australia:
Einstein's Heroes by Robyn Arianrhod Queensland University Press 2004;
Emma and Max: An Erotic Adventure by Lisa Meekison and Mathew Toms
published by Text Publishing Australia 2001;
Conversations in a Brothel by Jacquelynne Bailey published by Hodder
Australia 2002.
For these, publication data for Australia alone would suffice, if
global data is too difficult to obtain.
You might consider contacting the author or the author's agent and see
if that approach could help. Another approach is outlined at
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=133616
Neilson bookscan complies accurate data of book sales that is
distributed to subscribers who are most likely publishers and book
shops. They also publish listings on their website. It might be
possible through friend of a friend or other means to access the sales
data. Their website is
http://www.nielsenbookscan.co.uk/
I noticed that in response to similiar questions in the past in google
answers, someone outlined a method based on the Amazon.com rankings of
2nd hand books. This method could be useful and would lead to useful
estimates.
The main thing is that if you take on this project, I am willing to
discuss with you the methods by which the data can be obtained and to
negotiate additional costs reasonably incurred in obtaining the data.
I recognise that it is a complex and time consuming project and I look
forward to your assistance in helping me come up with reasonable data.
Thank you for considering my question. I live in Canberra, Australia. |