With thanks to Colin Steele – Canberra’s wonderful Meet The Author convenor, who is also one of my major sources of literary news – I have another list for you, this one of the top selling books in this year’s Black Friday sales. Black Friday is a post-Thanksgiving Day sales event with a long and complicated history in the USA, which Wikipedia explains in detail if you are interested. Australia has no Thanksgiving Day so, how do these things happen? (That’s a rhetorical question, folks). And how does Black FRIDAY become Black WEEK or so? (Another rhetorical question.)
Wikipedia also explains that it came to Australia in the 2010s, with Apple Inc being an early promoter of Black Friday deals. However it happened, and whenever it happened, today, if you enter “book sales black friday Australia” into your search engine you will get myriad results from the big well-known online places like fishpond, booktopia and amazon, through the shopfront/online booksellers like QBD, Dymocks and Big W, to publishers like Penguin Books Australia and specialist organisations like the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Everyone, it seems, had Black Friday book sales.
There are many ways we can think about this – in terms of capitalism and the encroachment of American culture, for example – but when it comes to books, there is a silver lining if it results in more people buying books they otherwise may not have. I’ll leave that for you to think about (and maybe discuss in the comments). Meanwhile, whatever we might think, it has presented another interesting way (for those of us who love statistics) to see what people are buying – presumably not only for themselves but for Christmas gifts.
Colin obtained this list from (the pay-walled) Books+Publishing, on Friday, 6 December 2024. They reported that according to Nielsen BookData, 2024 Black Friday–week sales ‘saw volume sales in the Australian book market 40% higher than the average weekly sales in the four weeks prior’, with sales volume in the week of Black Friday up 4% compared to the week of the retail promotion in 2023.
Australia’s bestsellers during Black Friday week, ranked by copies sold from 24 to 30 November 2024, were:
Top five overall bestsellers
- Nagi Maehashi, RecipeTin Eats: Tonight (Macmillan): Australian
- Guinness world records 2025 (Guinness World Records)
- Lee Child & Andrew Child, In too deep (Bantam)
- John Farnham & Poppy Stockell, The Voice inside (Hachette): Australian
- Liane Moriarty, Here one moment (Macmillan): Australian
Top five adult fiction
- Lee Child & Andrew Child, In too deep (Bantam)
- Liane Moriarty, Here one moment (Macmillan): Australian
- Carissa Broadbent, The songbird and the heart of stone (Tor Bramble)
- Richard Osman, We solve murders (Viking)
- Sally Rooney, Intermezzo (Faber)
Top five adult nonfiction
- Nagi Maehashi, RecipeTin Eats: Tonight (Macmillan): Australian
- Guinness world records 2025 (Guinness World Records)
- John Farnham & Poppy Stockell, The Voice inside (Hachette): Australian
- Nagi Maehashi, RecipeTin Eats: Dinner (Macmillan): Australian
- Helen Garner, The season (Text): Australian
While I’m sure Australia’s booksellers were pleased with the sales, and will hope that these sales continue through the holiday season, and while it’s good to see a strong showing of Australian writers in the non-fiction list, it is disappointing to see Australian writers all but absent from the fiction list. The crime novels in the list aren’t Australian, nor the fantasy. Even the one literary fiction work is not Australian. Why is that? Why do more people want to read Sally Rooney than the recent works of Charlotte Wood, or Melissa Lucashenko, or Robbie Arnott, or any of our many other wonderful writers of literary fiction?
Any thoughts?
Whispering Gums 
Richard Osman’s writings are sensational: crime-lovers everywhere are enjoying them. I too enjoyed them, the moment they came out on audio. But to be honest, We Solve Murders simply isn’t up to Osman scratch (the Thursday Murder Club books): I still don’t grasp how the baddie was actually outed.
In my cooking days I followed Nagi and Dozer semi-religiously (which is a shitload more religious than anything else I used to do): her recipes are absolutely terrific – not complex and dedicated to flavour and presentation. I’m tickled that she’s hit the front. 🙂
There you go, ST: less off-topic than usual, eh ?
Haha … thanks MR. Yes, I love Nagi too. Discovered her via Instagram during COVID. Her recipes – and her instructions and notes – are so good.
I don’t seek crime as you know but I have heard of the huge success of Osmsn’s books. I had no idea though that this one wasn’t in that series.
This comment has me cackling. 🤣
MR is great isn’t she Melanie!
She’s a hoot, lol
I love that she sticks with me…
Untypically for me I had three new releases on order in the second half of this year – Nalo Hopkinson (on Audible), Haruki Murakami and Sally Rooney.
The last Australian I ordered pre-release was Praiseworthy (which I’m pleased to see is still prominent on the New Release shelves), and the next will probably be Kim Scott (I’m sure it’s seven years since his last).
The current crop of Australian writers just don’t grab me, though I would like to see something new from Elizabeth Tan, Justine Ettler or Jamie Marina Lau. Others? Omar Sakr’s Son of Sin was good; I keep an eye on Eugen Bacon, but her latest was short stories. Anyway, no bestsellers there!
Thanks for all this Bill though I don’t quite understand why you don’t like Charlotte Wood or Melissa Lucashenko but like, say, Sally Rooney. I know they are all very different but so is Alexis Wright from Sally Rooney I would have thought.
I am not convinced that what we see from the Top 5 publishers is a reflection of what the Australian reading public would demand if there was more availability of, and promotion on, the Australian works. Since they are multinational (except Allen & Unwin), the Australian arms are required to take on the works of their more powerful US and UK counterparts (particularly if they would like to be able to get some Australian works listed internationally). And since publishers can only support a finite number of titles per month, these overseas titles sap those resources at the expense of local writers – who in turn, find it increasingly difficult to get a traditional publishing deal with any of those Top 5. Consequently, a heck of a lot of good writing; Australian stories for an Australian market, either never sees the light of day, or falls to the self-publishing market. At least that last is gaining respect, as it is now seen more as an alternative and reaction to this tightening, and less as a vanity project.
In defense of those Top 5, they are also struggling for existence, and mergers are happening all over the world. Usually, they need to see at least 7,000 paperback sales to offer a contract. In Australia that is hard to achieve even for mid-range authors, let alone a debut writer. So, a “name”, a “US Best Seller”, a “Celebrity” appeals as a safe bet. Sales of which underwrite a publisher’s fixed costs.
Does that sound a reasonable theory?
Thanks for all this Gwendoline … you are right of course about the publishers. These are not the ones we see regularly popping up in Aus award lists because as you say they don’t do much in the way of publishing Australian stories. Cookbooks and memoirs – nonfiction – are the exception aren’t they!
And I do like your reasonable defence of the top 5.
There is a lot of info here. Black Friday sales drive me nuts because my emails received have doubled with ads. Like the news about the books. I also learned today that the Kindle Scribe has now updated and one can now write and draw right on the pages of the book. A little box pops up as you write and the text makes room for it. You can circle, underline and make notes. They are soon to add margin space evidently to write more. I opened my kindle and sure enough it all works. Wonderful!
Oh that’s what I want on the Kindle … I might look at the Scribe for my birthday.
Google Kindle Scribe to see how it works. I am loving it.
I will … I’ve had a big discussion recently – was it with Jinjer? I’m still not sure if it’s worth it given I use the app on the iPad but I’m thinking about it.
I suspect most of these sales occurred via online sites like Amazon or department stores like Kmart where all of these books are heavily discounted (and where they can happily(?) wear a loss on smaller items like books to get you to spend money on their bigger ticket items).
I don’t know of any small independent bookshops that participated in the Black Friday madness….but don’t get me started on this ridiculous US tradition that has leaked onto our shores via overseas companies that pay no or very little tax in Australia.
You are probably right Brona… about the sales as the online advertising was relentless wasn’t it. I must say I bought a few Christmas gifts – things I’m not sure I know where to get elsewhere – but my books I get from my favourite local independents. I don’t actually have a non- independent near me.
Can you guys still have Kmart???
What do you mean “can” Melanie? But yes we do. And Target, but we don’t have a Walmart. That said we have BigW which I’d say was similar to Kmart and Target.
“Can” was actually a typo, and I hit send before I caught it. I was asking if you guys still have Kmarts. They’re largely shut down in the US. My grandma used to work at one as a young woman. I believe in the little cafe?
I wondered … but needed to make sure. I read that there’s one small store still operating in the USA plus some in your territories but that Walmart saw their overall demise.
Very depressing in terms of literature. I wonder if people bought the Helen Garner just because it was footy ? (so far I’ve just heard a reading of it, not saying it isn’t good).
Yes Moira I’m thinking it will probably attract the Garner lovers but also the football lovers.
I am a keen reader of crime fiction, and there have been some very good novels by Australians in the past couple of years. But this won’t be reflected in chain store discounting and Amazon sales. And I must get myself a copy of the latest Helen Garner.
It’s interesting though, isn’t it Jennifer, that nonfiction works differently. Somehow, nonfiction by our own counts more often, than fiction by our own. I understand why that is in one sense but it’s disappointing in another.
I agree. It’s a double standard of sorts: people are happy to embrace ‘our’ non-fiction but still look to the UK or the USA for fiction. Cultural cringe, still?
So, you guys have been infected by Black Friday, but have you also taken on giving Saturday? And Cyber Monday? It goes on and on. I’m sorry to see that most of these books are not from Australian writers; however, maybe it will make you feel more positive if I remind you that for some reason my local public library always has all the newest Australian books on the shelves. That’s how I read Charlotte Wood and Melissa Lukashenko. Granted, I did not enjoy the Charlotte wood book, but I did like the Lukashenko.
We have Cyber Monday but I’m not so aware of Giving Saturday. Hmmm …
Yes, that helps Melanie! I’m sorry you didn’t like the Wood. I adored that book. But I’m glad you liked Lucashenko.
Wait, maybe it’s Giving Tuesday? I forget. I know I get a lot of emails from small, local businesses now when I did not in the past.
Okay, related but not, I recommend Nana Kwame Adjei Brenyah’s short story “Black Friday” in his collection of the same name if anyone doesn’t want to shop or think about booksellers’ statistics for Black Friday. You can hear him reading it in a couple of different formats on YT for those who are keen on short stories and like them sharp and smart but can’t find his books readily (although I suspect he’s an international phenom by now).
I like your lateral thinking Marcie … I will look on YT for that.