This is a corpus of best selling books by Black authors from 2004 through September, 2021. The database includes backlist titles published earlier, but the sales data is from 2004 to September 2021. This was created as a part of an assignment to create a LibGuide for the Pratt Library and Information Studies program.
We defined "best selling" - which is a subjective term in publishing - as books that have sold over fifty-thousand (50,000) copies. We compiled book titles from a combination of best-sellers lists (e.g., The New York Times), publically available lists of books by Black authors from a variety of literary organizations, and by searching the sales of well-known Black authors on NPD Bookscan.
We're sure that we missed some best-selling books by Black authors but to our knowledge this is the first collection of high selling books by Black authors based on actual sales. We hope this will be used as a resource by writers, publishers, marketers, librarians, and anyone interested in the history and legacy of successful Black writers in book publishing.
Note: RTD means 'Retail Sales To Date', and YTD means 'Yearly Sales To Date.' Each column can be sorted by ascending or descending order, or by category, including gender (female or male), type of book (fiction, non-fiction, or poetry), publisher, author, format, imprint, etc.
Type
- Fiction 14
- Non-fiction 4
Publisher
- Random House 18
Imprint
- Vintage · 18 ✖
Gender
- Female · 18 ✖
Format
- Trade Paperback · 18 ✖
ISBN ▼ | Title | Type | Author | Gender | Publisher | Format | Publication Date | Imprint | RTD Sales | YTD Sales |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
9780307276766 | A Mercy | Fiction | Toni Morrison | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2009-08-11 | Vintage | 143896 | 3800 |
9780307278449 | The Bluest Eye | Fiction | Toni Morrison | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2007-05-08 | Vintage | 590732 | 48381 |
9780307740922 | God Help the Child | Fiction | Toni Morrison | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2016-01-26 | Vintage | 64699 | 2523 |
9780375703867 | White Teeth | Fiction | Zadie Smith | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2001-06-12 | Vintage | 283664 | 7540 |
9780394713519 | Women, Race, & Class | Non-fiction | Angela Y. Davis | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 1983-02-12 | Vintage | 92188 | 23674 |
9780525563488 | Wow, No Thank You.: Essays | Non-fiction | Samantha Irby | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2020-03-31 | Vintage | 80954 | 13830 |
9780679755333 | A Raisin In the Sun | Fiction | Lorraine Hansberry | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2004-11-29 | Vintage | 1167242 | 84790 |
9780679763888 | The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic Story of America's Great Migration | Non-fiction | Isabel Wilkerson | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2011-10-04 | Vintage | 538525 | 71718 |
9780679766759 | Push | Fiction | Sapphire | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 1997-04-29 | Vintage | 514403 | 1322 |
9780679767084 | No Disrespect | Fiction | Sister Souljah | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 1996-01-30 | Vintage | 80348 | 3704 |
9781101912195 | We Are Never Meeting In Real Life.: Essays | Non-fiction | Samantha Irby | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2017-05-30 | Vintage | 94207 | 5145 |
9781101971062 | Homegoing | Fiction | Yaa Gyasi | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2017-05-02 | Vintage | 451077 | 69901 |
9781400033416 | Beloved | Fiction | Toni Morrison | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2004-06-08 | Vintage | 809960 | 48619 |
9781400033423 | Song of Solomon | Fiction | Toni Morrison | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2004-06-08 | Vintage | 338710 | 22588 |
9781400033430 | Sula | Fiction | Toni Morrison | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2004-06-08 | Vintage | 229353 | 18390 |
9781400034291 | The Dew Breaker | Fiction | Edwidge Danticat | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2005-03-08 | Vintage | 85100 | 1612 |
9781400076215 | Jazz | Fiction | Toni Morrison | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2004-06-08 | Vintage | 67592 | 5152 |
9781400078479 | Love | Fiction | Toni Morrison | Female | Random House | Trade Paperback | 2005-01-04 | Vintage | 84149 | 1326 |