We were overjoyed
to be the first independent bookshop to launch an ebook store in
Australia earlier this year.
It's been quite a ride as our ebook offering, powered by the Booki.sh platform, has grown with more and more publishers (HarperCollins, Random House, Bloomsbury, Pan Macmillan all signed up in the second half of this year) and more ebooks every day.
Over the course of the year, a really positive trend seemed to develop - we were selling a lot of Australian ebooks by Australian writers. And as you'll see our top ten ebooks of 2011 are dominated by Australian titles - something that we couldn't be happier about.
So here they are. Our bestselling ebooks of 2011.
1.
Quarterly Essay 41: The Happy Life: The Search for Contentment
in the Modern World
David Malouf
David Malouf's essay from March this year was a huge hit. The print edition was reprinted and reprinted and eventually published as a book unto itself. The ebook, meanwhile, sold so consistently well from the day it was uploaded to the point that it topped our list of most-sold ebooks for 2011. Great to have an Australian author at the top of our first ever yearly list of bestselling ebooks.
2. Quarterly Essay 43: Bad News:
Murdoch's Australian and the Shaping of a
Nation
Robert Manne
If ever there was a year to get stuck into Rupert Murdoch 2011 was it. And Robert Manne did just that, tearing apart The Australian newspaper for its right-wing bias under the editorship of Chris Mitchell since 2002. An analytical essay on the behaviour of one media organisation that had incredibly broad appeal.
3. Quarterly Essay 40: Trivial Pursuit:
Leadership and the End of the Reform Era
George Megalogenis
Political journalist and commentator for The Australian George Megalogenis published his first Quarterly Essay more than a year ago, but he's such a popular figure and the argument of the essay - that the 2010 federal election heralded the end of the reform - was so topical that this well-written QE also sold a in big numbers.
4. You’ll Be Sorry When I’m
Dead
Marieke Hardy
Marieke Hardy's first memoir of essays was very popular indeed. Billed as being 'voyeuristic, painful, hilarious and heartfelt', the stories recounted in the book by Hardy were all of this and more. Witty, honest, dry and appalling, they made for great reading.
5. Sideshow: Dumbing Down
Democracy
Lindsay Tanner
The former finance minister's analysis of the modern day media in the context of Australian politics was not only popular amongst the punters, but was likewise highly influential among political journalists and politicians this year. It paved the way for many discussions about the role of the media in reporting politics and current affairs and was the most succesful book from a former finance minister in years.
6. The Bogan Delusion
David Nichols
Melbourne academic David Nichols's analysis of 'bogan' and the associated culture in Australia was a fascinating read. Readers were obviously enthralled by a social critique that looked at the phenomnon of the bogan and told us something about ourselves. And great to see an ebook from local publishers Affirm Press make the top ten.
7. Melbourne
Sophie Cunningham
Turning to non-fiction and writing the Melbourne edition of the Australian Cities book series, Sophie Cunningham had a hit on her hands. Sophie's Melbourne was unashamedly - and triumphantly - subjective, as she talked her way through a city she described as being of 'inside places and conversation'. And a good deal of Melburnians joined her as she toured her home town.
8. Bereft
Chris Womersley
Set during 1919, as the Spanish flu pandemic hit Australia, Melbourne author Chris Womersley's second novel had a big year, in part due to its being one of the three novels shortlisted for the Miles Franklin award. An enduring novel and our biggest selling fiction ebook of the year.
9. Before I Go To Sleep
S.J. Watson
One of the year's most popular thrillers was also one of our most popular ebooks. English writer S.J. Watson toured Australia on the back of the success of his debut novel and its intriguing premise - each night Christine Lucas goes to sleep and her mind erases the events of the day. Unputdownable and unebookturnoffable.
10. Indelible Ink
Fiona McGregor
Another strong Australian novel that was helped by a good literary prize showing. Fiona McGregor's novel won the Age Book of the Year Award in August, which produced a surge in sales. This book was, is and will be on a lot of people's to-read lists.
Visit our ebooks store at ebooks.readings.com.au and mark Boxing Day in your calendar, as we'll be holding a big ebook sale from December 26.