A full one-third of books sold worldwide are sold in the US. Of the 1.2 million books sold in the US in 2004, Nielsen Bookscan found:
- 950,000 sold fewer than 99 copies.
- Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies.
- Only 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies.
- Fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000 copies.
- Only 10 books sold more than a million copies each.
Or, of the around 120,000 titles that are published each year, only about 500 books (.4%) sell more than 100,000 copies.
Not only are most of the books sold limited to a few titles, the book sales are also limited by publishing houses. Andre Schiffrin, former head of Pantheon Books, in “The Business of Books” states that in 1999, the top 20 publishers accounted for 93% of sales. Later in the book, he states that 80% of book sales originate from five media conglomerates.