Star Wars: Episode III Leads 2005 eBook Bestseller List

eBook Industry Reports Diversity of Readership as Dan Brown, Bibles, Reference, Romance and Popular Fiction Share Spotlight on Annual Sales List

New York, NY (January 4, 2006) – The International Digital Publishing Forum (www.idpf.org) released its annual industry list of top selling eBooks today.  The list reflects the great diversity of eBook titles reaching the reading public.  Dan Brown dominated the list with The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons and Digital Fortress in the top 5.  The honors for bestselling eBook of 2005, however, went to George Lucas’ screenplay for Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.  Michael Crichton’s State of Fear rounded out the top 5 best selling digital books. 

In addition to popular fiction blockbusters from major publishers are a variety of titles particular to the electronic book marketplace.  Interesting additions to the list include a dictionary and thesaurus, the Holy Bible, romance, and titles from independent publishers like Rosetta Books and Fictionwise.com.

“Never have we seen such diversity in our annual eBook bestseller list.  Bestselling romance titles, independently published eBooks and reference combined with the electronic versions of the major print hits of ’05 show that eBooks are coming into the mainstream of the reading public,” said Nick Bogaty, Executive Director of the International Digital Publishing Forum.

The top 30 best selling eBooks of 2005 were:

1. Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith by George Lucas (Del Rey, $7.99)

2. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday, $14.95)

3. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Pocket Books, $6.99)

4. State of Fear by Michael Crichton (HarperCollins, $7.99)

5. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (St. Martin's Press, $5.99)

6. Embers Falling on Dry Grass by Robert Jordan (Simon & Schuster, Inc., $3.50)

7. Deception Point by Dan Brown (Pocket Books, $6.99)

8. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (Merriam-Webster, $25.95)

9. Holy Bible, New International Version (Zondervan, $14.99)

10. The Narrows by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, $5.95)

11. The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason (Dell Publisher, $6.99)

12. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner (HarperCollins, $19.95)

13. Alien Infection by Darrell Bain (Double Dragon Publishing, $5.99)

14. Raising Atlantis by Thomas Greanias (Pocket Books, $6.99)

15. The Year Ahead 2005 by Susan Miller (Barnes & Noble Digital, $12.95)

16. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (RosettaBooks, $8.99)

17. Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear (Del Rey, $6.99)

18. Darwin's Children by Greg Bear (Del Rey, $6.99)

19. Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold (Fictionwise.com, $2.49)

20. The Closers by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, $17.95)

21. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus (Merriam-Webster, $17.95)

22. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (RosettaBooks, $8.99)

23. Office Slave by J. W. McKenna (Renaissance E Books, $4.99)

24. Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams (RosettaBooks, $8.99)

25. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams (RosettaBooks, $8.99)

26. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (Broadway Books, $9.95)

27. The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan, $15.99)

28. Fallen Angels by Terence West (Double Dragon, $5.99)

29. Punished by Kimberly Zant (New Concepts Publishing, $3.99)

30. Getting Things Done by David Allen (Penguin Putnam, $14.00)

About the International Digital Publishing Forum

The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), formerly the Open eBook Forum (OeBF), is the trade and standards association for the digital publishing industry and is supported by its members.  In addition to its annual bestseller list, the IDPF releases monthly bestseller lists on its website as well as quarterly industry sales reports for its members.