PaidContent: WSJ and BookScan Reporting to Include Ebooks

The dirty little secret of ebooks -- including them on bestseller lists -- is being told. Until recently, hardcover publishers did not want the bestseller list all mixed up with ebooks, because often as not ebooks were outselling many paper books and being on the list gave them more attention than some paper publishers preferred. Laura Hazard Owen at PaidContent.org reports on ebook rankings which will be part of the Nielsen BookScan reporting in the WSJ.

With e-books now making up about 20 percent of sales for many big publishers, it’s essential for bestseller lists to include them in order to give an accurate picture of what is selling. The Wall Street Journal will start running e-book bestseller lists starting this weekend, following a move by the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) earlier this year and USA Today in 2009. But there is something unique about the WSJ‘s e-book lists: They are powered by Nielsen BookScan, which has not publicly tracked e-book sales until now.

In July she addressed the ebook / bestseller list issue here in a piece called Hitting Online Bestseller Lists is Key for Ebooks' Success.