It looks like Jenna Jameson has a top 10 hit on her hands. “How to Make Love Like a Porn Star,” the star's ballyhooed memoir with Neil Strauss and the highest profile book in a wave of summer tomes related to sex, made its New York Times Bestsellers List debut, landing at #27 on the Hardcover Non-Fiction list for August 29.
But because the book went on sale August 17, the 27th place ranking reflects a single day of sales. Unofficial sources indicate Jameson’s ranking on next week’s yet-to-be-announced list will be as high as #9. The book has also cracked the top 10 in overall sales at Amazon.com, and the top 20 overall at Barnes and Noble’s on-line site.
“We’re ecstatic,” Paul Crichton, publicity manager at publisher ReganBooks, told AVN.com. “If you base it off a comparison took books of this type, Traci Lords never hits the bestseller list. Pamela Anderson hit #15.”
Even at #27, Jameson’s tome landed ahead of projects by writers like gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson and television commentator Cokie Roberts. Because of the conservative nature of some booksellers in a literary marketplace that depends greatly on store placement and hands-on promotion, Jameson’s initial listings seem specifically impressive. According to the publisher, bookstores have reacted extremely well to the book. “We’ve had no problems, none, for the most part,” Crichton says.
The New York Times list is not only a measure of sales achieved. Its high-profile nature usually leads to more attention by booksellers and distributors. The list is also a cultural touchstone akin to putting a song in the Billboard Top 40, and thus should enhance Jameson’s already considerable celebrity.
