The rankings of best-selling books for Sant Jordi move: in the list provided that day by the Cambra del Llibre, which counted the information collected during the day and the previous days by the bookstores of the Gremi de Llibreters de Catalunya and the information collected by LibriRed, a good part of the day's sales was missing, and especially the stands, up to 40%, according to industry sources. The Chamber of Llibre plans to offer a more precise balance this week. Several editors and authors consulted by this newspaper criticize the bad image given by proclaiming a winner of Sant Jordi and replacing it with another a few days later.
Indeed, according to the data to which La Vanguardia has had access, in Catalan the best-selling book during Sant Jordi week was Xavier Bosch's novel 32 de març (Univers), while the Sant Jordi award by Gemma Ruiz Palà , Our mothers (Proa), would move to the second position. From here, the indicators differ depending on whether the source is LibriRed or the GfK consultancy – with estimates that, according to some editors, are more reliable, because they cover more points of sale–. According to LibriRed, they would be followed by Prayer to Prosérpina (La Campana), by Albert Sánchez Piñol, and two international titles that were already in the provisional results, The Portrait of Marriage (The Other), by Maggie O'Farrell, and Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow (Periscope), by Gabrielle Zevin. In Spanish, the information did not reflect changes in the first place.
There are also changes in non-fiction, since if on Sant Jordi's day it was assumed that the best seller was the Great encyclopedia of Barça, by La Sotana (Blackie Books), now it is De la sabana a Mart (Rosa dels Vents) , by Xavier Sala and Martín, with the new delivery by Carles Porta, Crimes: capital sins (La Campana), maintaining second place.
Xavier Bosch reminded La Vanguardia yesterday that “no matter what the lists of books sold that day say, they are the same. When you are the best seller of Sant Jordi they do not give you a drink or a check for a million euros, although there is a certain satisfaction. I was the best seller other years and this my feeling is that it was the best that I had lived, ”he said. “What I have to do are good stories, because I don't write to compete, but in favor of the reader, and above all I have no desire to generate controversy, especially with Gemma Ruiz, who has all my admiration”.
Ruiz's editor, Josep Lluch, understands that the changes are due to the different moments in which the data is sent, which, after all, are estimates. “We celebrate being the best sellers, and if we now have to congratulate Xavier Bosch, we will do it, sportingly. The Sant Jordi award hadn't been so strong for years, ”he assured. Ruiz, for his part, referred to what he already said a week ago, when he recalled that the list barely represents 5% of the total number of books sold.
Catalan version, here
