BTS tops the charts… with a book

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

K-Pop icons BTS was released on Sunday – and from publishers to etailers and physical bookstores, everyone has been busy number-crunching ever since. “Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS sold 25,000 copies in the Indian subcontinent on the day it released – including 5,000 pre-orders,” said Rajdeep Mukherjee, managing director at Pan Macmillan India, which published the English translation in India in sync with a worldwide release in Korean and English.

Traditionally, in India, a book selling 10,000 copies in a week is considered a bestseller. Mukherjee says Pan Macmillan received reorders for 10,000 copies on the second day of release.

“I can't recollect any international non-fiction title which would have received the kind of response Beyond the Story has received from fans in India,” he added. At the time of announcement, the book was reported to have an initial run of 1 million copies worldwide, but ET could not independently verify this figure.

Several books have been written on the Grammy-nominated band’s story. However, Beyond the Story, written by Korean journalist Kang Myeong-seok, is co-authored by the seven members of the group, and is packed with behind-the-scenes stories and personal trivia.One of Top 3 Geographies With a global fandom of over 90 million, popularly referred to as ARMY, the band counts India among its biggest fan communities, comprising hundreds of thousands.

“BTS ARMY in India is among the largest, and the Indian subcontinent sales at this point are possibly next only to the US for the Macmillan edition,” Mukherjee said. “India ranked among the top three geographies for the launch date sale (of the book),” an Amazon spokesperson told ET, adding that Amazon USA recorded the maximum sales