J.K. Rowling's latest book, The Casual Vacancy is well on its way to becoming a bestseller.
Entertainment Weekly says the book may also become one of the year's best-selling novels, other than the Fifty Shades trilogy.
The article cited Nielsen BookScan, saying "Vacancy" sold 157,000 hardcover copies in its first week of publication, and Rowling's publisher Little, Brown announced that the novel has sold 375,000 copies across all formats. The book only went on sale on Thursday.
The book is expected to top the charts on USA Today's Best-Selling Books list.
Sarah Nelson, editorial director of books and Kindle for Amazon.com spoke with the Detroit Free Press and said the book was "kind of review-proof," adding that she's not surprised the book is doing so well because of the strong number of pre-orders the company received.
The book's buyer demographic seems to be women aged 30-50, according to the article.
The book hasn't received much publicity because Rowling wanted to keep its release low-key and have a "normal publication." She said the craze surrounding her Harry Potter novels "wasn't fun."
The Casual Vacancy is about families living in the fictional town of Pagford, including the impoverished Weedon family, centered around the out-of-control Krystal who cares for her younger brother while the drug-addicted family matriarch struggles with personal demons.
Critics have given the book mixed reviews.
The Free Press said USA TODAY gave it two stars out of four. The British Guardian reportedly said, "The worst you could say about it, really, is that it doesn't deserve the media frenzy surrounding it."
The article goes on to say "No Easy Day," Mark Owen's account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden will probably be the top-selling hardcover overall, pushing 254,000 copies in its first week and 52,000 this past week.
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