Jacket Copy: Twain book’s popularity surprises its own publisher

The 736-page “Autobiography of Mark Twain,” published a full 100 years after its author’s death, was a surprise bestseller when it came out earlier this month.

That’s terrific news for the University of California Press, the book’s publisher, which says “Autobiography of Mark Twain” is the biggest seller it’s ever had.

Original plans called for a printing of 7,500, which was increased to 50,000 by the time the book actually went to press. It’s since gone back again and again, bringing the total number of printed copies to 275,000. But still, it is hard to find. As the New York Times reported Friday, the book is selling so fast that it’s selling out.

On Tuesday night, major L.A. independent bookstores Skylight and Book Soup were sold out of Twain’s memoir. Vroman’s in Pasadena had a few left in stock but warned that the books wouldn’t last. “We’ve sold out twice already,” said Vroman’s bookseller John Oschrin. “It’s incredible.”

The book’s surprise popularity points to an awkward characteristic of the publishing industry: The printing and shipping take time. A weighty tome like Twain’s will sag the shoulders of delivery people at every juncture as new copies slowly make their way from distribution centers to bookstores.

And yet the book is hot right now. And people who want Twain’s autobiography digitically can get it lickety-split if they’ve got a Kindle or use the Kindle app on another device. All it takes is the time to download.

Immediate access is one advantage, but not the only one. The Kindle edition of the book is selling for $9.79, while the hardcover retails for $34.95. The Kindle edition will add no weight to a Kindle; the hardcover weighs 4 pounds, about the same as an average Chihuahua.

The Kindle version is certainly popular. It’s resting comfortably among contemporary bestsellers in Amazon’s Kindle store, a few spots ahead of Nora Roberts and Fanny Flagg, lagging behind George W. Bush and an electronic version of Sudoku. It’s at No. 25 in the Sony Reader e-book store but is not available as an e-book in Apple’s iBook store.

On Amazon, the hardcover “Autobiography of Mark Twain” is at No. 2 in its bestsellers overall, while it’s only at No. 12 in the Kindle store. What’s more, in the Kindle store the book is falling, rather than rising.

So if it’s hard to get a hardcover and easy to get the e-book, why isn’t it topping the e-book charts? Could it be that when it comes to a tome, its massive bookishness is part of its appeal?

Twain’s autobiography — which has, incidentally, two later installments still to come — is now in its third week on the L.A. Times bestseller list.

carolyn.kellogg@latimes.com