Despite the reports that reality TV star Kim Kardashian's recently unveiled book of selfies, "Selfish," has failed to impress her fans, it seems that the book is actually not a flop and is steadily gaining popularity, especially overseas.
Earlier reports stated that only 32,000 copies of the hotly anticipated book managed to get sold. The number was being considered microscopic as compared to Kardashian's 34.1 million followers on Twitter and 41.5 million on Instagram.
The book was also reported to be facing extreme criticism by customers who have given the book just 2.5 stars. "A poor tree died for this," Radar Online quoted a customer who gave scathing reviews on the book.
However, contradicting the figure presented by Nielsen Bookscan, Rizzoli's executive director of publicity, Pam Sommers, has claimed that the 352-page book is in its fourth cycle of printing and the total worldwide trade sales has exceeded 125,000 copies. Sommers further added that the Bookscan's number does not include retail and overseas sales.
The book is considered quite a success in Australia where its demand is three times stronger than in the United States. With an approximated sale of 7,200 copies in the country to date, the 34-year-old's compilation of her selfies even featured on local bestseller lists with sales comparable to classics like George Orwell's "1984."
"We sold out of our initial print run in Australia almost immediately, driven by her profile, the book publicity both here and abroad and her amazing social media presence," the spokeswoman of the book's Australian publishers, Hardie Grant, told Sydney Morning Herald.
The book is available at $12 at Barnes & Noble for $12 and for around $10 at Amazon.