Despite an Aug. 3 report that Nielsen Bookscan has logged sales of just 32,000 copies of Kim Kardashian's 352-page selfie book, Selfish, the book publisher tells Us Weekly that sales are much higher.
"The Bookscan number of 30K floating around is not inaccurate but it represents a very small segment of our sales overall, which are very strong in non-bookstore specialty retailers, and international sales, neither of which report to Bookscan," Pam Sommers, Executive Director of Publicity at Rizzoli, tells Us Weekly in a statement. "The book is, in fact, a significant success story as a benchmark of the phenomenon of self-portrait in the digital age."
Sommers adds that the book — released in May — is actually now in its fourth printing, with total trade sales of approximately 125,000 copies, domestic and international. According to Sommers, Rizzoli even switched from an Asian printer to a U.S. printer to "shorten the delivery time to meet robust market demand for the book."
Originally priced at $19.95, Selfish can now be bought at Barnes & Noble for $12 and on Amazon for around $10.
Kardashian, 34, first revealed her selfie-book plans in August 2014, noting that she got the idea after making a personal (and racy!) photo album for her husband, Kanye West.
"I couldn't think of what to get Kanye [for Valentine's Day] and so I was like, 'All guys love it when a girl sends them sexy pics,'" she said on an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. "So I had [my assistant] Stephanie get a Polaroid and we were taking photos around the entire house … making this cool book, and it ended up turning out so cool, we came up with this idea to do a selfie book."
Upon its release, Selfish — which includes multiple shots of Kardashian topless — received mixed reviews. Lena Dunham, for one, proudly showed off her purchase of the book on Instagram, writing that she supports "experiments in female identity exploration" and "will not be shamed." Project Runway star Tim Gunn, however, flipped through the book at Us Weekly's headquarters in June and was not impressed.
"To all the young people out there in particular: Banish this…This is disgusting and vile. What if this is the only thing that survives in the time capsule?" Gunn, 62, said at the time. "I feel my IQ is plummeting."
