Shocker: Blog's Fans Eschew Dead-Tree Tie-In

Before Gawker Media gets carried away with dominating the world, maybe it should try to master the book industry? As of yesterday, The Gawker Guide to Conquering All Media had sold a scant 242 copies since it went on sale Oct. 2, according to Nielsen BookScan.

Of course, the tracking service only accounts for about 75 percent of book sales, by its own admission, so you can add another 81 units to that total. Still, it's probably somewhat fewer copies than Simon & Schuster's Atria division was hoping to sell when it acquired the total in what I'm told was a $250,000 deal. Especially when you consider all the free promotion the book got on Gawker.com, to what was presumably its target audience.

An Atria spokeswoman declined to comment on either the sales figures or the size of the deal; Gawker owner Nick Denton pleaded ignorance, and Gaby Darbyshire, who handled the book on the Gawker end, is out of the country.

UPDATE, 5:09 p.m.: My Portfolio compadre Zubin Jelveh notes that Gawker may have sold a whole 12 extra copies as a result of my post. You're welcome, Nick! And Galleycat says that 106 of the 242 verified sales came in New York City. To which I say, only 106?