THE MARKET: The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge will be published on Monday, July 21. How many weeks will it spend on the New York Times bestseller list? Each $10 dollars of the share price represents one week on the list. Shares bought at $40, for example, would be worth $90 if the book spends 9 weeks in succession in the top 15 of the list. If the book doesn’t make the list in either of the first two weeks in which it’s eligible, shares will be worth $0. Trading will cease and the market will be cashed out when the book exits the list.
THE DATA: The James Patterson writing factory will have churned out its fourth book in six months when The Dangerous Days of Daniel X hits the shelves. Michael Ledwidge is the lucky “co-author” this time around. Sail debuted at #1 on the list, and Sundays at Tiffany’s stayed on for 8 weeks. Patterson and Ledwidge’s last joint venture, Step On a Crack topped the NYT mass-market paperback list in its first week out.
OUR TAKE: We’re not exactly sure how Patterson’s audience can read his books as quickly as he “writes” them. Clearly the man is doing something right. If Sundays at Tiffany’s can stay awhile longer he will pull off the rare feat of having three books on the list at the same time. If he’s not careful the Times will decide to ban thrillers.

LEARN MORE:
See the “The Dangerous Days of Daniel X” page on amazon.