Didn’t get your Hogwarts letter? Here’s your chance to get sorted!
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Plotted: A Literary Atlas by Andrew DeGraff goes on sale in October.
Zest Books
Photo courtesy of Zest Books
Photo courtesy of Zest Books
A rare mega-hit in the presidential candidate lit genre.
Sentinel
The Iowa caucuses are still months away, but one presidential hopeful has already pulled far ahead in the 2016 conservative book sales primary: Dr. Ben Carson.
Carson's book, One Nation: What We Can All Do To Save America's Future, has sold a whopping 362,813 hardcover copies to date, according to Nielsen BookScan, a service that tracks most bookstore sales.
To compare: If you take the combined hardcover sales of every other book written by a current Republican presidential contender since 2010 and add them together, you only get 252,177.
Carson's dominance as an author has not necessarily translated to frontrunner status in the GOP presidential primaries, where he generally polls among the top cluster of candidates — at around 10% — but has not pulled away from the pack.
The book's success does, however, illustrate how Carson's specialized brand of charisma, emphasis on personal biography, and proud defiance of political correctness appeals to the book-buying masses of the Republican base.
It also comes at a moment when the conservative publishing industry has grown so large, and competitive, that many on the right fear it's unsustainable. BuzzFeed News explored this phenomenon last year, in part, by examining the quadrennial rush to put out campaign manifestos by prospective presidential candidates. Publishing sources described bidding wars among the proliferation of conservative imprints, which have led to soaring advances that couldn't be economically justified. Often, campaigns and political action committees end up spending thousands of dollars to inflate the books' sales numbers.
So far, Carson's book is shaping up to be a rare runaway bestseller in the sub-genre of candidate lit.
From BookScan, here are the total hardcover sales for each book released since 2010 by one of the current Republican presidential contenders:
American Dreams, by Marco Rubio: 7,807 hardcover copies sold
Unintimidated, by Scott Walker: 19,096
Taking a Stand, by Rand Paul: 7,795
Rising to the Challenge, by Carly Fiorina: 2,620
Immigration Wars, by Jeb Bush: 4,905
God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy, by Mike Huckabee: 65,939
Leadership and Crisis, by Bobby Jindal: 20,080
Midas Touch, by Donald Trump: 21,424
Fed Up!, by Rick Perry: 27,264
An American Son, by Marco Rubio: 36,786
Bella's Gift, by Rick Santorum: 6,112
American Patriots, by Rick Santorum: 6,831
Government Bullies, by Rand Paul: 10,818
The Tea Party Goes To Washington, by Rand Paul: 10,778
Blue Collar Conservatives, by Rick Santorum: 3,919
TOTAL: 252,177
One Nation, by Ben Carson: 362,813
From stove grates to butt plugs.
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
But, first, a few ground rules for safety.
• If anything is delicate or at risk of melting (plastic, in particular), keep it on the top rack, where the heat isn't as intense.
• When washing anything made of metal, dry it thoroughly to prevent rusting.
• If it's going in your body, you probably want to skip the detergent.
Now, onto the fun stuff.
YES, REALLY. Imagine how much more mashed potatoes you could eat if they were this easy to clean. This is especially useful when cooking for parties and holidays.
If they're small enough to fit in your dishwasher, there's no simpler way to clean them.
Books > Anything else
Farrah Penn / Via BuzzFeed
Farrah Penn / Via BuzzFeed
Farrah Penn / Via BuzzFeed
Farrah Penn / Via BuzzFeed
Because the real world is scary and that degree did not teach us how to be functional adults.
The graduation high has worn off and the reality that you are now an adult and can never re-live your "college years" is settling in. Cue panic attack.
Right after you graduate college, you're basically a newborn baby. It's a terrifying, confusing time. So we asked BuzzFeed staffers for some simple lifestyle changes that might help you start to feel a little less batshit crazy and more in control of your new ~adult~ life.
Even if all you did this week was go to yoga, (finally) send those graduation thank you notes, and NOT overdraw on your bank account at Trader Joes, those are things that should be acknowledged and celebrated.
Setting small expectations for yourself where you have to deliver something is a great way to feel more in control and accomplished. You're getting somewhere, we promise.
