Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's week-old book blitz got him plenty of face-time on national television, but he's not in best-seller territory yet. Nielsen BookScan, a national data provider for the book publishing industry, shows a total of 4,765 sales of Pawlenty's Courage to Stand as of Wednesday, the vast majority since the beginning of his national book tour in New York on Jan. 11. Actual sales could be a bit higher, since BookScan only counts sales at national bookstore chains, Amazon, and indy book sellers who chose to report. The general rule of thumb is that the service counts about 75 percent of total sales. While still far short of the bestselling numbers posted by rival presidential hopefuls and political autobiographers (think a certain former governor from Alaska), Pawlenty's people aren't complaining. "We're obviously very pleased with the early response to Governor Pawlenty's new book," said spokesman Alex Conant. "There's a lot of excitement about the Governor's message, which is helping drive strong turnout at our book signings and a lot of media interest in his story."
