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Library/Book/The Girl on the Train
Grade A20 sourcesHIS-01624

The Girl on the Train

Book · 2015 · Notable

51Editable slideCertificate

Paula Hawkins’s thriller sold 23 million copies worldwide, according to its publisher.

Trailer · Universal Pictures on YouTube
Clip · Brown Girl Reading on YouTube

Stephen King

@StephenKing · Jan 26, 2015

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, by Paula Hawkins: really great suspense novel. Kept me up most of the night. The alcoholic narrator is dead perfect.

1.3K83
Post · @StephenKing on X
The Girl on the Train: cover art
Wikipedia (non-free, fair use)
Official UK edition and cover of The Girl on the Train.
Doubleday / Transworld
The Girl on the Train - Official Trailer - In Theaters October 7 (HD)
Universal Pictures on YouTube
Paula Hawkins at the Göteborg Book Fair on September 25, 2015. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Arild Vågen
the-girl-on-the-train
TIME

Spread Score

How it works
Reach68Contagion45Breadth90Velocity1Longevity2551

Numbers

Peak proxy date
Week of Oct 1, 2016
Jan 13 ’15 to Week of Oct 1, 2016
Platforms
6
Started on Retail
Origin
Mixed
Entertainment

Mechanics

  • Underdog
  • Controversy
  • Platform jumpPrimary
  • Press loop
  • Pairing

How it spread

Trace the origin

Advance copies and paid ads preceded release. Goodreads recommendations and celebrity posts widened discovery. The publisher reports 23 million worldwide sales; Nielsen’s reported print-sales peak supplies a later attention proxy.

Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.

Wikipedia views · Google searchesAug ’14OctFeb ’15AprJulSepDecApr ’16AugNovJul ’17Peak proxyOpen webRetailXInstagramPressYouTube
Open webRetailXInstagramPressYouTube

13 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

Timeline (16)

  1. September 2014

    Karen precursor · Sep 2014

    A review by advance-copy recipient Karen produced a spike in Goodreads Want to Read additions.[1]

    Open the first post ↗
  2. October 2014

    Riverhead Books precursor · Oct 2014

    Riverhead ran two Goodreads giveaways offering 50 advance copies.[1]

  3. January 2015

    Riverhead Books / Paula Hawkins seed · Jan 13 ’15

    Riverhead published The Girl on the Train in the US.[2]

  1. platform jump · Jan 15 ’15

  2. platform jump · Jan 26 ’15

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Why it worked

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  1. 1
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  3. 3

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Origin
Mixed
Sector
Entertainment
Region
GB
Reported figure
—
Evidence
Grade A

Spread the same way

Series · Box office · 201963

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HBO / Sky; Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint and Word Games (production)

HBO said its miniseries passed 12 million viewers.

6.7M impressions

1 / 8

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New cases, every week

How the next thing spread, the week it does.