In the interview How to Publish in a Recession, Chelsea Green president Margo Baldwin recounts some of the best selling backlist titles:

The Four Season Harvest and New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman (over 100k copies sold of all editions), The Straw Bale House (over 150k copies sold), The Man Who Planted Trees (300k copies sold), Wind Power, The Passive Solar House, Natural Beekeeping, Wild Fermentations, Gaia’s Garden, Limits to Growth.

For 2009, lead titles will be Eliot Coleman’s new book Winter Harvest Handbook, Tom Greco’s The End of Money and the Future of Civilization, Deirdre Heekin’s Libation, a Bitter Alchemy, and Living above the Store, a sustainable business book about triple bottom line business practices.

This looks to me less like recession titles and more like the message is spreading about energy decline and its implications. If you’ve just lost a job it’s unlikely you’ll buy Chelsea Green titles other than those about food growing and storage. Most of those who are hit are likely to be picking up books about career development and personal finances.