If it's cloudy or drizzly, usually we have a good sale. If it's a gorgeous summer day, sales go down. If it snows, sale go way down. If the trucks are late, sales go down. Sales are lowest on Monday and rise to a high on Friday.
Sales are lower in the summer and winter than in the spring and fall.
We do not systematically analyze page one to determine what kinds of stories sell best. Given the complexity of the single-copy buying habit, it would be difficult to control for all the variables. A paper might sell well because of a seasonal factor, or because of a weather factor, or because we had a very good night in production and trucking. But the job was daunting and we went on to more doable tasks. Obviously, major breaking news sells papers.