Who tops the bestsellers list this year?
On the 1st October over 800 hardback titles are released at the same time in the UK as publishers vie for a place in December’s bestseller lists. Bookmakers are offering odds on likely rivals for the number one slot this year.
Publishers are now starting to see the run into the festive season in a very similar way to the pop music Charts and, when you look at the facts, it’s not hard to see why the Christmas run in is a vital period for the book industry.
According to Nielsen BookScan figures, one fifth of book sales (by value) are made in the run-up to Christmas. Last year saw 1,000 hardback books released at the same time, with 2,000 extra paperbacks, audio books and ebooks being released on the same day.
The differences between the music industry and the publishing industry is that books have a lot longer run in, with the key launch date being October 1st. Which would see the vast majority of music, on it way out of the chart by Christmas if they went for such an early release date. Reasons for this are that books both have a longer lifespan, and that books rely much more heavily upon word of mouth and recommendations to generate sales. A later date like the 1st of November would see books having a risk of not being able to generate the momentum required before the Christmas period.
With three times more than the usual number of books coming out this week, publishers face the challenge of getting their products noticed. With limited promotional space available, its is only the best known books from the post popular authors which are going to get the promotional boost they require.
Carole Tomkinson, from HarperCollins is quotes as saying "If you get in the top five slot the retailers give you twice as much space, they push the book, they put it in their ads. "Our retailers really support the books that are the most successful, and success multiplies success."
Who is likely to top the bestsellers list this year? Fiction titles from, Audrey Niffenegger (author of The Time Traveler’s Wife) Stieg Larsson, Bernard Cornwell, and Cecelia Ahern are expected to do well. Some books have already been release before "Super Thursday", for example Dan Browns ‘Lost Symbol’ was released last month and did exceptionally well break records in its first 36 hours.