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Richard & Judy unveil summer line-up

15.06.07 Tom Tivnan and Graeme Neill

Penguin, Orion and the Random House Group have all claimed two spots on the "Richard & Judy" Summer Read list, as booksellers' summer promotions begin in earnest.

Penguin's The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards will be the first book featured in the newly expanded Galaxy Chocolate-sponsored campaign, which kicks off on 4th July. Penguin's second title is Getting Rid of Matthew by Ricky Gervais' partner Jane Fallon. Orion is represented by Paul Torday's début, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, and Jonathan Tropper's How to Talk to a Widower. RHG has thriller writer Simon Kernick's Relentless and Mary Lawson's The Other Side of the Bridge. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (Pan Macmillan) and Mark Mills' Savage Garden (HarperCollins) complete the line-up.

Booksellers applauded the eight choices. "It's good to see two first-time authors in Paul Torday and Jane Fallon on the list, and it's not full of your typical household names either, which is great," said Torbay Bookshop owner Matthew Clarke.

Penguin's two titles have both sold more than 90,000 copies through Nielsen BookScan to date. Relentless has sold nearly 19,500 copies since its May release, while Salmon Fishing in the Yemen sold nearly 13,700 copies in hardback, with the paperback out this week. The other titles are also published in paperback this month.

The news was unveiled as booksellers across the board rolled out summer promotions. W H Smith's competitive "buy one get one free" offer last week has been followed by Amazon, which has launched a bogof offer on more than 50 books as part of its "Red Hot Summer Reads" campaign. The internet retailer is running a "three for £12" offer on paperbacks, along with up to 50% off "essential paperbacks".

Waterstone's is currently running a "Mix and Match three-for-two" on new titles and backlist, with further deals to come. It will also promote the new R&J titles, including previous "stand-out" R&J titles. Borders is promoting 'The Biggest Titles in Town", a mix of recommendations and new titles, as part of its current "buy one get one half-price" campaign. It will introduce the second strand of its summer campaign at the start of July. WHS is currently offering customers "buy one get one half-price" on selected paperbacks and a selection of half-price hardbacks.

Canongate sales and marketing director Jenny Todd has "fingers crossed" for the summer. "It's still early, but the high street has been a bit quiet. It's all felt quite slow to start, and I think most publishers are waiting for the market to kick off in full."

HarperCollins Books Penguin Random House Macmillan Richard & Judy Orion Tom Tivnan and Graeme Neill

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