The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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Retailers roast Christmas turkeys

07.12.07 Graeme Neill

Retailers have hailed Nigella Lawson, Russell Brand and Richard Hammond as their Christmas crackers, but said none of them look close to matching Peter Kay's near million-selling book of 2006.

Early contenders for festive turkeys include memoirs from Charlotte Church, Jason Donovan, Dame Helen Mirren, Kelly Brook, Gail Porter and Leslie Ash. Meanwhile, Michael Palin, Sharon Osbourne and The Dangerous Book for Boys Yearbook have failed to achieve expectations based on previous successes.

W H Smith's books unit controller Rachel Russell said there was no stand-out title this year to follow Kay's The Sound of Laughter. "The market is very like-for-like [in overall sales terms] with strong male biographies, and more fiction."

Hachette Livre was applauded by retailers for bouncing back from a disappointing Christmas 2006. "They have a great offer across all divisions—something for everybody" said Steph Bateson, book buyer at Asda. Hachette c.e.o. Tim Hely Hutchinson was effusive: "It's been a much better Christmas for us," he said. "We worked very hard to find the right books."

But festive successes have so far been spread across a range of publishers, said Georgina Stoaling, books category manager at Play.com. "There are six different publishers within our top 10 [chart]. I've felt that Random House Group has been the overall winner, although there's been a late run from Hachette." RHG is believed to have had its most successful month in its history in November, driven by Atonement and Nigella Express.

Amy Worth, lead books account manager at Amazon, said Nigella had done "incredibly well". Its success contrasted with Jamie Oliver, whose Jamie at Home has disappointed some booksellers despite being ever-present in the charts. "It looks like more a spring title whereas Nigella looks Christmassy,"  one retailer said.

Retailers agreed that female celebrity memoirs are the biggest losers so far, with titles by Charlotte Church, Dame Helen Mirren, Kelly Brook, Gail Porter and Leslie Ash faring badly. "The publishers didn't get behind them enough," said one retailer. "It's the Chantelle factor—who wants to read about these people?"

Arguably, the most surprising Christmas letdown has been Michael Palin's New Europe, which was widely tipped. "It hasn't really captured the imagination," said one bookseller.

Surprise hits include the Al Murray Pub Landlord tie-in ("It came from nowhere," said Bateson) and Life on Mars' spin-off Rules of Modern Policing ("a great book", said Stoaling).

Retail Graeme Neill Christmas