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Delia still at number one

26.02.08 Philip Stone

With a weekly sale of 77,289 copies, Delia Smith maintained her position at the top of the charts in the seven days to 23rd February - and by some distance. Her How to Cheat at Cooking (Ebury) sold more than twice as many copies as runner-up Katie Price's, whose third memoir instalment Jordan: Pushed to the Limit (Century) stayed in second.

Price's seven-day sale through BookScan's Total Consumer Market of 31,332 was down 12,494 units on the previous week, but was enough to stay ahead of Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (Bloomsbury) in third (21,208 copies sold).

The highest new entry this week was perennial bestseller Danielle Steel, whose Sisters (Corgi) entered the charts in sixth position with a 17,267 sale in the seven days to 23rd February.

Honour Thyself (Bantam), Steel's new emotional drama in hardback, joined in 45th position with a 6,340 seven-day sale. The title joins The Bookseller's Original Fiction chart in second position, meaning Bantam is currently enjoying a dominating one-two, with Sophie Kinsella's Remember Me maintaining top spot with a 13,178 weekly sale.

Revenue through the market year-on-year continues to stay strong. Although volume sales of 4,003,899 through the TCM last week were down 5.3% year-on-year, revenue was up 5.3% to £30m thanks to an 11.2% difference in average selling price. Helped by Delia's influence, the a.s.p. through the TCM last week was £7.49, compared to £6.74 in the same week last year.

Ebury Delia smith Philip Stone

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