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Supermarkets and major booksellers are preparing for a big push on this week’s Super Thursday releases.
Big-hitting books out on 10th October include memoirs from Jennifer Saunders (Viking), Patsy Kensit (Sidgwick & Jackson), Sharon Osbourne (Sphere), David Jason (Century) and John Bishop (HarperCollins), sports books from Harry Redknapp (Ebury Press), Ricky Hatton (Macmillan), Mo Farah and Andrew Strauss (both Hodder & Stoughton), and cookery books from Lorraine Pascale (HarperCollins) and Rachel Khoo (Michael Joseph).
Fiction releases include Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (Cape).
Sainsbury’s is gearing up to get behind the Saunders, Jason, Strauss and Kensit memoirs plus Khoo’s My Little French Kitchen and Pascale’s A Lighter Way to Bake, all to be included in its in-house chart. Book buying manager Phil Carroll said: “We expect the David Jason book to be the biggest autobiography this year with Helen Fielding’s latest Jones instalment being the bestselling hardback fiction up to Christmas.”
Waitrose is preparing to back Fielding and Pascale’s A Lighter Way to Bake. A spokesperson said: “We have had huge success with the Bridget Jones series and also with Lorraine Pascale’s cookery books. Cooking is our customers’ favourite pastime; we outperform in all baking-related categories.”
Viking publisher Joel Rickett said: “Supermarkets are doing lots of creative things. There’s a really deep engagement there that goes beyond just putting the books in the store—they are thinking about bookselling, and about how they can connect with their customers. Jennifer [Saunders] has done lots with them to try and build that relationship.”
Carole Tonkinson, publisher of Harper NonFiction, said: “There has been amazing support from the supermarkets, but also from the trade as a whole. It’s great to see Waitrose giving some backing to Lorraine [Pascale]—they don’t have a large range of books, but will back something that fits with their customers.”
Waterstones is holding events with authors including Jason, Redknapp, Strauss and Conn Iggulden (Wars of the Roses: Stormbird, Michael Joseph) from 10th–12th October. James Daunt, the chain’s m.d., said: “For our core interests it is a really, really good list. Particularly in sport—Harry Redknapp, Mo Farah, that will be a big one. We are feeling quite chipper about Christmas.”
Online site Hive is marking Super Thursday with a celebratory dedicated landing page including all the day’s key releases.