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Publishers are gearing up for a strong autumn, as big new releases from the likes of Paul Merton, David Jason and Jennifer Saunders coalesce around key dates in September and October. The Bookseller can reveal the two strongest publication dates are 26th September and 10th October, with the latter this year’s Super Thursday.
This year’s autumn releases will receive further backing from cross-industry promotion Books Are My Bag, launched at last week’s London Book Fair, and supported by both the Booksellers Association and Publishers Association, as well as publishers including Hachette, Random House, Pan Mac, Penguin, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins. The M C Saatchi-designed campaign launches to consumers on Saturday 14th September, and BA president Tim Godfray said the campaign has already had an “extremely supportive” response from booksellers (see p6).
Meanwhile, some blockbuster titles will make the early running, with potential huge sellers Save with Jamie by Jamie Oliver (Michael Joseph) and Lee Child’s new Jack Reacher novel set to kick off seasonal spending on 29th August.
Titles recently added to the autumn schedules include comedian, writer and actor Paul Merton’s autobiography, with Ebury publisher and deputy m.d. Jake Lingwood acquiring world rights in the title from Mandy Ward Management. Currently untitled, the book will be released on 26th September, and is described by the publisher as “fresh and uplifting”.
Merton’s book joins 187 hardbacks currently due for 26th September release, with other memoirs including those from rugby player Matt Dawson (Headline) and jockey Frankie Dettori (S&S), and fiction from Tulisa Contostavlos (Headline), Jeffery Deaver (H&S), Jackie Collins (S&S), Frederick Forsyth (Bantam Press), and Willam Boyd’s James Bond title, Solo (Jonathan Cape).
Two hundred and five hardbacks in fiction and non-fiction books are currently cued for release on this year’s Super Thursday, 10th October, with big-hitting memoirs from comedians John Bishop (HarperCollins) and Jennifer Saunders (Viking) as well as actor David Jason (Cornerstone), and the first volume in the Beatles biography by Mark Lewisohn (LB). In fiction, highlights include the long-awaited third Bridget Jones title by Helen Fielding (Jonathan Cape), and Danielle Steel’s Winners (Bantam Press).
It is also set to be a bumper day for crime and thriller releases, with titles including the new Martina Cole, Revenge (Headline), Val McDermid’s Cross and Burn (Little, Brown) as well as Wilbur Smith’s Vicious Circle (Macmillan), A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay (Orion), and Robert Harris’ An Officer and a Spy (Hutchinson).
Looking ahead to the line-up, publishers including S&S publishing director Suzanne Baboneau agreed celebrities would pick up the most sales, while Century editorial director Jack Fogg tipped memoirs by Jason, Saunders and Bishop, and said there were fewer big-hitters than last year, meaning that the big sellers “might do better than the equivalent ones last year”.
Jonathan Ruppin, Foyles web editor, added: “We don’t feel any subject area is saturated, so we do think there are gaps in the market for original, well-marketed and, as last Christmas showed, attractively packaged titles to make a major impact.”
10th October: Selected Super Thursday releases
Historic Heston Heston Blumenthal (Bloomsbury)
An Officer and a Spy Robert Harris (Hutchinson)
How Did All This Happen? John Bishop (HarperCollins)
Revenge Martina Cole (Headline)
My Lovely Jubbly Life David Jason (Century)
Driving Ambition Andrew Strauss (H&S)
Going Off Alarming Danny Baker (W&N)
Ronnie O’Sullivan: My Story Ronnie O’Sullivan (Orion)
A Tap on the Window Linwood Barclay (Orion)
Memoir Jennifer Saunders (Viking)
Dancing with Myself Billy Idol (S&S)
Untitled June Brown (S&S)
Winners Danielle Steel (Bantam)
Bridget Jones 3 Helen Fielding (Jonathan Cape)
26th September: Selected titles cued for publication
Memoir Kimberley Walsh (Headline)
The Moaning of Life: The Worldly Wisdom of Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington (Canongate)
The Pagan Lord Bernard Cornwell (HarperCollins)
Mary Berry’s Christmas Collection Mary Berry (Headline)
Matt Dawson’s Lions Tales Matt Dawson (Headline)
Untitled Fiction Tulisa Contostavlos (Headline)
The October List Jeffery Deaver (H&S)
Autobiography Frankie Dettori (S&S)
Doctor Sleep Stephen King (Hodder)
Confessions of a Wild Child Jackie Collins (S&S)
Untitled Amanda Holden (S&S)
Kill List Frederick Forsyth (Bantam)
Solo: A James Bond Novel William Boyd (Jonathan Cape)