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Almost 30 leading authors, accounting for more than 50 million book sales, are facing off in September as the Christmas release schedule starts to take shape.
The Bookseller rates authors in its category previews for previous sales of single titles in a similar format, in this case hardback. In the fiction release schedule for autumn in The Bookseller's “Big Sellers" and “Ones to Watch" categories, 17 authors are given a five-star rating, as they have sold more than 50,000 copies of a previous title. In non-fiction, there are 11 authors. This compares to only 18 “five-star" authors across fiction and non-fiction in 2009 and does not include books by Tony Blair and Sir Michael Caine.
September's publications include a string of sequels to successful celebrity memoirs with Chris Evans, Russell Brand and Jo Brand releasing books on the 30th. Paul O'Grady's follow-up to last year's At My Mother's Knee is released on the 16th, the same day as Stephen Fry's long-awaited sequel to his memoir Moab is my Washpot.
In fiction, thrillers by the likes of James Patterson, Lee Child and Chris Ryan are published. Maeve Binchy and Sophie Kinsella are among the big-hitting female authors that are released in September.
Waterstone's spokesperson Jon Howells described September's list as “outstanding", highlighting Fry's memoir and the latest Nigella Lawson cookbook as standout books. He said: “Also a new John le Carré is good news for us. It's his first with a new publisher so they will have something to prove."
He said he felt sales of the titles would not cannibalise one another as they appeal to different markets.