Inside the Magic conjures up a number one

Ian Nathan’s Inside the Magic: The Making of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (HarperCollins) has soared into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, displacing Mary Berry Everyday (BBC) atop both the overall and Hardback Non-Fiction charts. As part of a buy-the-DVD-get-the-book-free deal with Tesco, the title shifted 51,272 copies—the biggest single week of sales for a non-Children’s title since Jojo Moyes’ After You, back in July 2016.

The DVD release of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” also boosted J K Rowling’s original spin-off title, recently re-issued by Bloomsbury, back into the Top 50, selling 4,048 copies. The screenplay (published by Little, Brown), which sold 344,266 copies in the run-up to Christmas last year, just missed out on a Top 50 place, bouncing 71 places week on week to 57th.

Mark Billingham’s Die of Shame (Sphere) climbed the top 10, booting Philippa Gregory’s Three Sisters, Three Queens (Simon & Schuster) off the Mass Market Fiction number one. C L Taylor’s The Escape (Avon) also rose to push Gregory into third. Dorothy Koomson’s When I Was Invisible (Arrow) charted in the category top five, with a leap of 42 places up the Top 50 week on week. Abbie Taylor’s Emma’s Baby (Bantam) also entered the Mass Market Fiction chart, hitting ninth with a volume of 4,798 copies.

Wilbur Smith and David Churchill’s War Cry (HarperCollins) held the Original Fiction number one for a second week, with only a 2% decline in volume on its blistering first week on sale. Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer (Hodder & Stoughton) debuted in second place, shifting 3,447 copies.

Tom Marcus’ Soldier Spy (Penguin) swiped the Paperback Non-Fiction number one from Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens (Vintage). The hardback has sold a hefty 54,083 copies to date, and the paperback seems to be following suit with 6,816 copies sold in two weeks.

David Walliams’ Blob (HarperCollins Children's) dropped off the Children’s number one, to be replaced by… David Walliams’ Grandpa’s Great Escape. This is the author’s 13th consecutive week in the category top spot—the Children’s chart is yet to be topped by a non-Walliams title in 2017 so far. All told, all five major charts—and Fiction Heatseekers, and Small Publishers— were topped by male authors last week. The only exception was the Indie Booksellers chart, which was topped by Rose Tremain's The Gustav Sonata (Vintage).

Laura Hughes took the Pre-School and Picture Book number one with We’re Going on an Egg Hunt (Bloomsbury). The author and illustrator also saw We’re Going on an Egg Hunt Activity Book enter the top 20, in fifth place. The Children’s and YA Fiction was dominated by the category’s big beasts, as always, but Kiran Millwood-Hargrave’s The Girl of Ink and Stars (Chicken House) made a return after winning the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, hitting 18th place.

The print market took a tumble from its Mother's Day boost a week ago—volume dropped 12.2% and under 3m books sold for the first time this year, and value dropped 9.1% to £24.4m. The year-on-year figures are still looking healthy though—value was up 7.3% compared to the same week in 2016, with average selling price once again bouncing above £8.00.