Nielsen and Specsavers announce revamped Bestseller Awards

Nielsen Book and Specsavers are launching the Specsavers Bestseller Awards to celebrate book sales in all formats.

The awards, powered by Nielsen Book and sponsored by Specasavers, with The Sunday Times brought in as official media partner, revamp and replace the Nielsen Book Gold and Platinum Awards, which have used print book sales data to recognise achievements within the book industry since 2001.

The awards will continue to recognise sales of 1,000,000 copies and 500,000 with Platinum and Gold Bestseller Awards but also introduce new Silver Awards for books selling over 250,000 copies. There will also be an Honorary Platinum Award to honour authors whose collective titles have achieved similar success over the same period.

A ceremony on 25th January 2017 will officially launch the new awards.

Andre Breedt, director Nielsen Book Research UK said: “Nielsen Book has long been planning a revamp to its existing awards due to changes in the book trade. We are incredibly excited to be working with Specsavers to launch Bestseller Awards that reflect the fast-changing book world. In recent years we have seen unprecedented levels of sales from authors such as J K Rowling and Dan Brown, while sales of backlist titles by authors such as J R R Tolkien and Harper Lee, bolstered by tie-ins and media exposure, remind us that success can have a long life. We have also seen the digital revolution offer readers and authors new ways to connect. By collaborating with Specsavers, long a supporter of books and a well-respected brand familiar to millions of readers, we aim to amplify what it means to be a bestseller. This will begin by recognising million copy marvels of 2016.”

Dame Mary Perkins, chair and co-founder of Specsavers, said: “There is an obvious connection between reading and glasses and many of our customers enjoy nothing better than losing themselves in a good book, myself included. I am looking forward to seeing if there are any titles that I have yet to read. I sincerely hope that more people will join us in support of the industry and authors alike, to buy and share the most popular reads in Britain today.”