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Sales of the US edition of Thomas Erikson’s Surrounded by Idiots in the UK have led to concerns over “leakage,” with cheaper US editions breaking territorial restrictions available for purchase via online retailers.
Since the end of April 2024, the St Martin’s US edition of the Swedish behavioural expert’s bestselling non-fiction book Surrounded by Idiots has sold 2,286 copies (for £20,559) in the UK via Amazon. The US edition was marketed at £1 cheaper than the UK version.
Sales of the UK edition, published by Ebury, have remained resilient despite this, selling 3,700 copies during the week commencing 19th August 2024. It is the bestselling non-fiction book in translation this year, according to BookScan data.
An Amazon spokesperson told The Bookseller: “We take territorial rights very seriously, and we have worked with the US publisher to fix their metadata to resolve the issue in question.”
The listing in question was removed from Amazon after The Bookseller contacted Amazon.
Caroline Cummins, director of policy and public affairs at the Publishers Association, told The Bookseller: “Publishing is able to thrive in the UK because of our gold-standard copyright regime. Illegal sales of foreign editions on UK online retailers threaten authors’ and publishers’ incomes and put pressure on high street bookshops.”
Ebury could not be reached for comment.