Pullman power: retailers hopeful that Book of Dust will shine on Super Thursday

Super Thursday will fall on 3rd October this year, when 426 hardbacks hit the shelves—118 fewer than last year’s—with a mini-Super Thursday lined up for 17th October, when 205 hardbacks will be issued.

Booksellers will all be vying for a slice of the lucrative Christmas book market, with Super Thursday marking the start of the make-or-break autumn season. Last year, 62.6 million units were sold for £559.7m during the 12 weeks ending 25th December 2018 through Nielsen BookScan—around a third of the market’s total annual volume and value.

A particularly strong year for children’s books features Philip Pullman’s eagerly awaited Book of Dust sequel, The Secret Commonwealth (David Fickling Books/PRH UK), Tom Fletcher’s The Christmasaurus & the Winter Witch (Puffin) and Oi! Puppies (Hachette Children’s Group) from Jim Field and Kes Gray, all released on 3rd October. In fiction, Heather Morris’ sequel to The Tattoist of Auschwitz, entitled Cilka’s Journey (Bonnier Books UK), faces competition from Zadie Smith, Emma Donoghue and Alice Hoffman, and commercial big hitters Jojo Moyes, Peter James, Tess Gerritsen and Susan Hill.

Across non-fiction, Lenny Henry, Andrew Ridgeley, Brett Anderson and David Suchet all bring out memoirs, and Bill Bryson’s The Body: A Guide for Occupants (Transworld) is released. Owen Jones’ The Alternative (Allen Lane) is one of a slew of political releases, joining Jess Philips’ Truth to Power (Monoray) as well as two major Windrush books: Amelia Gentleman’s The Windrush Betrayal (Guardian Faber) and Colin Grant’s Homecoming (Jonathan Cape).

The week of Mini-Super Thursday (17th October) will see Elton John’s memoir Me (Pan Macmillan) and Adam Kay’s Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas (Picador), plus memoirs from Andrea Corr and Nadiya Hussain, Richard Osman’s quiz book, and novels from John Grisham, Danielle Steel, John le Carré, Sophie Kinsella and James Patterson.

This autumn’s wider offering sees big releases, with Margaret Atwood’s long-awaited The Handmaid’s Tale sequel, The Testaments (Chatto & Windus), scheduled for 10th September—the same day as Stephen King’s new book, The Institute (Hodder). 

The following week sees David Cameron’s autobiography published, alongside titles by Cecelia Ahern, Jessie Burton, “Queer Eye” foodie Antoni Porowski, and The Unmumsy Mum A-Z (Bantam).

Overall, retailers spoke of a broad offering, particularly in children’s, with high hopes for Elton John, Pullman and Kay, but no clear runaway non-fiction blockbuster was flagged. Blackwell’s buyer Katherine Fry said: “It is looking to be a stellar year, with no single category looking weak... It also looks to be particularly strong in terms of titles that suit indies.”

Other than Atwood and Pullman, Fry said: “When you also have le Carré [Agent Running in the Field, Viking], Tracy Chevalier [A Single Thread, HarperCollins] and Zadie Smith [Grand Union, Hamish Hamilton], along with Erin Morgenstern [The Starless Sea, Harvill Secker], Stephen King and Heather Morris, there is lots to be talking to our customers about. On the non-fiction side, it’s always very exciting to have a new Bill Bryson and there are heavy hitters from Jung Chang [Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister, PRH], Julian Barnes [The Man in the Red Coat, Jonathan Cape], Will Self [Will, Viking], Max Hastings [The Dambusters, William Collins] and The History of GCHQ [Bloomsbury] will be very strong. Children’s remains celebrity dominated, with David Walliams, Fletcher and Paul McCartney [Hey Grandude!, Puffin]. The quiz book trend continues unabated, with many looking to repeat the success of The Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book by focusing on maps. However, I’m backing The Penguin Book Quiz.”

Waterstones was upbeat about the offering, particularly in fiction. Its campaign manager Kate McHale tipped Atwood’s The Testaments to be its “book of the autumn”. She added: “The Handmaid’s Tale has become a vital cultural touchstone, and more so in the past few years, so we look forward to the release of its sequel being one of the most important moments in the book year.” She also singled out le Carré, Moyes’ The Giver of Stars (Penguin) and Cilka’s Journey among “a really interesting line-up in fiction”.

There appears to be less emphasis on cookery this year, with Waterstones’ McHale the only retailer to pick it out. “Veg by Jamie Oliver [Penguin, 26th August] heads up an equally appetising selection of food and drink, with new titles also on the way from Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha, Diana Henry and Marcus Wareing.” Belgravia Books manager Andy Barr offered a note of concern. “I am sure Rick Stein [slated for 31st October] will be a strong showing for food and drink, but I would like to see a stronger showing from that category.”

Simon Johnson, Amazon’s country manager, UK Books, said the online retailer was “particularly excited by the fiction line-up this autumn”. He said: “The Secret Commonwealth, The Testaments, The Giver of Stars and a new series launch from Patricia Cornwell, Quantum, all promise to be strong performers.”

Across children’s, Pullman looks set to dominate the category’s strong season. “It’s great to have such a strong line-up this season on children’s, with all age groups and entry points catered for, assisted this year by the return of Pullman and Fletcher,” W H Smith’s head of books Pete Selby said.

Richard Drake, manager of Drake: The Bookshop in Stockton-on-Tees, added that as well as The Secret Commonwealth, he is expecting big things for the latest Oi! instalment. Gullivers Bookshop manager Paul Angel said: “For us, the big excitement is the second Book of Dust—it’s already the title people are aware of and pre-ordering.”

Missing Michelle

A year on from Michelle Obama’s bestselling memoir, many retailers are struggling to name the biggest book for 2019. W H Smith’s Selby said: “At this point, it’s hard to see beyond the Elton John autobiography as being the biggest book this Christmas, which should help the trade annualise the success of Becoming in 2018.”

Nigel Wyman, head of business development (UK) at Gardners, said: “I think it will be a push to fill the Obama gap, but Elton John and Adam Kay will go some way to doing that.” Many retailers named Kay’s second offering as a big release. Rosamund de la Hey, owner of The Mainstreet Trading Company in the Scottish Borders, predicted Kay will do well. Drake added: “As for this year’s Michelle Obama, I suspect that may well be Elton John.

There is a lot of excitement about this and hopefully the indies will be able to champion an exclusive.” He added of the quirkier offerings: “Maybe Richard Osman’s quiz book will take over from the Ordnance Survey one.”

Lamenting the lack of Obama stellar-selling power across the autumn, Belgravia Books’ Barr said that a strong fiction offering could compensate. “Outside Super Thursday releases, there is a Michelle Obama void and there is no identifiable candidate to fill it. Books like Becoming are a huge bonus and a huge draw, transcending typical audience demographics and driving traffic into the shop, but they do not come along every year.

I do think fiction titles could go some way to compensating—there are some serious tent- pole novels this year. Margaret Atwood’s is something of a double-whammy, a new [book] and a sequel to her most well-known book. And le Carré has an unfailing huge appeal for our customers.”