The Bookseller.com

21st November 2008

Jonathan Ruppin is head of front of house at Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London, where he has worked since 2003. He also sits on the editorial committee of the bi-annual New Books in German journal.

'Giant' gap for Christmas

05.06.08

The following is an introduction to The Bookseller's Paperback Preview, to view the full supplement digitally, click here.

The paperback market in the second half of the year has three distinct phases. The first, which actually starts in late spring, is summer reading. The range of titles this time around is impressive, with all sectors of the market well catered for. Intelligent non-fiction is perhaps the only area of weakness for some big publishers, so it may be that the breakthrough titles will come from independent publishers, such as the Ones to Watch I've included from Atlantic, Portobello and Profile.

The second phase is September, which is when publishers tend to bring out their big hitters, in both hardback and paperback. This year, paperbacks include Maeve Binchy, Stephen King, Jeffrey Archer, James Patterson, Cecelia Ahern and Khaled Hosseini, all appearing within days of each other.

I have been a little surprised by the dearth of literary fiction during this phase. The general belief seems to be that the Man Booker-stimulated focus on literary hardbacks leaves little room for paperbacks. Such is the discrepancy between sales figures for the two formats, however, that I think we need to regard these almost as two separate markets. Since literary fiction is generally less formulaic, it's more of a risk purchase and the cost of a paperback is far less of a deterrent to purchase.

The final phase of the year is the traditional paperback wasteland of November and December—a time when traditional wisdom has it that bookshops let the big-hitting gift books in the genres of biography, humour, cookery and history take centre stage. But I'm still a little surprised by how few paperbacks have been reserved for these final two months.

On my rounds this time, a number of publishers commented admiringly on Transworld's decision to release Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic & Baby in December last year, which was a triumphant success. And indeed, her next, Remember Me?, is scheduled for December this year.

The only other giants set for December paperback release are John Grisham, Patricia Cornwell, Danielle Steel and Peter James. The first three are authors with such a following that they rise above almost any market trend. In fact, all but the first of James' four titles have been December paperback releases, so Pan's belief in him has been well rewarded.

There is, of course, the significant issue of the cost of display space in chain booksellers in the run-up to Christmas, but these last months are an opportunity for retailers to offer a bit of diversity. Not all purchases will be gifts and not all gifts will be those titles heavily promoted and discounted.