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Dragon breathing hot air, says Hachette

25.09.08 Catherine Neilan

A death match between an urban vampire and a fire-breathing dragon has erupted as the UK's biggest publishers—Hachette and Random—battle over sales figures.

Last weekend, Random House Children's Books launched Brisingr, the long-awaited third instalment of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle series, for which pre-orders had stacked up to a five-figure number. Nielsen BookScan recorded UK sales of more than 41,000 on the first day, outselling both Stephenie Meyer's most recent novel, Breaking Dawn, and the paperback of the final volume of the Harry Potter books, The Deathly Hallows.

RHCB said that "In America, Brisingr is expected to be the biggest book of the year". The book sold 296,990 in the first two days according to BookScan US. RHCB, which claims 550,000 copies were sold in total, has allocated an initial US print run of 2.5 million copies.

But Hachette Livre UK, whose imprint Little, Brown published Meyer's Twilight quadrology, has poured scorn on what it called RHCB's "premature . . . claim [to] world domination" in a letter to The Bookseller.

The letter read: "Early worldwide sales of Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn are way out of the Dragon's reach. In the US, a staggering 1.3 million copies were sold on the day of publication . . . out of a total print run of 3.7 million copies." BookScan US figures, which are thought to capture 75% of the market, put the figure at a more modest 824,732 copies.

Although acknowledging Meyer's UK sales--which totalled 32,500 copies in the first week--were below Paolini's, Hachette Livre UK added. "For now, the dragon is simply breathing hot air."

But RHCB has fought back, stressing the claims had focused solely on UK sales. Georgia Lawe, RHCB deputy publicity director said: "Brisingr is without a doubt the fastest selling children's book in the UK this year, based on the amazing first-day sales. Across the world, Brisingr is definitely one of the biggest children's books, in terms of excitement, exposure and sales."

LINKS

Random House press statement: World celebrates publication of instant bestseller, BRISINGR

Hachette UK letter: Brisingr slays rivals? Certainly not!

Hachette Livre UK has now issued the following statement about its letter:

In our exuberance to comment on the claim that Brisingr will be the biggest selling children's book in the US this year, a letter was sent that was wrongly attributed to the Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Publicity Director in the US. The note was intended to convey a spirit of good natured competition, as the worldwide sales of both authors' books are without a doubt an extraordinary accomplishment. – Little, Brown Book Group UK

Hachette Random House Home Stephenie Meyer Catherine Neilan Twilight Brisingr

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