First-day UK sales of ‘Grey’ ‘record-breaking’

UK publisher Cornerstone has described first-day sales of E L James’ Grey as ‘record-breaking’ for an adult paperback in the UK, reports the Bookseller. The publisher did not release exact figures, but UK supermarket Sainsbury’s said it sold ‘nearly 20,000 copies of Grey—the most we’ve ever sold in a day for a paperback’. The book has been at the top spot on the pre-order charts of Waterstones and Amazon Kindle since its announcement 18 days ago, with Waterstones fiction buyer Chris White describing first-day sales as ‘extraordinary’. ‘It was like it was 2012 all over again. Once again our shops are abuzz with Grey-mania,’ said White. According to Nielsen BookScan, the biggest first-week sale for an adult title in the UK is Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, which sold just under 551,000 copies. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey recorded the biggest one-week sales for an adult title in the UK when it sold over 664,000 copies in July 2012.

Category: International news