Is Super Thursday still relevant?
The first Thursday of October is an important day for the publishing industry every year. On this day booksellers receive brand new books ready for the Christmas shoppers. but in recent years the number of books that are being released has decreased. “This Super Thursday’s offering is slighter than last year’s — 118 fewer titles will publish,” (Cowdrey, 2019) which matches the current trend of book sales dropping in 2019. “Through the first nine months of 2019, unit sales of print books were down 1.4% compared to the same period in 2018” (Milliot, 2019).
The super Thursday releases are usually held for the titles which publishers think will earn them the most money, which is why many autobiographies and new books by well-known authors are released at this time. However, the decline in book sales during 2019 has caused questions over whether the publishers will be able to break even this year. The fall in physical sale is usually attributed to the rise of e-books however “This” fall in sales may have “less to do the rise of ebooks than the volatility of book markets, which, according to Nielsen’s director of book research, Hazel Kenyon, can be swayed by trends and the success of individual titles.” (Spring and Levett, 2017). one of the trends in 2019 has been a fall in the fiction books all round. however, there has been a rise in political books especially those which talk about the current political landscape addressing topics such as Trump and Brexit. unfortunately, these books can be time-consuming as well as costly due to the rapid changes in politics, especially with Brexit. publishers must constantly be aware of making sure the book is as factual as possible and that it doesn’t mislead the reader. also with titles like Brexit, the publisher must stick to the deadline which means that and books that were due on the 29th march will now be out of date and won’t contain any current information about what has happened since then.
There is also a growing trend to buy online through Amazon and other online retailers due to “heavy discounting on a large range of titles, 24/7 access, and features such as gift wrapping,” (Clark and Phillips, 2014) which encourages the customer to stay at home as it is more convenient. Amazon and other online booksellers rank their novels meaning that a reader sees the best selling books of the genre first, this puts more pressure on publishers to find the next bestseller. this may account of the drop in numbers on the release list this year as publishers are less likely to spend money on an unknown author or a book that may be a risk.
This suggests that in the future less experimental titles will be sold as the industry becomes more focused on profits and becoming the best seller. On the other hand, it may have the effect of some companies bringing out books on another week then the first week of October to become the best seller and gain the attention that they may miss if they release at this time of year. Whist the book industry is surviving during the digital age, it is unclear if the tradition of Super Thursday will carry on.
Clark, G. and Phillips, A., 2014. Inside Book Publishing. 5th ed. Abingdon: Routledge
Cowdrey, K., 2019. Booksellers gear up for Super Thursday ahead of Bookshop Day 2019. Bookseller, [online] Available at:<https://www.thebookseller.com/news/booksellers-gear-super-thursday-ahead-bookshop-day-2019-1092721> [accessed 4th October 2019]
Milliot, J., 2019. In 2019, Will Publishers Break Even?. Publishers Weekly, [online] Available at:<https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/81391-in-2019-will-publishers-break-even.html> [accessed 4th October 2019]
Spring, M. and Levett, C., 2017. The fall and rise of physical book sales worldwide — in data. Guardian [online] (last updated 12.00 AM on 18th Mar 2017). Available at:<https://www.theguardian.com/books/datablog/2017/mar/18/the-fall-and-rise-of-physical-book-sales-worldwide-in-data> [Accessed 4th October 2019]
