CPI UK demonstrated its capacity for handling exceptional print volumes today as sales of the B format paperback Fifty Shades of Grey (Arrow, Random House) broke through the 1 million books barrier, becoming the quickest adult paperback novel to do so.
Nielson Bookscan figures released today show the UK physical sales of Fifty Shades of Grey now stand at a remarkable 1,162,637 copies. E L Grey’s debut novel sold just short of 400,000 copies last week alone – almost double the previous week’s sales – and has held the Number 1 position in the charts for an eleventh week. The trilogy has held the top three spots for the past eight weeks. All three Fifty Shades books last week surpassed the single week sales record for an adult paperback novel of 205,130 copies sold, set the previous week by the first in the series. Last week, the Fifty Shades trilogy outsold the rest of the BookScan top 50 by approximately two to one (856,522 copies sold to 392,288).
CPI has reprinted the trilogy 16 times and will soon reprint in excess of 1 million copies to meet the unprecedented demand.
CPI marketing manager Dino Bishop said: “We’ve deployed our extensive firepower across the CPI group, utilising our battery of Timson web presses to print the text. The high spec design of the covers – with finishes including SuperMatt lamination, foiling, UV varnishing and embossing – could have been a challenge to produce within the timeframe, but all processes are handled efficiently by CPI White Quill, in step with our binding schedule.”
“(CPI) took on the challenge and provided an impeccable service from the start”
Helen Smith, senior production controller at Random House, added: “The publication was a huge team effort which involved tremendous hard work and dedication from all involved. We were fortunate to work with printers and a paper mill who took on the challenge and provided an impeccable service from the start.”
Last week, Philip Stone, Charts Editor of The Bookseller, said, “Sales of the Fifty Shades series have been nothing short of phenomenal and records are tumbling. Perhaps most remarkably, the paperback edition of Fifty Shades of Grey has sold in just two months what Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, the bestselling paperback novel of all time, took over six months to achieve … Fifty Shades of Grey is perhaps the fastest-selling adult novel of all time.”
