independent

Monday 10 March 2014

Jamie Oliver overtakes JK Rowling to have highest selling book of the year

HONOURS Oliver 2...Please see text of full embargo running on PA Wire. EMBARGOED: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE 0001 hours BST Saturday, June 14, 2003. Undated handout photo of TV chef Jamie Oliver, who receives an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to the hospitality industry. See PA HONOURS stories. PA handout photo/Chris Terry....A

JAMIE Oliver has finally triumphed in the battle of the publishing giants after his latest book finally overtook JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy.

The chef locked horns with the Harry Potter writer when their bestsellers were published on the same day in October, known as "super Thursday" when the book trade goes all out for the Christmas market.



Rowling's first adult book initially took a commanding lead in the first week, selling 124,603 copies to Oliver's 20,682.



But the TV cook and campaigner continued to sell strongly with his 15-Minute Meals book and has now overtaken his rival to become the biggest-selling hardback title of the year.



Oliver has consistently achieved colossal sales for his books with his 30-Minute Meals volume becoming the biggest seller of 2010, and his Jamie's Great Britain doing well last year. If he were to top the Christmas chart this month, it would be the third successive year in which he has done so.



Last week 15-Minute Meals shifted 69,111 copies, while The Casual Vacancy sold 13,504.



To date Oliver's book - which ties in with his latest Channel 4 series - has sold 373,943, with Rowling's novel notching up 316,690 sales.



Tom Weldon, the chief executive officer of Oliver's publisher Penguin UK, said: "We are thrilled by the success of Jamie's 15-Minute Meals. It is testament once again to Jamie's incredible creativity, hard work, and passion for bringing good, healthy food to as many people as possible."



Despite the impressive sales for both books, they have been dwarfed by the publishing phenomenon of the year - 50 Shades Of Grey. EL James's first novel of her trilogy sold 665,000 copies in the space of just seven days in July.



Oliver's 30-Minute Meals title sold in excess of 1.5 million copies and topped the best-seller chart for more than half a year.



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