Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy sells almost 50,000 copies in one day

Helen Fielding's comeback has proven incredibly lucrative

Liam O'Brien
Monday 14 October 2013 15:06 BST
Comments
Helen Fielding signs copies of her latest Bridget Jones novel at Foyles in central London
Helen Fielding signs copies of her latest Bridget Jones novel at Foyles in central London (PA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Middling reviews of Helen Fielding's third Bridget Jones novel Mad About The Boy haven't stopped her fans buying the novel in their droves.

The new book, one of the industry's high profile Super Thursday launches, sold more than 46,000 copies in just one day across hardback, e-book and audiobook formats.

By comparison, another high profile release, Solo, William Boyd's new James Bond novel, sold a still-strong 8,692 in three days.

According to The Bookseller, its first-day sales represented 20 per cent of the total hardback sales of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Fielding's second instalment in the Bridget Jones series.

Since its publication in 1999, however, Fielding's novels have been turned into two hit films starring Renee Zellweger, expanding the franchise's audience.

Tom Drake-Lee, sales director at the Penguin Random House imprint Vintage, told the trade publication: "In all my time in publishing I have never experienced such a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation from colleagues, booksellers and friends and family as I have with the return of Bridget Jones in Mad About The Boy.

"It has been phenomenal, as are the sales we have seen to date. This is only the beginning."

It is unknown how many of those 46,000 buyers will get a bonus sample of Sir David Jason's autobiography My Life. Publishers were working hard to root out rogue copies of Bridget Jones last week after pages of Sir David's tome were mistakenly printed inside it.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in