Pups, vampires and a president: The bestselling books of 2020
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Local authors accounted for eight of the 10 bestselling books in Australia last year, with the irrepressible blue heeler, Bluey, the subject of three of them. The canine hero of the ABC TV series, created by Ludo Studios in Brisbane, had seven books in the overall top 20, with combined sales exceeding 910,000 copies.
Despite the emergence of coronavirus and the consequent lockdowns that forced many bricks and mortar bookshops to shift to online sales and offer click-and-collect or home delivery, total book sales jumped by 9 per cent to 66 million in 2020, according to Nielsen BookScan, which surveys more than 1500 booksellers in Australia. Total value increased by 8 per cent to $1.2 billion.
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What a year. Who would have thought this time last year that 2020 would bring a pandemic? And what did it mean for books? Well, publishing schedules went a bit haywire as titles were postponed, trumpeted or slipped under the radar. It was possibly the worst time to be a debut author, with launches taking on a new identity.
Writers festivals and bookshop events were cancelled or migrated online. But didn t we readers respond well? We took to virtual events in our homes with alacrity, while festival directors swiftly and imaginatively adapted their offerings in a new world.