Críticas Magazine

Adriana V. Lopez

Ken Follett Breaks Spanish Record
February 12, 2008

Picking up from where I last left off, looking at Spain’s booming book culture, I want to zoom in on the Welsh writer Ken Follett who’s broken the record for biggest initial print run in the country. A whopping 525, 000 copies of his latest book, Un mundo sin fin (World Without End), was published by Random House Mondadori’s Plaza & Janés on December 28, 2007.  Go Ken.

Three hours after the books hit the stores, RHM ordered another 175,000 for printing after throngs of fans formed lines for the long awaited follow up to Los pilares de la tierra (The Pillars of the Earth), published in 1989. The grand total: 700, 000 copies.

It went down in history as the highest print run for Spanish territory ever. Higher than even a Harry Potter release. Though Editorial Salamandra had published 1 million copies for Harry, the million were intended for sales in Spain and for export to the rest of the Spanish-speaking Americas.

Random House said that they will print at least another 200,000 copies for Un mundo sin fin’s release in the Americas in March. Follett’s last best seller Pillars, has sold 5.5 million copies in Spain alone. I just wanted to point out that the most widely read book in Spain for 2007 is Idelfonso Falcones’ La catedral del mar (see my previous blog) about the drama surrounding building Barcelon’a Santa Maria del Mar church. Follett’s last two books are centered on the construction of a cathedral, too. Publishers take note: The Spanish just love historical novels with cathedrals in the plot.

Posted by Adriana V. Lopez on February 12, 2008 | Comments (0)