DaVinci Mass Market Coming Soon

by Charlotte Abbot, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 1/6/2006

Ever since Sony announced the May 19 movie release of The Da Vinci Code last fall, and released the film's trailer in mid-December, the question in the book industry has been when the tie-in paperback would arrive. Newsweek's Jan. 2 cover story, touting Da Vinci as the year's "hottest movie," only upped the ante. Now, retailers say, Anchor Books has set a March 28 release date for the long-awaited mass-market edition.

Though Anchor is guarding the printing and other specifics as closely as clues to the Holy Grail, the figure is likely to outstrip those for each of the last three Harry Potter paperbacks, which had first printings of up to 2.5 million.

With hardcover sales of 12 million in North America in less than three years, Da Vinci will be back at #1 on PW’s hardcover fiction list next Monday after slipping as low as #13 on November 7 (and off the New York Times printed list on November 13). For Allison Elsby, category manager for genre fiction at Borders & Walden, that's the strongest sign that plenty of people still haven't read the book and that demand for the paperback will be strong.

Levy marketing v-p John Lindsay was a little more scientific: “if you look at how many copies of the hardcover are out there, and how many people say they read 3 or 4 books a year, you can see there's still an untapped market. Some people still can't afford to buy a hardcover, even if they really want to read a book. And the movie just gives it added support and buzz.”

Unlike Anchor, Dan Brown's other publishers are a little more forthcoming about the details of their makeover plans for his backlist. Pocket will publish new premium mass market editions of both Angels and Demons and Deception Point, each with first printings of 1 million, that will retail for $9.99. St. Martin's will resolicit orders for Digital Fortress.