Super Thursday: Pre-Christmas Rush For Books

It is the busiest day of the year for authors and publishers, with more books published today than on any other day of the year.

This year's Super Thursday is the day when 220 hardback books will be put on sale in the run-up to Christmas.

It is the autumn day which, publishers believe, offers the best chance for potential bestsellers of the festive season to be launched.

Authors such as Cheryl Cole , Rod Stewart and David Walliams are offering celebrity watchers a glimpse into their personal lives with the release of their autobiographies.

Snippets have already been revealed, with Stewart's extracts in serial form in the Daily Mail (LSE: DMGT.L - news) and David Walliams' admission in his book, Camp David, of his life-long depression and suicide attempts.

"Super Thursday is the biggest day of the year in terms of the calibre of the books and the authors in general," explained Philip Stone, charts editor of The Bookseller .

"Publishers are after the Christmas market because about one-fifth of the annual total spend on books takes place in the last month of the year."

The date is chosen between publishers each year and traditionally comes at the end of September or beginning of October.

"We had JK Rowling and Jamie Oliver releasing their books on September 27," Mr Stone explained. "So I imagine that other authors would not want to be put head-to-head with such bookselling giants and decided to hold back for a week or so."

This year's sales will be watched closely after a surge in ebook sales saw traditional book sales fall by 6%.

"Traditional book shops and sellers are having a hard time of it," Mr Stone said.

"Readers are definitely turning to ebooks and fiction has been shown to be very popular with Kindle readers, with Fifty Shades Of Grey being hugely successful.

"Publishers will be hoping this is going to be a great time for hardbacks."