ROYAL BOOK BONANZA FOR GRIFFIN

Prince Harry’s controversial memoir Spare has smashed the record for autobiographies in Australia, delivering a production bonanza to local printer Griffin Press.

The 410pp hardback tome sold 64,000 copies in its first week, despite coming in with a $59.99 retail price, although major retailers like Big W had cut that to $35. The number sold is more than three times the previous record, held by rugby league great Darren Lockyer.

Griffin Press, based in Adelaide, was part of Ovato until it was bought by Opus Group last June for $8.5m as Ovato crumbled. Opus has kept the facility, which runs along with its other book printing businesses, Ligare and MacPherson’s.

The massive numbers for Spare come as printed book sales in Australia have been growing in number during the Covid years, as have visits to bricks and mortar bookstores.

The Australia sales of Spare though are dwarfed by those overseas, it became the fastest selling non-fiction book of all time in the UK, with some 467,000 sold in the first week, while in the US and Canada it sold more than 1 million copies on the first day.

Prince Harry was reportedly paid US$20m for a four book deal.