Sodoku books set to hit the pre-Christmas market

M2 Best Books, Oct 20, 2005

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A range of new book titles featuring the Japanese puzzle craze sudoku are set to hit the shelves in the UK before Christmas as publishers try to maximise sales before the game loses its popularity.

The puzzle was first introduced to the UK in November 2004 by The Times newspaper, which went on to launch the first sudoku book, and since then over 2m copies of sudoku books have been sold throughout the country.

According to Reuters, six of the UK's top 10 non-fiction bestsellers were sudoku books earlier this year.

HarperCollins, the publisher for The Times, currently accounts for approximately 43% of British sudoku book sales despite competition from rival newspapers including The Independent, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph, reported Reuters.