Dan Brown's new novel

Dan Brown's new novel, published today, or was it yesterday, has topped the Bestselling Charts. Anyone who bought it shouldn't have bothered. They will be able to pick up a copy at a third of the price in Oxfam in six months. Dan Brown also tops the chart as the most donated book to Oxfam.

The new thing about stacking advance orders and then calling them all sales on day of publication is changing the playing field to yet another stitch up. By the time a few disillusioned readers give up a couple of dozen pages in and red top reviews put in the hatchet it will be done for.