About us

The Nielsen Book Gold and Platinum Awards were originally launched in September 2001, and were presented to publishers and authors of books that achieved outstanding sales through the UK retail book trade. Any one title, in all its print editions, that had sold more than 500,000 copies (Gold) or 1,000,000 copies (Platinum) over a period of five consecutive years qualified for an award.

In 2017 for the first time, both print and e-book sales were counted and all sales from publication (or from when Nielsen UK records began: 1998 for print books and 2014 for e-books), were included. In addition, a new Award was added to the roster, Silver, for sales of over 250,000 copies in all editions over the same time period.

Nielsen Book is the official recorder of book sales in the UK, with a robust data for the whole of the 21st Century. The endorsement of a Silver, Gold or Platinum Bestseller Award, marketed through online and offline channels and highlighted through stickers on the books themselves, will become a recognised standard for consumers who need reassurance about what is, indeed, a bestselling title, providing encouragement and the impetus to try new authors.

Each title which achieves the Platinum milestone threshold of official sales of over 1 million copies in the UK (since the inception of Nielsen tracking at the turn of the century) ensure its author/s will be added to the ‘Nielsen Book 21st Century Hall of Fame’. As a new method of celebrating sales achievement over a number of years within the recording period (2000-present), Nielsen Book introduced the ‘Honorary Platinum Award’ in 2017. This award is presented to authors who, while they may not yet have reached the million sales milestone with a single title, have achieved significant lifetime official sales across their entire output. These Honorary Platinum award authors will be added to the Nielsen Book 21st Century Hall of Fame and are reviewed and presented on an adhoc basis.