Whatever one's personal opinion may be about Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister's autobiography has certainly provided a fillip for the printed word.

This was especially welcome given the amount of negative death-of-the-book coverage generated by news that a particularly exceptional dictionary with sales in the mere hundreds would likely enough not be printed anymore.  

While talking to Random House divisional publishing director Neil Bradford last week for PrintWeek's story about the Blair book, it was fantastic to hear him speak in such genuinely glowing terms about the performance of the publisher's print supply chain. The buzz around the launch really was palpable, and as Bradford rightly pointed out "if you can't get excited about this sort of thing then you're in the wrong job - this is what it's all about".

He also recounted how he was getting regular updates about the number of people spotted reading it on launch day on planes, trains and London Underground.  It must have been such a great vibe in the office, if only it were possible to bottle the essence of days like that.

Blair's A Journey remains at the top of Amazon's bestselling books list at the time of typing. And as the Christmas selling season approaches at speed, other notable titles are coming to market too. Gorgeous, pouting Nigella Lawson has a new cookbook out - in fact she'll be signing copies at the Waterstones around the corner from PrintWeek Towers this coming Wednesday. While Blair is considering cancelling his London book signing scheduled for the same day, in Nigella's instance riot police would more likely be required to keep her hordes of adoring fans under control. Form an orderly queue, chaps.

Then there's famous technophile Stephen Fry with the second installment of his autobiography, due for release next week and heavily trailed by the Sunday Times. This will be particularly interesting to follow as Fry is apparently developing some sort of special app to coincide with the launch.

I'm grateful to Blair for one thing at least, and that's for reminding publishers and the public about the power of the printed word, especially when it's actually in print.