Today is of course a big day for book publisher Transworld, part of Random House, as Dan Brown's much-anticipated follow-up to The Da Vinci Code hits the shelves.

Expectations are stratospheric for The Lost Symbol. It's already number one on Amazon's bestseller list, and supermarkets are offering deep discounts on the title in the hope that picking up a little light reading matter will lead shoppers to purchase a nice heavy trolley full of more profitable goods while they're at it.

The initial UK print run for the hardback was 1m - nice work for St Ives Clays, which printed the books, and CPI White Quill who handled the jackets. No doubt Clays' clever new secure warehouse came in extremely handy for this job. Clays and CPI, and their worldwide equivalents, will surely be hoping that a Supreme Being will indeed be at work in casting the necessary runes to propel The Lost Symbol towards the 80m copies sold by its predecessor.

The difference with this particular blockbuster is that it has been simultaneously released as an ebook as well, so sales of the digital version will provide some useful pointers about where book publishing may be heading. Some industry experts predict that it could be a tipping point in the popularity of such devices. However, I am happy to report that even high-tech afficionados have to admit that even Apple has yet to come up with something that is as pleasurable as reading print.