Half a million extra books required in short order is not to be sniffed at. That's the figure The Bookseller has put on the number of books being rushed out by a plethora of publishers keen to cash in on the public's thirst for all things Michael Jackson with a rash of new titles. The Times has handily compiled a list of the books that are about to hit the shelves, at least two of which are going on sale today.

Jackson's death is indeed resulting in a real, substantive benefit to UK Book Printing plc. Butler, Tanner & Dennis is busy producing more than 300,000 colour books, and one of the publishers involved has already ordered a pre-emptive reprint of several thousand more. Without the need for a double-rush turnaround this work would certainly have been produced overseas, so what a brilliant boost for this business and its workforce, coming just at the right time too before it enters a seasonally busy period. Kevin Sarney must be moonwalking across the boardroom with joy.

He won't be the only print boss dancing with delight, either. CPI has been active producing "several" of the paperback titles, and I'm sure Clays and its fancy new warehouse have been busy too. What's more, half a million books is just the initial demand - renewed interest in existing titles such as J. Randy Taraborrelli's "Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness" is already resulting in six-figure reprint orders.

Perhaps this year we should honour Jackson with a one-off PrintWeek Award for posthumous services to the printing industry.