Coincidence or Conspiracy? Rivals Launch Books on Same Day

It might have been mere coincidence, or it might have been the result of a sinister conspiracy stretching back centuries, involving the Knights Templar, the Rosicrucians, and dark forces within the Vatican. Either way, the author of The Da Vinci Code and one of the men he has been facing in court found themselves locked in a new battle yesterday, with rival US book launches on the same day.

As a London judge deliberates on the charge that Dan Brown stole the "architecture" of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, the first 5m paperback copies of The Da Vinci Code were going on sale in America, at the same time as Baigent’s new book, The Jesus Papers.

One could argue about which is the more remarkable: Baigent’s claim that the church’s portrayal of Jesus as the son of God is "the greatest cover-up in history" - or the fact that Mr Brown’s record-breaking novel has sold 12m copies in three years in the US only as a hardback.

"Total coincidence, at least from our side," said Baigent in New York, where he was doing the circuit of television talkshows. Earlier he had told a reporter that there had been a lot of coincidences this year - "at least I assume they are coincidences" - but he told the Guardian that he had organised the book’s launch date several months ago, before he knew of the trial date or The Da Vinci Code’s paperback launch.

He acknowledged that the court case had significantly boosted sales of his earlier book, but said he would "have to sell a hell of a lot of books" to cover legal costs. He had "no gut feeling at all" about which way the verdict would go.

Russell Perrault of Anchor Books, which is publishing the The Da Vinci Code in two paperback formats at two different prices, said: "I have to say the trial in London has certainly kept it on the front pages of the newspapers here.

"The unbelievable sales have just not stopped at all, week after week after week."

The decision to finally release the paperback appears motivated by the launch of The Da Vinci Code movie, starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tatou and Sir Ian McKellen, and scheduled for US and UK release in May. "I think a lot of the film audience are paperback readers," Mr Perrault said.

It is unusual for any American novel to remain in hardback for more than a year, unless it sells so badly as to render a paperback commercially unviable. Brown’s tale of religious conspiracy in high places, by contrast, is estimated to have become the bestselling hardback adult novel in history.

• The accolade of bestselling hardback book in the US is still held by The Purpose-Driven Life, a Christian self-help manual