From Richard Osman and Millie Bobby Brown to the upcoming book by Keanu Reeves, celebrity novels are everywhere. What’s behind the boom? And how do non-famous writers feel about it?I understood that if I was going to do it, I would have to put 100% of myself into it,” says Richard Osman about writing his debut crime novel The Thursday Murder Club, which was an immediate bestseller when it was published in 2020. He had attempted a novel before, but “I wasn’t giving it everything, I had too much on. And this was the first time where I thought: No, I’m able to focus on this for a couple of years now.” Osman’s agent, Juliet Mushens, adds: “He told me he was working on a novel, but he didn’t want to show it to anyone until he finished the whole thing.” When he did, “we did a couple of drafts and submitted it to publishers”. The rest is history: since The Thursday Murder Club was released, Osman has published three further novels and sold more than 10m books worldwide.He is the most successful example of a phenomenon that is more prominent than ever: the celebrity novelist. Of course, famous people have written novels for decades – from Alan Titchmarsh to Ben Elton. And the children’s market has become saturated with celebrities, including David Walliams, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Paul McCartney and Jamie Oliver. But sales of adult fiction by celebrities have remained relatively low, until recently. According to Nielsen BookScan data, in 2018 the Top 100 paperback fiction... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-01-13 09:00:12 UTC ]
J K Rowling's The Christmas Pig (Little, Brown) has notched up a second week in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, with 31,565 copies sold through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-26 07:52:25 UTC ]
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A new survey of Australia’s international book rights sales finds children’s books are most popular with overseas buyers but adult fiction is catching up. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2021-10-18 19:12:38 UTC ]
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Fiction that lazily predicts a dystopian, ecologically decimated world is doomed to fail; instead novelists must engage on a new level with the climate crisis Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-18 12:54:39 UTC ]
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Gains of 26% in both the adult fiction and young adult fiction categories combined to increase total unit sales of print books by 2% last week over the comparable week in 2020. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Granta Magazine has opened submissions for the fifth edition of its Best of Young British Novelists list, to be released in spring 2023. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-13 08:19:00 UTC ]
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Dave Grohl's The Storyteller (Simon & Schuster) has rocked straight into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot in its first week on sale, selling 50,367 copies through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-12 01:06:45 UTC ]
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A new children’s bookshop in Hitchin is specialising in inclusive titles, including books that celebrate neurodiversity. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-11 14:30:39 UTC ]
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Richard Osman's The Man Who Died Twice (Viking) has notched up a third week running in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 38,439 copies through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-05 18:06:50 UTC ]
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What are the best book club books for 2021? We’ve got 20 of ’em, including books like Beautiful World, Where Are You? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-10-01 10:37:00 UTC ]
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Novelists Paula Hawkins, Graham Norton and Alex Wheatle are among the authors writing short, accessible titles for the Quick Reads literacy programme for 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-26 23:05:50 UTC ]
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Novelists Nadia Hashimi and Helen Benedict join hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the mistakes American writers and culture made in depicting the United States’ wars Iraq and Afghanistan. In the wake of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and President Biden’s decision to pull US... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-23 08:49:21 UTC ]
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The Pointless presenter’s second crime novel, The Man Who Died Twice, has sold 114,202 copies in its first week on saleRichard Osman’s follow-up to The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, has become one of the fastest-selling novels since records began.Published on 16 September, The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-09-21 14:37:39 UTC ]
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Another strong performance by adult fiction was not enough to prevent unit sales of print books from falling 1.2% last week compared to the week ended September 12, 2020, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The author of The Fortune Men will now compete with five other novelists from South Africa, Sri Lanka and the US for the 2021 awardAlex Clark explores how the Booker shortlist tunes in to the worries of our ageJust one British author has made the shortlist for this year’s Booker prize: Nadifa... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-09-14 15:25:06 UTC ]
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With all categories except adult fiction having declines, unit sales of print books fell 5.2% in the week ended September 4, 2021 from the comparable week in 2020 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Jamie Oliver's Together (Michael Joseph) has debuted in the UK Official Top 50 number one, becoming his 19th cookbook to hit the top spot. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-07 12:31:55 UTC ]
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Paul McCartney's forthcoming book The Lyrics will feature the newly discovered words he wrote for an unrecorded Beatles song alongside 153 of his other works. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-24 06:19:40 UTC ]
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The Lyrics will feature a ‘self-portrait’ in 154 songs, including the unrecorded Tell Me Who He IsPaul McCartney will include the previously unseen lyrics to an unrecorded Beatles song in his forthcoming book The Lyrics.On Monday, the former Beatle revealed the 154 songs to feature in the book,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-08-23 16:00:08 UTC ]
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There’s something about literary sisters. Siblings offer a unique, complex, and compelling relationship for novelists to explore, so it’s no surprise that so many novels have sisters at their heart. From Jane Austen’s loveable Bennett sisters in Pride and Prejudice, and Louisa May Alcott’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-08-13 08:49:04 UTC ]
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The country music superstar has teamed up with the novelist James Patterson to write Run, Rose, Run, which will be published in MarchFirst globally successful entertainer, then heroic sponsor of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine, and now novelist … Dolly Parton seems determined to prove that there... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-08-11 16:27:28 UTC ]
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