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 ]
Booksellers are predicting that a Picador novel by a little-known Japanese writer will prove a left-field Christmas bestseller. The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide, translated by Eric Selland, sold over 16,200 in paperback in its first six and a half weeks since publication at the end of September... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YouTuber Alfie Deyes is to write two more books for Blink Publishing, including a sequel to his bestselling debut The Pointless Book. The sequel to The Pointless Book, which has sold more than 100,000 copies through Nielsen BookScan, will be published in April 2015. This will be followed by a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Julia Donaldson has bested fellow bestsellers J K Rowling, Jamie Oliver and Dan Brown to become the only author to record annual sales of over £10m in five consecutive years. The Gruffalo creator sold almost £239,000 last week through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market, to bring her tally... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Newly formed production company Monumental Pictures has acquired the film rights to Caitlin Moran’s novel How to Build a Girl (Ebury Press). Moran and John Niven will adapt the book for the big screen, with Film 4 backing the project. Moran’s debut novel follows teenager Johanna Morrigan, who... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jeff Kinney's newest Wimpy Kid title has débuted at number one, knocking David Walliams' Awful Auntie from the top of the UK Official Top 50 after a run of six consecutive weeks. The Long Haul (Puffin), the ninth of Kinney's books featuring hapless middle schooler Greg Heffley, sold 59,315... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-publishing has made it clear that “readers want very different things to what publishers in London and Manhattan think readers want”, Orna Ross of the Alliance of Independent Authors has said. Speaking at an event debating the best route to publishing for authors, Ross said... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Man Booker Prize winner The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Samuel Johnson Prize winner H is for Hawk are amongst the titles competing to win the Waterstones Book of the Year 2014. There are eight titles this year on the shortlist, voted for by Waterstones’ booksellers– three adult fiction,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Halpern's upcoming book on rogue debt collecting is earning praise for bringing 'unexpected literary heft' to the topic and writing a 'colorful and chilling' story. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lena Dunham's much-talked about essay collection, 'Not That Kind of Girl,' sold about 38,000 print copies in its first week on sale, according to Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tom Hanks and Ron Howard are set to reunite to produce a film based on Dan Brown's Inferno.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Last week saw £23.4m of book sales registered through Nielsen BookScan; its highest value... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When book blogger Georgia McBride and St. Martin’s Press teamed up in November 2009 to run a contest soliciting what they called new adult fiction from aspiring authors, they had no idea how huge this new niche would become. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of both hardcovers and trade paperbacks, the industry’s two largest print categories, were up 2% in the first six months of this year, compared to the first half of 2013, leading to an overall 1% gain in print unit sales at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The second installment of J.K. Rowling's Cormoran Strike series (written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith) sold roughly 21,000 copies in its first partial week on sale, according to Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hillary Clinton’s "Hard Choices" sold 85,721 copies in its first week on sale at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Just under 3m book sales registered through Nielsen BookScan for the week ending the 31st of May... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hillary Clinton spoke about her upcoming book at the Association of American Publishers' annual gathering. The work is scheduled to be released this June. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books sold through Nielsen BookScan’s mass merchandisers/other channel fell 9% in the first 10 weeks of 2014, compared to the same period in 2013. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The memoir of former defense secretary Robert M. Gates has sold more than 80,000 copies during its first week on sale in the outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books fell 4% in the first week of 2014 compared to the week ended Jan. 6, 2013, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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