Should criminals profit through books?

Readers of this blog will have noticed in recent weeks a pattern has emerged, whereby I post very little for several days, and then when I get days off, post several times a day. I receive several email bulletins with news from around the book world, and read other sites such as The Bookseller on a regular basis, adding comments as I feel necessary, but save the blogging for when I have time to write much more in depth.

Today is one of those days - my first post was about the credit crunch which is affecting EUK and more specifically Bertrams, but my second post for today will detail the various stories that I have found particularly interesting, which have circulated around the book world this week.

Two have particularly caught my eye, the first of which comes from The Guardian. This concerns a Government decision to introduce legislation preventing criminals from profiting from the sale of their stories through books. This has caused a furor within the book world, where publishers pay handsomely for such rights, with many citing this as unworkable and an attack on free speech.

The plan, which is part of the Coroners and Justice Bill announced as part of the Queen's speech, is likely to involve the introduction of a UK-wide civil scheme for the recovery of profits from criminal memoirs. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Justice said it was too early to provide more details, but that the scheme would be unlikely to attempt to retrieve profits retrospectively. The scheme, which is designed to prevent criminals from profiting from their crimes, would not include accounts of prison life such as written by Jeffrey Archer (politicians know how to look after its own), books about other people's crimes, or fictional accounts of crime.

On the surface this sounds all well and good, but (and there is always a but), as Peter Walsh, publisher at true crime specialist Milo Books said "practicality is a different argument from ethics." Walsh went on point out that writing about their experiences is for many criminals part of their rehabilitation, and can often lead to new and successful careers where they make a real contribution to society (which includes paying taxes). In some ways this is no worse than celebrities who write about their struggle with drink and drugs, as many argue that in both cases, these books glorify the writers previous activities and encourage those at the bottom of the pile, who look up to such individuals, to follow their example. I have heard some comment that the admission that one has such a problem seems to be worn as a badge of honour.

The second point that Simon Juden, Chief Executive of the Publishers Association pointed out is that much of the most potentially offensive stuff wouldn't come from people convicted of crimes. For example, Nelson Mandela couldn't publish stuff because he was convicted of a crime, but OJ Simpson could, because he wasn't (that has since changed). This scheme is therefore targetting the wrong people.

The second story which comes from Publishers Weekly, is that Amazon boss Jeff Bezoz has been voted as Publishers Person of the Year. My own views on his company are well known to anyone who has read this blog, but love him or loathe him, he is a force to reckoned with, and one that has changed the face of publishing in the 14 years since Amazon was launched.

Bezoz claims in an interview at the company's Seattle headquarters that those at his company see themselves as explorers. He goes on to say “It’s much more interesting looking at unexplored terrain” and, because of the Internet, “there is boundless unexplored terrain.” This makes him sound like a character from Star Trek, going where no man has gone before.

His strategies of allowing negative reviews and the sale of used and second hand books prompted strong criticism from the book world, yet you have to admire his vision. As he also points out "To succeed in new businesses you have to be willing to experiment and to accept possible failure."

That is the hard part, compared to that, starting a business is easy.

A tough Christmas - especially for celebrities

With sales down at almost all major retailers, within and without the book trade, and crisis talks at Woolworths, this will be a bleak Christmas for many. The market in which I work is one of the worst hit, mainly since the products that we sell are seen not only as expensive, but also as non-essential.

The book world is finally being forced to wake up to the reality of the discounting culture that it unwittingly created with the abolition of the Net Book Price Agreement. Echoing what I have been saying for months, The Bookseller reports that according to the Booksellers Association Benchmark Study, the results of which were released on Friday (November 21st), UK booksellers are locked in a damaging "vicious circle" of discounting, and are making fewer profits and seeing less growth than their counterparts overseas.

The report goes on to say that book stores have been hit by a "triple whammy" of declining average prices, stagnating growth and rising costs. Of the countries studied (UK, USA, Ireland, Netherlands, Finland and Sweden), only one (the United States) had a lower average selling price than the UK, with perhaps more worryingly, the number of books sold at discount in the UK rising from 44 percent in 2004 to 51 percent in 2007.

The report estimates that UK bookshops lost around 10 percent of volume sales to other sources, such as supermarkets and online retailers during that same three years. Gross margin for UK booksellers per book is put at around 25 percent (meaning that my book which is sold at 40 percent discount, is a relatively high earner for most), far lower than the average of the countries surveyed.

Echoing my own words, BA president Graham Rand said: "We have to ask ourselves whether the industry has gone too far in creating this -'lowest price' environment for consumers; through this serial discounting are we simply devaluing the worth of the book in consumers' eyes?" I have been saying this for a long time, ever since I first began to learn about publishing in fact and understood how the supply chain works. The lower the prices go, the more books are seen as throw away commodities, of little or no value.

Any fool can surely see that such heavy discounting is not good for business - and not just for book stores. Every sector of publishing is affected by this aggressive strategy, from publishers to book stores to authors. On the surface, it is good for the consumers, since they get lower prices, but it also means less choice, as the money is no longer there to nurture and support up and coming talent, hence the explosion in self publishing. Instead of welcoming this, and seeing it as a good thing that leads to increased choice and competition, the majority working in the industry see this as bane and a dumbing down of quality, to be kept out at all costs. One look at the average celebrity (supposedly) written book will soon tell you where the real dumbing down has come from - the industry itself that pays such obscene amounts to publish these books - not for much longer though.

The BA hopes that this report will be used as a springboard to book sellers to re-think their business strategies, and so do I, for the good of all. Discounting has its place, to encourage sales in slower moving titles perhaps, but to sell brand new books as loss leaders is irresponsible in the extreme. Instead of creating business and instilling brand confidence, this ultimately has the opposite effect. The company I work for, in the electrical sector is undergoing a major re-branding exercise to overcome their public image as a discount retailers; if the book stores do not change their stance, they may be forced to do the same. The conditions may be difficult - they are for all - but there is more than one way to skin a cat - if money is tight, instead of discounting, we need to find ways to cut costs by as the report suggests, closer negotiations with publishers, rethinking of labour costs, increased product ranges and ensuring the supply chain is being used effectively.

Things may be good for Katie Price (her latest book is reported to have outsold Gordon Brown's by 4,446 copies to 193, in just two weeks) but the signs are that the industry is finally catching up with public opinion and cottoning on to the fact that these so-called celebrity memoirs are not worth the money being spent on them. As a genre, celebrity memoirs are losing popularity fast, in favour of self help and books on how to beat the credit crunch.

As well as a more cautious public, who see these books as expensive luxuries, publishers can no longer afford fees reaching into seven figures for such authors. In the first six months of 2008, publishers' lists for non-fiction hardbacks were crammed with books by celebrities, including the aforementioned Katie Price, Katherine Jenkins, Myleene Klass and Craig Charles. Books were also scheduled for older more established stars such as Esther Rantzen, Julie Andrews, Mike Oldfield and William Shatner (now that one might be worth reading). Lists for 2009 reveal only 3 such celebrity books, by comedian Jack Dee, TV host Jeremy Kyle, and comedienne Jo Brand.

The majority of these books are issued as hardbacks, with cover prices (before discount) around the £19 mark, which is a high price to pay. Last December, books had to sell at least 10,000 copies to make it into the Top 20 of the Bookseller magazine's sales charts, this year that has halved to just 5000 copies. While some books have done remarkably well, other have failed to meet expectations. Dawn French is said to have received an advance of up to £2 million for her memoirs, Dear Fatty, yet the book has sold just 30,000 copies. Simply put, celebrities are becoming a de-valued currency. Despite these huge advances with thousands spent on publicity, the majority fail to deliver on sales and do not earn their advances back. Books like this cost publishers money, and lots of it, and the more books that make a loss, the less there is to pay the real writers, who in the meantime, struggle to get any advance at all.

Publishers are beginning to see the light, and are becoming more and more cautious when it comes to these deals. As Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday's literary editor, said: "When even the big names aren't selling, the economics don't add up. Add in the shrinking books market overall, as the credit crunch takes effect, and publishers become no longer willing to take a chance."

Publishing, or for that matter any business venture, is a game of chance, which can go either way. The current economics and experience show, that celebrity books are losing favour with the reading populace. Everything goes in circles, as I knew it would sooner or later. At times of uncertainly the public do not want to know about other peoples glamorous lives, as all this does is create more misery, what they want is believable information and ideas on how to escape from their own. Maybe it is time for me to write that book about Lundy?

God is smiling

The book lovers forum which I mentioned on here a day or so ago, has several authors within its growing membership including myself, and lots of interesting threads to get ones teeth into. One of these is aimed at the writing members, posing the question, why is it that we feel compelled to write. I have often wondered this myself, but nevertheless, was surprised to read this morning the answer that I typed after I got home last night. I was so tired that I am surprised I had the time or the energy to write at all, but then I often find, as do other writers, that my best work is produced when I am in that state, as spirit becomes detached from the body, allowing the mind to get out of the way.

Here though is what I wrote:

"I write for lots of different reasons - to express happiness, anger, sadness, despair and the sheer lunacy of life, but also to help me gain clarity on the burning issues that bore through to my soul and make me think and question what I see around me in the world at large, and also to make others think and question. I write as a means of learning and finding out more about the world - I teach what I need to learn. Most of all though I write for the sheer love of it, and because it make me feel good to know that in some small way I am making a difference to this world."

It took me a while to warm up this site, and I left for a while after I first joined following some comments that some ignorant so and so posted about how it was perfectly okay to rob authors of their livelihood by buying second hand books. Each to their own. It is all water under the bridge now anyway, and actually since I returned I have not seen that member on there anyway.

The discussion re Katie Price continues to rumble on on that same site, with members agreeing with my comments regarding how this may all be part of the divine plan to bring such issues to the attention of the public at large and open up a dialogue regarding such issues. To me it is and will always be about the authors right to be honoured as the creator of that work. In a way though, when it comes to ghost writing, it goes with the territory that this will not be the case, at least not publicly anyway.

Ghost writers are often very private people. It is a difficult but interesting and very lucrative profession to get into if you have the stomach for it, as it provides a license to get right under the skin of these celebrities and ask them all those pertinent questions that no one else can - not so much maybe with Katie, as let's face it, there is not much of her life that has not already been shoved down our throats anyway. Ghost writers are also paid handsomely for their efforts - usually for a set fee, but often with these celebrity books, if they are sensible and have a good agent who can negotiate on their behalf, for a share of the profits. They do the work knowing that it is part of the deal for their name not to be mentioned and not wanting the publicity that goes along with all of this.

I believe though that things are changing, and there is a big backlash going on against these practises that the industry would be wise to listen to. The public are wising up to the way in which they are basically being conned, and things will therefore have to change. This takes time to filter down through the echelons of the publishing industry, which is notoriously resistant to change. It will though happen, it is an inevitability and only a matter of time - it is not if, but when.

Perhaps a fair compromise would be for the ghost writer to retain her anonymity (I know her name, but most of Katie's fans and those outside the publishing industry wouldn't), but for the prize money to be shared equally between them. Mind you, with the fuss that this has caused, I would be very surprised if the book won anyway. If it does, then I don't think we have seen anything yet, but only time will tell. I do know one thing though; I can guarantee that this will not be the last time that a book such as this courts such controversy and debate.

The Bookseller website has had a few interesting articles regarding print on demand in the last week or so, which indicates that that change may be happening faster than any of us thought. The first of these by Tim Tevnan says that the number of books published in the UK skyrocketed to the highest level ever last year, driven by an increase in print on demand titles.

According to Nielsen BookScan, the number of front list titles (books with both an ISBN and a 2007 publication date) sold last year hit 118,602, up a staggering 36 percent from 2006 when the figure was 86,984.

The amount of back list titles with a pre 2007 publication date, which I guess then would include mine, as we did not change the ISBN for the second edition, sold last year also increased by 28 percent, up to 758,125 from 590,464 in 2006.

While some of this can be attributed to more products such as maps etc carrying ISBN's, this is largely due to the rise in print on demand books. André Breedt, Nielsen BookScan research and development analyst said: "there have been more front list and individual titles sold than ever before. What we are really beginning to see is the effect of books never going out of print with print on demand."

Richard Charkin, MD of Bloomsbury, JK Rowling's publisher said "what you see here is a reflection of a vibrant and healthy society." He went on to say "the principle is that it is simply getting cheaper to publish, but more costly to market to the high street." Tell me about it!

Penguin UK c.e.o. Peter Field agreed stating "if there are 120,000 books published, so many of them are POD or academic monographs, which just won’t make it to the High Street. For trade publishers, we each make decisions to publish based on what we can market and sell into the trade." More's the pity, as these figures seem to clearly show that despite these assertions, these so-called experts do not always get it right. Print on demand, as I have said so many times, has so much potential, not just for authors such as myself wishing to take control of their work, but also for those whose books have gone out of print. These figures then come as no surprise whatsoever to me or I suspect, the majority of print on demand authors both in this country and abroad.

The second story which only goes to underline my point, relates to literary agency PFD, whom it seems somewhat controversially, are also embracing this technology. The article states that PFD are 'entering into a relationship' with Lightning Source, enabling them to bring out of print works from many of their authors, both living and dead, back into circulation through print on demand. These authors include names such as V S Pritchett estate, the Storm Jameson estate and author Angela Huth.

PFD believes that this deal will fulfil two different services; firstly to bring these out of print titles back into circulation, but also to give them the opportunity to re-present titles to publishers with a concrete sales history, with a view to being republished on a mainstream list. I wonder if they would offer to represent me then with the history that I now have and whether I would be deemed to have made sufficient sales to be worthy of their attention?

The books will be available through all the usual outlets that are typically open to Lightning Source books namely, Amazon, Bertrams and Gardners, as well as via PFD's own website. This is the bit that causes the most controversy, as it means in effect that PFD have become both publisher and agent, and one cannot help but wonder whether there is a conflict of interest here.

Still it does show that print on demand continues to make waves and inroads within the industry in a way that would have been unthinkable a few short years ago.

In the almost 2 years since the first edition of my book was published, there have been tremendous changes within the industry, which many thought would never have been possible With changes in the supply chain and the softening attitude towards self publishing and in particular print on demand, there has never been a better time to be embracing this route, and I am for one am really proud and excited to be in the midst of this revolution as one of the forerunners who has helped to bring this change about.

Sometimes I think that you have to hit rock bottom before you can come out the other side, as it is only by reaching this point that you can come to a place of surrender. It is no secret that things have been very tough for me of late, but I am at last beginning to turn the corner and see some light at the end of the tunnel (and thankfully it is not a train coming the other way!)

Last week I reported that I had received an order for 2 books from a Scottish branch of Christian book chain Wesley Owen. They sent the books straight back again though, leaving me £5 out of pocket having sent them on a firm sale basis in good faith. I emailed them for an explanation and was surprised to have an email back a few days later apologising and offering to send me a cheque to cover the cost.

The article in the the local paper was published in last weeks issue and has so far resulted in 2 more sales. I have also been offered the chance to have a stall free of charge at the end of April at one of my local town's most important and best attended annual events - the Brigitte Trust complimentary health day. I also today had an email from a friend from the astrology group I attended last night to say that she would like to buy 10 copies of the book to distribute to her friends. The number I still have to sell is slowly diminishing and God is smiling on me once more. Long may that continue.

Celebrities fast tracking the publishing system

The Book lovers forum of which I am a member has an interesting discussion going at the moment entitled Celebs fast tracking the publishing system. Not that long ago, I was fiercely attacked on the same site for daring to state that it was unfair that celebrities such as Jordan (she will always be that to me and not Katie Price) were cashing in on others talents and claiming the glory for books that may well have been based on their own ideas, but were not in actual fact written by them at all. Those members who attacked me for having the audacity to suggest that brand Jordan was little more than a pair of breasts are it seems in the minority, for this new thread has far more supporters than critics.

I make the point, as I did in a recent article on Linda Jones' Freelance Writing Tips blog site that it seems a really sad indictment of our society when a ghost written novel by an ex glamour model sells more copies than the winner of the Booker prize for literature. It seems ironic to me that self publishing is seen as vanity press, by pandering to clients egos, when commercial publishers are in fact the real culprits. They may well be responding to market trends, and these books may well sell in the cartloads to blonde twenty somethings with nothing better to spend their money on, but the majority of book buyers in this country are not in that age range, but are in fact middle aged, and born during the sixties baby boom years. These people are not in the slightest bit interested in the so-called celebrity culture, in fact it bores them to tears.

It seems to me that far from self publishing being vanity press, commercial publishers that offer vast sums to celebrities in order to publish their works, or more accurately ideas, are the ones who are really guilt of vanity. This sets up a three way symbiotic relationship that feeds the ego of the celebrity keeping them in the public eye, at the same time offering publicity to the publisher who makes even more money. This also in turn feeds the illusion that celebrity status is desirable as it gives fame and fortune thus making the public, especially young women, feel that their own lives and aspirations are inadequate.

I believe that books at their best should enlighten and educate, making us think about the issues that really matter, whether through fiction or non fiction. Books such as these celebrity titles do nothing to either educate or enlighten, but have the opposite effect. They contribute to the general dumbing down of society by feeding the public with an endless supply of meaningless drivel that keeps their minds in overdrive and acts as a distraction that ultimately keeps both them and the so-called celebrities in chains as they have to work ever harder in order to maintain the illusion.

In its own way, the rise in self publishing can be seen as a by product of the so-called celebrity culture, since it leads people to a false sense of their own superiority, believing that if these celebrities, most of whom have no obvious talent apart from courting publicity, can do it, then so too can they. It is then partly the industry’s own attitude that has created this explosion.

It seems to me that commercial publishers have painted themselves into a corner, as by focusing on celebrities, who make up a very small proportion of the population and demand much higher advances, there is little money left with which to nurture new talent that comes from the many. The many grow to resent this as they are not being given equal opportunity, and so choose to take matters into their own hands and redress the imbalance by self publishing. That as I have discovered, has its own set of problems though ...

It seems that I am not the only one to be feeling as I do and criticising the rise in celebrity books. Award winning author Zadie Smith has launched a blistering attack on literary prizes. Critics of course say that this is rich coming from someone whose career was arguably kick started by such competitions, but she does have a a valid point when she says that most literary prizes are "only nominally" about literature. She goes on to state that "They are really about brand consolidation for beer companies, phone companies, coffee companies and even frozen food companies." Celebrities such as Jordan are increasingly seen as a brand in their own right, so these comments apply just as much to the rise in celebrity books as any other kind.

Bear in mind as I write this that Jordan's (Katie Price's) book Perfect Ponies: My Pony Care Book has been nominated for one of the most prestigious prizes in literature alongside the likes of Doris Lessing, Khaled Hosseini and Ian McEwan. Price's book has it seems been shortlisted for the WH Smith Children’s Book of the Year award, which is seen to many as the “Oscars” of the book trade – a decision that has whipped large sections of the literary world into a frenzy of disapproval, largely because she did not write one single word of it herself.

Somewhat depressingly, Price is one of the most commercially successful writers in the country. The Society of Authors has been inundated with complaints from concerned members. Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring, who chairs the organisation, said: “I’m shocked. I’m amazed the publishers even put the book up. If it’s ghost-written then it’s inappropriate that it should be shortlisted. I am disappointed by the judges.” I have to say that I agree with her.

Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat and several children's titles said that it would be “depressing beyond anything” if Price wins on April 9th. “If this is an award for people who write books then it should be open only to people who write books, not to somebody who lends their name to a book, or who would have written a book if they had time but didn’t.”

Robert Harris, the author of Fatherland, whose most recent novel was about a ghostwriter, summed up by own views when he said that Price’s nomination was “emblematic of the tacky culture we live in”. It is as he says though a sad fact of life that “Very often the books are by writers who would not be able to make a living writing under their own name but if you put a celebrity name on the cover then it becomes marketable.”

In the meantime, the current Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen has leapt to Price's defense stating that “We get too hung up about authorship. None of us writes a book entirely on our own. We get help from editors, or ideas might come from conversations with our families, or children. The issue is whether the book’s good, not who has written it. If Jordan or any of her helpers have written a very good book, then absolutely good luck to them.”

I cannot help feel that he is missing the point. Yes we do all get help from others. In my case that help came from first and foremost from my wonderful partner and soul mate Coran, but also like he says from friends, and the various other authors whose books I used for research purposes. I was the one who spent five years though collating the information and putting it in the correct order - no one else. I was also the one who paid the money to publish my work and spent hour upon hour doing my utmost to get my book seen an noticed. It is then about honouring the creator of the work for their input and hard work. In this instance I have to disagree with Rosen, that authorship is indeed everything.

It does occur to me though, having said all of this, that the judges of said awards may in some way be being used (strictly unconsciously of course, as people nearly always are) by spirit to highlight these issues and bring them more widely into the public arena in order to open up discussions regarding the ethics or otherwise of the modern publishing world. Spirit does indeed move in mysterious ways, and who knows what goes on behind the scenes or what the higher agenda is. I often wish that I did, but then again, if I knew everything there was to know then what would be the point of me being here? I am here like everyone else to learn more about myself and then put what l learn into practise in the way that best serves myself and the rest of humanity. God never promised that it would be an easy ride, and actually I would rather it wasn't, for we learn through adversity and pain. If life was all love and light where would be the growth and the evolution?

Up to monkey business ...

I get the distinct impression tonight that the universe is playing one great big cosmic joke on me. Firstly I was 20 minutes late out from work tonight because our new and over enthusiastic salesman would not stop waffling to a customer whom he thought was about to buy - and then didn't. Much as I like this man and admire his attitude to life, namely that there is always something to smile about, it made me really quite angry that both he and the customer seemed to have so little respect for other peoples time and more to the point, any sort of understanding that we are not paid for our time after 5.30pm.

Then when I finally did get home what did I find waiting for me on my keyboard - a letter from the Landmark Trust thanking me for my forthcoming visit to Lundy and inviting me to book a table for Valentines Day at the Montagu Room Restaurant (i.e. the back room) of the islands one and only pub - the Marisco Tavern! I am sure it would be very nice for couples, but it had obviously not occurred to them that there is only one bed in the property I have booked!

This will be the first Valentines Day that Coran and I have spent apart, so it will be somewhat strange in some ways. I have tried to get him to visit Lundy with me on numerous occasions, but he is just not interested. Part of me likes it that way I admit, as I do relish the time alone as does he, but it would also be nice just occasionally to be able to share it with him. I have told him that come what may he will be coming with me for December 2012 - after all, if the world does go tits up, then I can't think of anywhere else I would end it all!

I really thought I had seen and read it all when it comes to the publishing world, but really nothing prepared me for the story I have just read on The Bookseller website. A chimpanzee by the name of Cheeta has been signed up by Fourth Estate to write his memoirs! Yes you did read that right - a chimpanzee has been signed up to write his memoirs!

This is no ordinary chimp, but no less than the world famous Cheeta from the Tarzan films. The article states that Cheeta, a.k.a. Jiggs who celebrated his 75th birthday last April, lives in a Palm Springs retirement home, where he paints and plays the piano.

Fourth Estate publishing director Nicholas Pearson states that "Here we've got the real monkey—­a great actor who is one of the few still alive from what was the golden age of Hollywood. He saw it all. He had to act to save his life, literally. Others who fell by the wayside often ended up in the lab with the dogs, mice and rabbits."

The "funny, moving and searingly honest" book will cover Cheeta's struggle with drink and addiction to cigars, his breakthrough with radical new form of abstract painting "apeism", his relationship with his nightclub-performing grandson Jeeta, and his battle with diabetes.

This would be almost funny were it not so damned serious. I mean what in the hell is the world coming to when a chimp who cannot even speak English let alone write it, is signed up to write his memoirs? How on earth are sensible human beings who do supposed to compete with such hallowed celebrity status and what does it say about the publishing industry and American society in general when a publisher seriously thinks for even one minute that people will buy this sort of stuff. It is totally and utterly beyond me, and for once in my life, I am at a loss for words.

Meanwhile back in the real world, my own book sales continue to go well. There is still no news from Gardners as to when or if those books are being sent back. I continue to check their site on a daily basis, and tonight the number of copies in stock has fallen yet again to 122. I will go to the Waterstones website again then in a minute to see which stores may have been added to that list of stockists and make sure that those who promised me earlier in the week that they would order copies have indeed done so - if not, then they can expect another phone call on Wednesday!

Has my work born fruit?

It seems that all my running around over the weekend in order to drum up book orders may have paid dividends, since there has been no word from Gardners all week as to when I can expect delivery of my books. When I got home from work on Friday night they had 159 copies in stock, and as of tonight the number has dropped to 135. This means that should they still insist on shipping back the 120 copies as planned, it will leave them with just 15 copies in stock. This is the number at which they would normally be re-ordering, so I would not be a bit surprised to find that the shipment had been delayed while they figure out whether or not this is really such a good idea! I can but wait and see.

It has though all things considered, been one very strange week. It has very quiet at work following the Christmas rush, not that I am complaining too much. While it is nice to have the time to catch one's breath, the only bonus we are likely to earn this week is for the store that was the quietest. It is the same though across the board, with even superstores being quiet. In terms of money through the tills, some of them are doing far worse that we are. Our staffing problems do not help, although we have yet another new full timer starting on Monday. He has no retail experience, but that need not be a bad thing, as he will come into the job without preconceptions. Let's hope it will be a case then of third time lucky, and he lasts more than three days. He is a little older, so should in theory at least be more reliable.

Looking at The Bookseller website today though, it seems that the HMV group, who of course own Waterstones, are one of the few retailers to have had a good Christmas at all. It must be due to all those copies of my book that have been flying off the shelves! Like for like sales in the five weeks prior to January 5th were apparently up by 4 percent with an actual growth rate of 0.5 percent. Not bad at all considering.

The same news page details a story about a new Apprentice style TV show for crime writers, whereby six celebrities are mentored by crime writer Minette Walters. The series, which will be broadcast as a series of five 45 minute episodes will pit six celebrities, named as Brendan Cole, Sherrie Hewson, Angela Griffin, Kelvin MacKenzie, Matt Allwright and Diarmuid Gavin against each other.

Walters will set them a series of challenges designed to inspire daily writing tasks. These will include dog tracking, resisting a violent attack, an autopsy (rather them than me), crime scene investigation, interrogation techniques and rapid pursuit of a suspect. Walters will then judge the celebrities' writing efforts and eliminate one candidate per day.

The winner will predictably turn their plot and central characters into a novel, to be published with Pan as a Quick Read on WBD 2009, in conjunction with the BBC's adult literacy campaign RaW. This together with the fact that the proceeds will go to Children in Need, is about the only saving grace that this idea has.

While I would support any endeavour that helps raise funds for charity, especially for children and the literacy campaign, why did they have to choose celebrities as the contestants? There are thousands of talented writers out there who are begging for a chance like this and will never get that lucky break, because unlike these so-called celebrities, they are just not well known enough and their writing is deemed to be insufficiently commercial. High sales is not though necessarily indicative of great literary merit. This can be attested to when you look at the film and art work in general, as well as publishing. The best films are very often those made by the low budget production companies, yet because these do not take the big money and have low marketing budgets, like print on demand and other self published books, they disappear without a trace.

It seems to me then that the only crime that is being committed here is the fact that they have chosen celebrities for this role. Mind you, having said this, I cannot realistically imagine that a struggling would be writer would be happy to hand over the entire proceeds of their book to charity, no matter how worthy the cause, not unless it was the struggling writers benevolent fund anyway ....

Trouble at Bloomsbury?

The publishing world is buzzing with the news at the moment that Bloomsbury Press are to make 8 people redundant, primarily in their marketing department. They claim that this has come about largely as a result of the demise of Harry Potter, although we all know, that as a public limited company it is more to do with keeping greedy share holders happy with their investment. Some are even saying that the company may be the subject of a takeover with Pearson the owners of Penguin, the most likely candidates.

Agents are questioning some of the company's more recent acquisitions - Publishing News mentions £1 million paid to Take That singer and songwriter Gary Barlow, and £400,000 for David Blunkett. Nice work if you can get it.

It seems to me then that if the company is in trouble, then this is the real cause of it all, and nothing to do with the demise of Harry Potter. I mean £1 million for a book detailing the memoirs of celebrity singer that will be off the shelves within 6 months of launch? £400,000 for the memoirs of an adulterous MP - is this really what these people are worth, and do their books really sell in these amounts. If so then it says an awful lot about the mentality (or lack of) of the great British public. If you want my honest opinion, it is all just a flush in the pan. The future does not lie with these pile em high and sell em cheap celebrity memoirs, but with the slow and steady sales that come from back list titles that can be relied upon from year to year. There does seem to a change going on in the industry at the moment and a move towards acknowledging the importance of these titles and that is a good thing too.

Don't get me wrong, we do need fresh new blood in the form of new and interesting books, but that is my point. Most of these books may be new, but to the majority of the reading populace they are just not interesting at all. People have better things to do with their time than sit around and read celebrity memoirs and other such rubbish. They may appeal to a certain brand of 20 something Heat magazine reading blondes, but these readers are very much in the minority. It is the baby boomers of my age (40 somethings) that they should be catering for much more, as not only do we have the spending power to buy many more books, but there are also far more of us ....

Everything though today seems to be aimed at the young - I hear it all the time - young people this, young people that, well most of them wouldn't be here if it wasn't for their slightly more middle aged parents - and we don't get a look in ! Our time though will come, as everything moves in circles.

On a personal note, I have been offered a job ! Before you get too excited I am not going to be the Acquisitions Editor at some big publishing house, but a part time sales consultant for a local retailer.

The job is not particularly well paid (the basic salary is just above minimum wage), but with bonuses the opportunity is there to earn a lot more. Apparently their top people can earn bonuses of several thousand pounds (perhaps I will be able to afford an ad in the Bookseller!).

The hours are 10am to 3pm 4 days a week (Monday to Friday), which means that I will still be home in time to carry on my telemarketing campaign. The best time to make these calls I have discovered is late afternoon, as Managers tend to have meetings with reps in the morning and then have late lunches. I start on Monday 19th November. Wish me luck!

The Blair book project ...

I see that the battle for who is going to get Tony Blair's memoirs has been won by Random House for an undisclosed sum, but is estimated to be in the region of £5 to £6 million, considerably less than the £8 million hoped for. This means I guess that at least 2 million of the British population have the good sense not to consider this book worthwhile reading. Suffice to say that I am one of them ... The deal which is believed to rank second only to the $10 million paid to Bill Clinton for his memoirs (now that would be a book worth reading), includes pre and post publication serial rights, English language and translation rights, as well as audio and electronic rights.

As Peter Cox commented on the relevant news page on the Bookseller website, "As the selfless, ethically-motivated politician that we know him to be, I’m sure he’ll do the right thing and donate his advance & any royalty(?) to care for all the widows and orphans he’s created both in Britain and Iraq." As a non subscriber, I do not have permission to post comments of my own, but I think Peter sums it up nicely and there is really not much more that I can add.

What though have I been up to this morning, apart from reading the news? It has been a busy morning actually. I have rung three national daily newspapers re book reviews - The Independent, The Guardian and the Telegraph. I have been pleasantly surprised in that all three do, and indeed have reviewed print on demand books. Things are indeed changing then. I have all the relevant details anyway, and so will post the books out this afternoon and get the ball rolling - I will then keep everything crossed for as long as it takes - which might make it a bit difficult to type !

I have also though made a dozen or so phone calls to yet more Waterstones stores, as there are quite a few that I have been unable to get through to the first time around. It transpires that I have been emailing the wrong person at Aberdeen Union Bridge, and so will fire off an email to the correct person in a minute, once I have finished on here. Same thing with Bishops Stortford.

Ballymena in Northern Ireland and Bath have both confirmed orders, and Amersham and Birmingham New Street have requested further information. Birmingham is likely to be a goer, since I happen to know that Pat, the MBS Manager has hosted events before for Authors OnLine, which went very well, so she knows that these books are not vanity press.

The lady at Bath was very helpful, since she told me that Waterstones have sold at least one book for every day last week, which is certainly encouraging. I told Richard they would sell! This knowledge may help to give those more reluctant stores a bit of a nudge ...

Oh well, back to the email then.

Wayne's girl signs £2 million book deal

I had a quick look at the Writers News forum this morning, as I often do, and noticed among the most recent posts, a story about Coleen McLoughlin signing a £2 million deal with publisher Harper Collins to write 5 novels.

Further investigations led me to the Mail on Sunday website, which features a story about said deal, headlined 'Wayne's girl signs £2 million book deal'. According to the article, the deal is not yet signed or sealed, but Coleen is still in negotiations. The article goes on to state that a source close to the couple (Coleen and fiance Wayne Rooney) stated that "Coleen is really excited about getting down to the work of writing these books for the same publishers that Wayne is working with. It is great because she will be writing books about fashion and celebrity lifestyle. It seems that she has been given a deadline for them first to be ready to be published later this year."

That is a tall order, since we are already halfway through October, and I don't think that a publisher would or even could work this quickly. It takes three months for even a POD to go through the different stages of cover design, editing and proof reading, checking and making corrections to the proofs, approving final proofs, registering ISBN etc, and most in fact all commercial publishers, like to start sending out advance review copies and hyping a book at least 6 - 9 months before it hits the shops. I think they must mean before the end of next year, 2008 rather than this one.

In any case though, you can bet your bottom dollar (or pound since this is England!) that Coleen herself will not be writing one single word of any of these books. I mean, I know she has a regular column in Closer magazine, which has supposedly resulted in many more sales for said magazine, but if you have a look at this any time (I only look at such things when I am waiting to get my teeth filled in you understand) then it is not exactly what I would call writing ....

It is all so called fashion and lifestyle tips. And this from the so called 'Queen of chav' ....

Well, I suppose it takes all sorts, but seriously what a sad indictment this is of our modern society in that this is what people really want to read, and that a publisher of the calibre of Harper Collins is prepared to chuck this obscene amount of money at such a project.

Of course the critics would say that they are only responding to public demand, since these books do sell in huge amounts of numbers, and certainly this is not the first book she has 'written' since her autobiography has been out there for some time and selling quite nicely thank you. My point is though that this girl, for that is what she is, has no obvious talent, and has done precious little from what I can tell in her own right. She is famous for being the girlfriend of someone else who is famous - and really and truly, what has he done either. My Dad always used to say that he didn't understand what all the fuss was about football, it was only a bunch of men kicking a ball about ....

I have been thinking about this all day long, and maybe I have been looking at it the wrong way. Coleen may not be quite as stupid as we think .... Apparently she left school with 10 GCSE's - including an A star in performing arts. She also does an awful lot of charity work, especially for Retts syndrome, a genetic disorder that her little sister Rosie suffers from. In fact she presented a programme with Trevor McDonald on this very cause just recently.

She has I hear recently been signed by ITV to do a series of other programmes, as they were so impressed by the way that she handled herself. These include a programme where she scours the streets looking for real women who are then given bona fide modelling jobs from which the traditional stick thin size zero models are banned. Given Coleen's high profile in the celebrity mags and gossip columns this is the sort of thing that could just make a very big difference to the lives of a lot of young women, not to mention their families.

There is definitely more to this girl than meets the eye, and I cannot help feel that the public have misjudged her. She was after all a teenager when fiance Wayne Rooney first shot to fame, and so has had to grow up in the public eye, which cannot have been easy for any girl. All teenagers go through that gawky phase where they are finding their style and what works best for them, but Coleen had to do this in public, and was ridiculed until quite recently in fact for pretty much everything that she wore.

The ugly duckling though has turned into a beautiful and self assured swan who does not need to rely on Wayne's money, for she has plenty of her own. Coleen is reported to be worth a cool £6 million thanks to the deal with ITV, her books, the regular column in Closer magazine and a series of advertising deals.

As Layla Smith, Controller of Alternative Series at ITV said: ‘She’s someone who’s found huge recognition and yet remained completely grounded and true to herself'. That is a very rare thing in this celebrity obsessed world that we live in.

It seems to me though on reading up a little about Coleen's life, that this is a bit like a modern day fairy tale, and maybe that is the appeal. Girl grows up in rough area of Liverpool, meets boy from same rough neighbourhood and falls in love. Boy grows up to become talented footballer and earns pots of money. Girl and boy get engaged, buy huge mansion and live happily ever after, except not quite, as like any young couple, Wayne and Coleen have had their share of ups and downs.

This though is part of the appeal, the fact that they have risen above all this and stayed happy and very much together. People these days though, especially young women are looking for an escape from their own humdrum and boring lives and routine, and so grow to idolise girls like Coleen who have managed to escape from all this. It doesn't matter how she managed to do it, only that she has and personally I say good luck to her. It brings hope to these young women that they may too some day meet their footballing prince who will whisk them off to their own mansion in the Cheshire suburbs ....

In the meantime though, I am considering placing an ad in the Times which reads, 'Wanted, one rich footballer to marry aspiring author' .....