Star Endorsement Sells Book

Not the most spectacular title in the world, but with sponsors apparently deserting Tiger Woods by the dozen, or at least pausing to think about the implications of this whole sex/car crash debacle before they comment, it’s nice to see that Tiger’s star power is still shining brightly in some areas. And even nicer to see that it is a single book is benefiting rather than a multinational company.

Sales of John Gribbin’s out of print Get a Grip on Physics was snapped by paps in Woods’ car after he crashed. Since then easy to read guide to physics has raced up the Amazon.com bestsellers list from 396,224th place to 2,268th, according to the Times. It’s currently sitting pretty at 121,146. This sales boost doesn’t seem to have affected Gribbin as much over here in the UK. On Amazon.co.uk an update of the book (I think – it’s called Get a Grip on New Physics) is still floundering at number 448,319 on the bestsellers list.

Customize Coupland Cover

Windmill Books (an imprint of Random House) are offering readers the chance to customize the cover of Douglas Coupland’s recently released Generation A. Design your cover, send it in and they’ll print and send it over with your copy of the book. It is a FANTASTIC idea and one that’s even better if you’re good at designing. I hope they’ll have a page celebrating the top submitted designs.

Carol Ann Duffy in the RT

Carol Ann Duffy, commissioned by the Radio Times, has composed a seasonal poem that reflects upon the year.

Beginning in Afganistan and working its way through endangered birds, bankers, Nick Griffin, MP expenses and more. 

Entertaining, surprising and thoughtful. Perfect for Christmas then.

2000-2009

After posting earlier about the likelihood of a plethora of  ’the decade’s best…’ lists the Guardian almost killed the whole thing off for me by holding a year-by-year best of for the last ten years. Seriously. It’s great that people are keen but the end of a decade doesn’t mean you get to fill column inches (or column pixels, I think the lists are online only) with a yearly breakdown. Best of the decade? Great. Best of last year? Fantastic. Best of 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009? No one’s got the time or the inclination to read them.

The Guardian have slightly salvaged things by  begining a worst books of the decade. The page has 509 user comments already…

Christmas Best Sellers

Now that December has arrived I think it’s about the right time to start talking about Christmas and the books of Christmas. Robert McCrum has already picked out a potential best seller in Dear Granny Smith: A Letter from Your Postman. Written by Roy Mayall (the name still makes me smile) the book is short and cheap and, at least according to McCrum, a nostalgic look back at times past that is lovingly written and as such “looks uncommonly like the British Christmas book of 2009.“

As a people we love to look back on the recent past with rose-tinted spectacles while bemoaning the horror of British life today. Soooo it looks as though a short, easily readable look at the Royal Mail, a GBI* that’s approaching total collapse, would be just the ticket.

The book (or at least McCrum’s review of the book) has already been mentioned in the Huffinton Post so it looks as though the snowball of sales may begin to pick up pace. Personally I think I’ll only read it if someone can lend me a copy, however if I do end up buying a copy of Dear Granny Smith I think I’ll nip down the local bookshop to get it. Order it over the internet and it might never arrive.

* Genuine British Institution