Compass
Points 13
Your
weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information
and trivia!
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Love her or
hate her, Edwina Currie falls comfortably
into that category of celebrity you simply cannot ignore. The first volume of
her diaries explosively revealed her affair with former Prime Minister John
Major. This second volume, Edwina Currie Diaries:
Volume II 1992–1997 which begins in 1992 with her refusal to serve in
Major’s Cabinet, is no less revelatory about her colleagues, encounters with
others in the public eye, and, of, course, her extraordinary career. It covers
her life in Parliament up to the election of Blair’s Labour government, but more
importantly sees its subject’s emergence as a mainstay in the public
imagination, first as a bestselling author, then as a commentator, broadcaster,
presenter and performer – most recently on the BBC’s flagship entertainment show
Strictly Come Dancing perhaps you'd like to remind
yourself of exactly how she looked dancing the cha cha. Ahem, not her finest
hour perhaps. Anyway, this book as you would expect is getting an enormous
amount of publicity. The Daily Mail will shortly be serialising it and
there were interviews with her in many of this weekend’s weekend press. She has
been all over the BBC national and regional radio stations , including BBC
Radio 4 and BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine Show ; there’s a piece in the
Guardian at the end of the month – the list goes on and on. No one but no
one is a keener self publicist than Edwina Currie, (oh alright then, maybe Boris
Johnson is) and as she never tires of reminding us, all of her previous books
have been big bestsellers – so it’s highly likely this one will be too. As the
Daily Telegraph (unsurprisingly) said “Few women can lay claim to the
word “magnificent”, but Currie is now surely one of them.“
Another book
getting a colossal amount of media coverage is Education, Education, Education: Reforming England’s
Schools by Andrew Adonis What
children should or shouldn’t be learning in schools – and how to asses them has
never been a hotter topic, and the press are queuing up to talk to Andrew about
his quest to transform standards and opportunities in England’s schools, and his
ambition to make English education truly world class. The Daily Mail
serialisation has just run and The Sunday Times will be running a major
interview with Andrew Adonis this Sunday. Then there is plenty of
publicity all over the BBC including the Today Programme on Radio 4. Make
sure you have plenty of copies on display – it is fast becoming one of this
autumn’s most talked about titles!
Last week’s
question – what’s the best loved film of all time; this week’s question – who’s
the best loved comedian of all time? Well a strong contender must be “the one
with the glasses.” Eric Morecambe: Lost and
Found is a collection of not just the very best of this British
comedy great, but also a plethora of never-before-seen material. Pulled together
from a variety of dusty archives and private homes across the UK, this material
includes notebooks, sketches, skits, musings, interviews and rare photographs of
the comic genius. Written by Eric’s son, Gary
Morecambe, and film & TV historian, Paul Burton; this book gives the British public
the opportunity to view a host of these hidden interview transcriptions and
photos firsthand, and is a rare insight into the man behind the legend. From
the many hilarious moments that Morecambe and Wise have given us, my own
favourite must surely be the classic stripper/breakfast
sketch. Books of reminiscences on comic heroes tend to sell very well –
The Unpublished Spike Milligan sold over 26,000 copies – so this is
definitely one to display all the way up to Christmas.
The Good Food Guide
2013 has just been
published – a review of all the best restaurants, pubs and cafés throughout the
UK. This title is consistently the nation’s bestselling restaurant guide,
containing over 1,300 authoritative reviews and recommendations, foodie features
and interviews with top chefs and lots of brand new eateries alongside newly
reviewed perennial favourites. It’s a great price point - £17.99 – and don’t
forget to remind your customers that it contains £50 worth of money-off vouchers
– which makes it a real bargain!
Now – is the
extraordinary UK success of Fifty Shades of Grey due to a) the rise of
the Kindle and eBooks in general; b) the fact that British women are all
secretly spicy saucepots; or c) the power of word of mouth – no one wants to
miss out on a trend? Well according to the author EL James – it’s none of the
above – it’s because we girls just can’t resist a good old fashioned love story.
James gave a rare interview this week, which you can read here.
This
newsletter is sent weekly to over 400 booksellers. If you would like to order
any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the
Compass New Titles Website.
That’s
all for now folks, more next week!
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