From The Sunday Times
December 6, 2009
JEFFREY ARCHER is being paid a record £18m advance to write a Forsyte Saga-style epic spanning a century in the lives of a fictional family from Bristol.
by Richard Brooks, Arts Editor

The deal is believed to be the biggest signed by a British author so far and requires the peer to produce five novels over five years. The first book is due to be published in 2011.

Archer said that he will begin work on The Clifton Chronicles shortly. The novels will set out the trials and tribulations of a character called Harry Clifton who rises from humble beginnings to become a wealthy tycoon.
Born to impoverished parents in 1920, Clifton wins a place at grammar school where he becomes involved with an affluent shipping family called the Davenports.
Their lifestyle is based on that of Bristol’s famous merchant families, such as the Harveys (sherry) and the Wills family (tobacco).
Each of the five books will cover two decades in Harry’s life, ending with his death in 2020.

Chronicling Clifton’s ups and downs should come easy to Archer, who has himself survived a rollercoaster life — both financially and personally. His latest collection of short stories will be published early next year and he will start writing the first book in the Clifton series before the end of this month.

“I’ve got to finish by September [2010] so it can be published in May 2011,” he said.
The deal with Macmillan will see one book published every May until 2015, by which time Archer will be 75.

Only a handful of American authors, including Michael Crichton, who died earlier this year, Dan Brown, James Patterson and Stephen King, are thought to have received larger advances than Archer.

In Britain he can be challenged only by J K Rowling, whose contract to write the Harry Potter novels for Bloomsbury has been shrouded in secrecy. She received just £2,500 for the first book in the series. Although Rowling received much higher advances for subsequent Harry Potter books, much of her £499m fortune is derived from royalties and the success of the spin-off films.

The largest advances recently have gone to celebrities writing their memoirs. They include Peter Kay (£2m), Julie Walters (£1.5m) and Ant and Dec (£2m between them). But sales of these showbiz books have been falling away.
More at The Times.