Book sellers hope celebrities will lift Christmas sales
Book sales are set to receive a boost this Christmas from the publication of memoirs by some of Britain’s most famous figures.
 By Jonathan Wynne-Jones
Published: The Telegraph 17 Jul 2010


 Industry experts believe that this year's range of non-fiction titles is likely to prove much more popular  Photo: REX

Autobiographies from Dame Judi Dench, Stephen Fry, and Tony Blair will be released this autumn ahead of the trade’s busiest period.
Leading stores, such as Waterstone’s and W H Smith, saw a sharp drop in sales last year after a plethora of memoirs from minor celebrities failed to attract readers.
However, industry experts believe that this year’s range of non-fiction titles is likely to prove much more popular.

“Last year there were about 12 books by comedians and, great as they are, that’s probably a bit too much,” said Jon Howells at Waterstone’s.
“[But publishers] are focusing on really strong stuff this year. It’s a much stronger Christmas than last.”

While memoirs from celebrities such as Sheryl Gascoigne, the daughter of footballer Paul Gascoigne, and Justin Lee Collins, the comedian, were left on the shelves, publishers are confident that this year’s selection will prove much more profitable.

Alan Samson, publishing director at Weidenfeld & Nicolson, agrees: “I think it is going to be a more upmarket Christmas than last year.”
His firm is bringing out memoirs by Keith Richards, the Rolling Stone’s guitarist, and Dame Judi Dench, and there will also be autobiographies from Sir Michael Caine and Nelson Mandela.

Publishers are also hopeful that the fiction market will benefit from new books by top writers such as DBC Pierre, the Booker prizewinner, Jonathan Franzen, the American author and Salman Rushdie.