Great story in the Times today about the eight authors selected to have their books included in the Richard and Judy Book Club. For those not from these shores, Richard and Judy are doyens of British day-time sofa style TV and have, with celebrity help, been reviewing books as part of their show for a while now. Readers also take part in the reviews, emailing and texting their comments. The impact on the sales of the books featured is huge. The Times estimates that the eight chosen titles will see sales increases of 3,000 per cent. In comparison, the more lofty Booker prize for literature increased sales of one nominated book by a paltry 275 copies. In today’s world, reviews from “people like me” matter much more to budding authors than those from highly educated literary or artistic editors. The reviews section of Amazon is probably the most powerful endorser (for sales at least) now in the litereray world and I have to confess that the reason my nephews did not get Roboraptor for Christmas was terrible customer reviews.
I posted on this phenomena and how I think it affects brand and reputation last year.
By the way, I do hope to revert to more video interviews soon, it’s just that people don’t seem to be back from the holiday just yet.
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