Tony Blair’s autobiography, A Journey, has started strongly; selling almost 100,000 copies in its first four days on sale, it has become the fastest-selling autobiography since records began. Granted, records only began in 1998, but that’s still some very impressive selling power! What, I wonder, is causing all the fuss?
Many in the industry are accrediting the success of the book to the head of Random House, Gail Rebuck. She, however, maintains that it is Tony himself who is responsible for the success of the book; “He wanted it be human, honest and he wanted people to engage with it in a very different way”. Despite myself, I think she may be onto something. The way I see it, the only thing that could tempt me into buying Tony Blair’s book is the very thing Gail claims he has achieved; an honest and refreshing insight into the world of politics; a world of lies and deceit in which we, the British public, have lost hope.
Despite breaking records, the book still has a very long way to go before it makes back its massive advance. As chief executive of Harper Collins, Victoria Barnsley, says – “They will have to sell an awful lot of copies to cover that advance … It’s got off to a hell of a good start. If it can maintain that start it will be a fantastic success. But that’s a big if.”
A big ‘if’ it might be but, with a tenth of a million sold in a few days, things are looking promising for Blair’s book.
Image from http://www.walesonline.co.uk
