In the four years since the Richard & Judy bookclub was born, sales of the 82 books that have been discussed on the show have been phenomenal. Combined sales of the 82 titles reached 26.6 million last month accounting for 2.6% of all book sales since the club began in 2004, according to Nielsen BookScan. Jodi Picoult is today one of the biggest names in contemporary fiction, having enjoyed sales of over 5 million in 2007 – the highest gross of any female fiction writer. But before the inclusion of My Sister’s Keeper in the Book Club in 2005, she was almost unheard of in Ireland and England. Now about 8,000 copies of her books sell each week. The authors who have benefited most from the appearance of their books on the famous list are those whose follow-on books contain the phrase ‘from the author of the Richard & Judy bestseller’ on their front cover. The major book retailers say that the only difficulty with a new book from a Richard and Judy author is keeping the book in stock. Richard & Judy have moved from Channel 4 to digital channel UKTV where they continue the Book Club. It remains to be seen whether they will continue to have such a huge influence on what people are reading.
Monday 10 November 2008
The Power of Richard & Judy
In the four years since the Richard & Judy bookclub was born, sales of the 82 books that have been discussed on the show have been phenomenal. Combined sales of the 82 titles reached 26.6 million last month accounting for 2.6% of all book sales since the club began in 2004, according to Nielsen BookScan. Jodi Picoult is today one of the biggest names in contemporary fiction, having enjoyed sales of over 5 million in 2007 – the highest gross of any female fiction writer. But before the inclusion of My Sister’s Keeper in the Book Club in 2005, she was almost unheard of in Ireland and England. Now about 8,000 copies of her books sell each week. The authors who have benefited most from the appearance of their books on the famous list are those whose follow-on books contain the phrase ‘from the author of the Richard & Judy bestseller’ on their front cover. The major book retailers say that the only difficulty with a new book from a Richard and Judy author is keeping the book in stock. Richard & Judy have moved from Channel 4 to digital channel UKTV where they continue the Book Club. It remains to be seen whether they will continue to have such a huge influence on what people are reading.
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