The coming weeks promise to be the busiest for launches in years as top-quality authors fight it out for sales
David Mitchell, Sarah Waters and Martin Amis. Photograph: Observer
Clear the bookshelves; no, clear the weekend diary until Christmas: the next few weeks are to see one of the biggest traffic jams of big-name, top-flight British fiction in recent publishing history.
A succession of serious novels with the worthiest of pedigrees, some of them already in the shops, will each be attempting to attract the attention of readers, critics and, ultimately, of prize judges.
Ian McEwan, Will Self, David Mitchell and Rachel Cusk will soon be vying for a rosette alongside Martin Amis, Sarah Waters, Howard Jacobson and Ali Smith, to say nothing of latecomers to the party such as award-winning authors Colm Tóibín and Nick Hornby, who both have new novels out next month.
The autumn season for major book launches is always a competitive bonanza, as titles are positioned for the maximum number of sales in the long runup to Christmas. Often there is a slew of celebrity autobiographies; sometimes there are confessional diaries, too. This year, however, the spotlight is unusually fixed on literary hard-hitters, as hardbacks are trucked out bearing the names of almost every acclaimed household name in British fiction.
A succession of serious novels with the worthiest of pedigrees, some of them already in the shops, will each be attempting to attract the attention of readers, critics and, ultimately, of prize judges.
Ian McEwan, Will Self, David Mitchell and Rachel Cusk will soon be vying for a rosette alongside Martin Amis, Sarah Waters, Howard Jacobson and Ali Smith, to say nothing of latecomers to the party such as award-winning authors Colm Tóibín and Nick Hornby, who both have new novels out next month.
The autumn season for major book launches is always a competitive bonanza, as titles are positioned for the maximum number of sales in the long runup to Christmas. Often there is a slew of celebrity autobiographies; sometimes there are confessional diaries, too. This year, however, the spotlight is unusually fixed on literary hard-hitters, as hardbacks are trucked out bearing the names of almost every acclaimed household name in British fiction.
Ali Smith, Howard Jacobson and Will Self. Photograph: Observer
No comments:
Post a Comment