We have a BIG problem. Huge supporter of the Word Nerd Army cause and stupendous writing genius, Jamie Ford, is being kept out of the UK. This has been a cause of some personal anguish since I had to beg someone to send me his book from America many months ago but now an official distress signal has gone out and I think it is time for the Word Nerd Army to go into action. http://tinyurl.com/rw-jf-uk
How can Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - the BEST novel I have read in years - be on best-seller lists around the world (including the New York Times best-seller list) and STILL not available in the UK? I don't fear for Mr Ford - he's doing great business - but I fear terribly for UK publishers and book retailers. They can't miss out on this in a recession. It's madness. Hotel is flying off shelves around the world and our book industry is missing out. Not only is our book industry missing out but our readers are too. I can't express enough how deeply moving and profoundly well handled this book is.
UK Publishers! Listen up! What do you want to know about this book? I am not in the pay of Mr Ford and am entirely objective. I should be badgering you to take on my books not his, however, I am not only a writer but also a reader and this book is AMAZING and needs to be enjoyed by other readers. It will sell its socks off for you. If you're confused about how to market it, put it on a shelf where you'd put something like 'Mister Pip' or 'A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian' NOT in 'American History', and expect it to do better than either of these because the writing is amazing. In fact, forget that bit of shelving advice and put it on a big stand at the front because the artwork on the cover is delicious and people with no idea what it is will pick it up for that reason alone.
Whichever UK publisher snaps this up is going to be laughing all the way to the government-owned bank. Start bidding for it now and hope no other UK publisher has suddenly jumped on the clue train. Leave it much longer and you will be in a big bidding war.
US publishers, readers etc, please leave comments here and/or on Jamie's site to tell UK publishers what they are missing out on. Before long we will be the last country in the world without this amazing book on our shelves and it's...well it's embarrassing. Please help.
Here here! I am stunned that this book is unavailable in the UK. Here's hoping this gets rectified immediately, Rebecca. This book is hands down one of the best reads out there right now. They're making a huge mistake here, one I think they will regret.
ReplyDeleteLacing up marching boots! Can you give us any clue as to why that marvelous book hasn't been picked up over there yet?
ReplyDeletethanks you two. Angie, the only idea I have is the same one that Jamie outlines in his post http://tinyurl.com/rw-jf-uk that UK publishers just don't know where to put it. They seem to be viewing it as 'American History' rather than general fiction or literary fiction etc which is completely missing the point of the book. That's the reason I mentioned the two books in my post - both have cultural aspects to them but they'd be found in the fiction section not the 'cultural studies' section. Plus, both have been HUGELY successful.
ReplyDeleteI love both of them and, in my opinion, Hotel's better than either of them, plus it has 'big movie deal' written all over it. The speed with which it's picked up fans around the world is amazing. Why can't we buy it here? It's madness!
Rebecca
Wow, quite astonishing! I haven't read it yet, but it IS astonishing that such a well received book wouldn't be picked up immediately by an over-seas publisher. What are they THINKING? Or are they?
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting...even if it is steeped in American history a good book is a good book. We have books in the US dripping with history of England. Maybe the publishers are looking for more proof that this book is the real deal or maybe that don't know who to go through to get it...I think there are some money issues involved here.
ReplyDeleteBrian yes, it's not a National issue, it's probably a confusion - book ending up in wrong place and not fitting. Cultural fiction is HUGE over here. Slumdog Millionaire, for example, started out life with an English agent and publisher (it was called Q & A back then) so it can't be landing on the right desk.
ReplyDeleteThanks for rallying the troops, Rebecca!
ReplyDeleteJamie, you're more than welcome. Thanks for writing such a great book. :)
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