Though the subject of the book is quite ordinary in fact- a vaudevillian trio, Wilson, Keppel & Betty- that anyone born early in the 20th century would have heard of, and perhaps seen black & white film of them performing.
You can find out the percentage each book achieved in the Bookseller article link above.
* * *
Unpublished novelists have two opportunities to get a publishing deal courtesy of two high profile competitions.
There's the recent Richard &Judy competition, and earlier this week the news about the competition being run between the Daily Mail and Penguin Random House.
They both offer a cash advance, an agent, and publication of the winning manuscript.
Find out more about the Daily Mail/PRH competition via this article.
(EDITED TO ADD: this is the URL they have given for the full terms & conditions and it displays a pdf: www.dailymail.co.uk/novelcomp )
Note you can't have had a novel published before-even self-published (so that will exclude lots of writers to start with); you can't currently be represented by a literary agent, and you must be over 16 years old, resident in the UK or Republic of Ireland.
The Richard & Judy 'Search for a Bestseller 2016' is supported by WH Smith, and the publishing deal is with Bonnier Zaffre.
Generally the terms are similar to the Daily Mail one, but the R&J competition terms specify that the partial novel hasn't been previously submitted to an agent, publisher, or entered into previous R&J competitions, or "released into the public domain in any format"- so bloggers beware.
So those will probably take quite a few entries out.
Sadly it does mean they're going to have to wade through entries from people who think writing a novel is easy.
They will find hidden talent in the end, but it's sad that they are excluding so many talented writers because they have self-published.
If you qualify and enter, then well done and I hope your entry is successful.
(EDITED TO ADD: this is the URL they have given for the full terms & conditions and it displays a pdf: www.dailymail.co.uk/novelcomp )
Note you can't have had a novel published before-even self-published (so that will exclude lots of writers to start with); you can't currently be represented by a literary agent, and you must be over 16 years old, resident in the UK or Republic of Ireland.
The Richard & Judy 'Search for a Bestseller 2016' is supported by WH Smith, and the publishing deal is with Bonnier Zaffre.
Generally the terms are similar to the Daily Mail one, but the R&J competition terms specify that the partial novel hasn't been previously submitted to an agent, publisher, or entered into previous R&J competitions, or "released into the public domain in any format"- so bloggers beware.
So those will probably take quite a few entries out.
Sadly it does mean they're going to have to wade through entries from people who think writing a novel is easy.
They will find hidden talent in the end, but it's sad that they are excluding so many talented writers because they have self-published.
If you qualify and enter, then well done and I hope your entry is successful.