Tony Blair Buys Himself a “Bestseller”……………..
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“Cynical stunt, a ploy to wipe the slate clean or an honest attempt to make amends? Robert Mendick examines the strange birth of Tony Blair’s memoirs and the good deed that has shocked a nation. It was agreed an announcement would need to be made with almost immediate effect, even before a contract was drawn up between the two parties. Mr Blair’s people explained that they preferred an official statement to be released at midday on Monday: waiting longer than that might lead to the news leaking out. The announcement last week took the publishing world by storm. Doom merchants who had predicted that Mr Blair’s autobiography, entitled Tony Blair: A Journey, would be a disaster were rapidly reappraising its chances of commercial success. At a stroke, critics of Mr Blair now discovered that they could buy his memoirs without fear of their money going into the former prime minister’s pocket. A book that had languished in Amazon’s pre-order list, with just a few hundred copies sold, soared to seventh in the best-seller list two weeks before publication. Mr Blair, whatever his motivation, had effectively bought himself a best-seller. The speed of the deal has fuelled suspicion that Mr Blair was desperate to avoid the humiliation of a publishing flop…………”
Cheers
mhg
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“Cynical stunt, a ploy to wipe the slate clean or an honest attempt to make amends? Robert Mendick examines the strange birth of Tony Blair’s memoirs and the good deed that has shocked a nation. It was agreed an announcement would need to be made with almost immediate effect, even before a contract was drawn up between the two parties. Mr Blair’s people explained that they preferred an official statement to be released at midday on Monday: waiting longer than that might lead to the news leaking out. The announcement last week took the publishing world by storm. Doom merchants who had predicted that Mr Blair’s autobiography, entitled Tony Blair: A Journey, would be a disaster were rapidly reappraising its chances of commercial success. At a stroke, critics of Mr Blair now discovered that they could buy his memoirs without fear of their money going into the former prime minister’s pocket. A book that had languished in Amazon’s pre-order list, with just a few hundred copies sold, soared to seventh in the best-seller list two weeks before publication. Mr Blair, whatever his motivation, had effectively bought himself a best-seller. The speed of the deal has fuelled suspicion that Mr Blair was desperate to avoid the humiliation of a publishing flop…………”
Cheers
mhg
Mon Email
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