Monday, March 12, 2012
Is there room for the political memoir any more?
I had not realised that those who have bought Peter Hain's autobiography were such a select band of people. According to the Telegraph the former Welsh Secretary has only managed to sell 500 copies of his weighty tome and as a result other politicians are having difficulty interesting publishers in their scribblings.
The paper says that former Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw has a 20 page synoposis doing the rounds but publishers are reluctant to enter into a bidding war for the full works. They quote one insider who wonders if there is much of a market left for autobiographies which hark back to Labour’s days in office:
“Most people have formed their own judgments about it now, and they certainly aren’t interested in any special pleading, which these sort of books always seem to amount to.”
As if to rub salt into Jack Straw's wounds the paper says that Labour Cabinet minister, Alan Johnson, has managed to find a buyer for his memoirs. But they believe that he has a far more interesting tale to tell. Mr. Johnson was orphaned at 12, found a job as a postman, and is able to tell of his early marriage, and his time as a member of a pop group.
All of this does not bode well for former Welsh Conservative Assembly Leader, Nick Bourne, who is busy collating his diaries into a publishable form. Let us hope that he has some interesting revelations that will assist him in getting them published and will encourage people to buy the book.
The paper says that former Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw has a 20 page synoposis doing the rounds but publishers are reluctant to enter into a bidding war for the full works. They quote one insider who wonders if there is much of a market left for autobiographies which hark back to Labour’s days in office:
“Most people have formed their own judgments about it now, and they certainly aren’t interested in any special pleading, which these sort of books always seem to amount to.”
As if to rub salt into Jack Straw's wounds the paper says that Labour Cabinet minister, Alan Johnson, has managed to find a buyer for his memoirs. But they believe that he has a far more interesting tale to tell. Mr. Johnson was orphaned at 12, found a job as a postman, and is able to tell of his early marriage, and his time as a member of a pop group.
All of this does not bode well for former Welsh Conservative Assembly Leader, Nick Bourne, who is busy collating his diaries into a publishable form. Let us hope that he has some interesting revelations that will assist him in getting them published and will encourage people to buy the book.
Comments:
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"...the former Welsh Secretary has only managed to sell 500 copies.."
Why does that make me want to smile, I wonder?
This is not the time or place to expound on why I find him to be an obnoxious character - such people exist in all parties, including all four of the Welsh ones. I'm not simply picking on Labour or on Hain, he's just a particularly outstanding example.
I think it's because politicians have let us all down, and badly, partly because of the undemocratic, often corrupt, system they operate in, which they jealously guard and perpetuate.
Until that political and constitutional system is changed or removed, then politicians and their parties deserve and get our disdain.
The one exception in the UK today -very popular in Scotland - with a highly respected leader - is the SNP, which by definition wants to take Scotland out of the Westminster system.
Unionists singularly fail to understand the phenomenon and they don't know how to counter it - consequently they are low in the popularity stakes in Scotland.
How does Plaid fit in, you might ask? Well, that's another question which remains to be addressed.
Why does that make me want to smile, I wonder?
This is not the time or place to expound on why I find him to be an obnoxious character - such people exist in all parties, including all four of the Welsh ones. I'm not simply picking on Labour or on Hain, he's just a particularly outstanding example.
I think it's because politicians have let us all down, and badly, partly because of the undemocratic, often corrupt, system they operate in, which they jealously guard and perpetuate.
Until that political and constitutional system is changed or removed, then politicians and their parties deserve and get our disdain.
The one exception in the UK today -very popular in Scotland - with a highly respected leader - is the SNP, which by definition wants to take Scotland out of the Westminster system.
Unionists singularly fail to understand the phenomenon and they don't know how to counter it - consequently they are low in the popularity stakes in Scotland.
How does Plaid fit in, you might ask? Well, that's another question which remains to be addressed.
# posted by 
: 10:11 AM
: 10:11 AM
Erm, you might want to update your post:
http://www.bitebackpublishing.com/posts/578
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http://www.bitebackpublishing.com/posts/578
# posted by : 7:24 AM
: 7:24 AM<< Home
