How Richard and Judy rewrote the bestseller lists

This article is more than 12 years old
Their programme has launched fledgling authors on to the bestseller lists, and boosted sales of more established scribes into the publishing stratosphere. Now television's Richard and Judy, not content with their transformation from chat show hosts to literary star-makers, have taken their domination of the British book world one step further.

Three of the pair's six 'Summer Reads', the recommendations that Richard Madeley and his wife Judy Finnigan discuss on their Channel 4 programme, have taken the top three places in this week's top 50 book bestsellers. Such a dominance linked to one programme is unheard of in this country.

Victoria Hislop's The Island; The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne, the nom de plume of Guardian journalist Jonathan Freedland; and Dorothy Koomson's My Best Friend's Girl, have claimed the top three positions in the chart.

Amanda Ross, the joint managing director of Cactus TV - the company that makes Richard & Judy - put the show's influence down to the programme's prominence. She claimed it was not just its viewers that were buying the recommended books, but that word of mouth about the picks - aided by stickers with Richard and Judy's endorsement on their covers in bookshops - was adding to their sales.

Ross, who headed The Observer's 'Top 50 Players in the World of Books', published in March, said: 'I don't think authors are just prospering because of people watching the programme. The public know we put a lot of work into choosing the books. They look at the sticker in the shop and see it as a badge of endorsement.'

Freedland's book shot to success in the charts after Madeley labelled the thriller 'better written and a better story' than Dan Brown's worldwide smash The Da Vinci Code, and the columnist's novel has now sold some 115,000 copies. Latest figures show The Island, a journey of discovery set on the island of Crete, has shifted 186,541 books, and the successful 'chick-lit' escapades of My Best Friend's Girl have sold 111,622 copies. Other books on the duo's Summer Reads list include Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, founder of the Orange Prize for Fiction. The day after her book was recommended on the show, her publisher took orders for 60,000 copies.

Ross and her assistants sift through 500 novels each year to choose their six favourites, meaning publishers are desperately competing to win her attention. Katie Bond, a director at Bloomsbury said: 'They have found a way to make books work on television. A dream year for a publishing house is to get its books in the Booker short list and a book on the Richard & Judy 'Summer Reads'. In a short time they have overtaken every other literary prize, apart from the Booker.'

Each of the books is 'road-tested' by a celebrity in a glamorous location, before Richard & Judy discusses it with a panel back in the studio. This is followed by members of the public offering their own verdicts on the books' content, and their appropriateness to accompany them on their summer holidays. Ross set up Cactus TV in 1994 with her husband, Simon Ross, brother of BBC broadcaster Jonathan. The company signed Richard and Judy in 2001 and today the show averages 2.2 million viewers.

In describing how she chooses the books, Ross concluded: 'I think about what makes good television... all I have done in my career is popular television. I think the books we want are the ones that are good to chat about. And that's what makes them interesting.'

Their summer hits ... and snowballing sales

The Island

Author: Victoria Hislop

Publisher: Headline Review

Sales to date: 186,541

Plot: Alexis Fielding, on a classic journey of discovery, follows her family roots to Crete and finds out that she is descended from the denizens of a leper colony. A tale of tragedy, war and passion ensues.

Richard and Judy said: 'The moral of the book is, even if you've left everything behind, human beings can still make something very positive, a positive community, out of that.' (Judy)

The critics said: 'The result is a fascinating work that combines a moving love story with a plea for more understanding about this most cruel of diseases.' (Christina Koning, Times)

The Righteous Men

Author: Sam Bourne

Publisher: HarperCollins

Sales to date: 115,356

Plot: A rookie British journalist is investigating a murder story for the New York Times when his wife is kidnapped. He gets sucked into an international Jewish conspiracy, receives some cryptic text messages, and a world of criminal intrigue opens up before him.

Richard and Judy said: 'It's better written than The Da Vinci Code and it's a better story.' (Richard)

The critics said: 'The Righteous Men bears all the hallmarks of a blockbuster.' (Lianne Kolirin, Express)

My Best Friend's Girl

Author: Dorothy Koomson

Publisher: Time Warner

Sales to date: 111,622

Plot: Two best friends fall out with each other after one sleeps with the other's man', and fathers his child. Years later she becomes ill, and hands over responsibility for her daughter to her former pal.

Richard and Judy said: 'I wouldn't normally buy a chick-lit book but I read this one and had a ball with it, it was great.' (Richard)

The critics said: Not much: only Heat carried a review, saying it had 'colourful characters and witty writing'.

Rob Sharp
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/06/channel4.media
www.theguardian.com
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