Celebrity Authors

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Love them or hate them – celebrity authors are here to stay with publishers now approaching household ’names’ in the hope of attracting more readers with the ultimate aim obviously of selling more books.
The suggestion is that the public are more inclined to read something if they know, and like, the person who has written it. Publishers have been upfront in confirming that they approach well known figures to invite them to write for them, some with the help of a professional writer, some not.
There is no doubt that this approach has worked to a certain degree, with actors such as Millie Bobbie Brown (from TV programme Stranger Things) and Gillian Anderson publishing very successful titles over the past year. Lorraine Kelly has also just published a successful novel as have Carol Kirkwood, Susie Dent, Anton Du Beke, Rob Rinder and Shirley Ballas.
Other personalities such as Richard Osman and Stephen Fry had already proved themselves as writers before their bestselling books appeared on the circuit, with
Bob Mortimer, David Baddiel and Ben Elton becoming as well known for their fiction as for their stand up routines or TV roles.
Celebrity memoirs have always provided popular reading material amongst the fan base of their authors, with Prince Harry’s ‘Spare’ topping the charts last year as one of the most popular memoirs of the year, unsurprisingly. We, the public, seem to have an insatiable appetite for reading about the life adventures of others, from scandal to triumph, and from rags to riches.
Celebrity chefs, gardeners, presenters, musicians, sports stars, etc have all made appearances on the shelves of our local libraries in recent years and are as popular as ever though perhaps squeezing out some of the lesser known authors who don’t have the same existing fan base. But as librarians we are happy that the books are being borrowed and read, and perhaps when you next visit to pick up the latest Richard Osman or Rev Richard Coles novel you will browse the shelves further to discover new authors for yourself.