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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2007 > May > 17 > Entry
oh, THAT Ken Follett!
Book publishing is a hit or miss proposition. 70 percent of the books that are published every year in this country fail to pay for themselves. Publishers bank on scoring big with that occasional blockbuster to compensate for all those books that are losers.
Publishers need more blockbusters. Books like “The DaVinci Code” by Dan Brown don’t come along very often. Have you noticed how many books have come out since “The Code” with thinly disguised aspirations to piggyback on that book’s immense popularity?
Publishers send out advance copies of books and now and then I’ll get one that is clearly designed to build the buzz. One such book showed up today.
In 1989, Ken Follett published “The Pillars of the Earth.” Weighing in at almost 1000 pages, “Pillars” became a cult classic. It’s an historical novel that was set in 12th Century England. I haven’t read it.
Today, I received the advance copy of the sequel to “Pillars.” The cover trumpets that THE WAIT IS OVER. October 9, 2007. Ken Follett will finally put out the sequel after 18 years. “WORLD WITHOUT END” is 987 pages long. This is the “advance uncopyedited manuscript” and it must weigh ten pounds.
Is there anybody out there who has read the first book, “Pillars?” Is it important to read it first, before I explore this sequel? Over at Amazon.com “Pillars” has gotten over 700 customer reviews. Apparently, Follett has been read by many people.
I need some help. Has anybody read “The Pillars of the Earth” or anything else by Ken Follett? The hype says he is a legend, what do you think??
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: in the Amazone
Comments
By jjjs
May 23, 2007 5:07 PM | Link to this
Vick, any luck? If you still can’t get there, here’s another link: http://librariansplace.wordpress.com/2007/05/14/the-greatest-mystery-making-a-best-seller/By jjjs
May 21, 2007 11:28 PM | Link to this
Vick, use the link on the THKAS page (http://harriet-rules.blogspot.com/), it works. At the bottom of the page or in one of the articles there.By vick mickunas
May 21, 2007 7:23 PM | Link to this
JJJS, I just tried to access the article and it is now locked in to the New York Times Select pay-per-view feature (which I don’t have) so I need to look it up somehow to verify that exact quote.By jjjs
May 21, 2007 6:01 PM | Link to this
Vick, I don’t think this NYT article said 70% is in the red (assuming that’s where you get your number from). I think they said something a bit mysterious, like 70% of trade (?), which is a 14 bil. part of the overall 35 bil. industry. I don’t think they said anything at all about the remaining 20-something bil. slice of the pie. Am I mistaken ?By vick mickunas
May 19, 2007 3:55 PM | Link to this
so, NMB, are you saying that I should read “Pillars of the Earth?”By NMB
May 19, 2007 3:09 PM | Link to this
You mean you never read “Eye of the Needle” and “Triple” and “Man from St. Petersberg” and all those great thrillers when you were a teenager? Jeez, Vick, I thought everybody did. Tame stuff by today’s standards, but I loved ‘em.