The Bookseller.com

21st November 2008

Philip Jones is the managing editor of theBookseller.com. He will blog with links and comment about the book business.

Olympics: Is the trade missing out?

19.08.08

With Britain's Olympians set to return with their best medals haul for a century, is the book trade at risk of missing out on the feel-good factor?

Certainly if book sales last week are anything to go by--the first week of the Beijing-based Olympics--things don't look great. Only one Olympic-related title was spotted in the top 5,000 list of bestselling books: Richard Moore's analysis of "Chris Hoy and Britain's track cycling revolution", Heroes, Villains and Velodromes (HarperSport), which sold 296 copies through the market.

Speaking to their contacts this week The Bookseller's journalists are reporting back a mixed picture. There are agents aplenty talking up books and sounding publishers out for potential deals. As more and more media coverage is devoted to the medal winners, and with a London "victory" parade in the offing on their return, that money pot is likely to grow. Certainly new household names such as Christine Ohuruogu, Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins, Ben Ainslie and Rebecca Adlington can expect sizeable deals, in the manner of Kelly Holmes from the 2004 games.

But where are the books ready to quench the nation's thirst as the events come to end? There are a smattering of titles available, but little in the way of promotion. Certainly retailers are reporting back that customers are looking for Olympic-related titles, with cycling books leading the way. But check out the websites of our leading bookshops and you'd think the Olympics was happening in some far off country beyond the nation's gaze: though to be fair Waterstones.com does point browsers to a few China books via its Celebrating China promotion. The picture on the high street is said to not be too different.

To be fair, no-one predicted this unprecedented success, not even the wider media whose pre-Olympic reports were all about smog and reporting restrictions. But with everyone from John Major to Gordon Brown queuing up to grab some of that Olympics stardust, and with 2012 now just around the corner, this is one bandwagon we should all jump on and fast.