Disappointing sales for Pippa Middleton's party-planning book Celebrate, which is below Peppa Pig in the best-selling chart.
Sales of Pippa Middleton's party-planning book Celebrate are as flat as last night's champers.
The book was 177th on the amazon best-selling book list this morning, despite a massive publicity campaign and a £400,000 advance paid by publishers Penguin to the author and a discounted cover price, down from £25 to £12.50. The book sold just over 2000 copies in its first week, and sits below Peppa Pig's Christmas Wish in the list of top-selling books in the UK. Ah, Peppa beats Pippa.
There's even worse news from Amazon's list for north America, where the 416-page book was today Number 303 in the book charts.
At the Chelsea launch of the collection of "personal tips, favourite recipes and useful decorating ideas", the 29-year-old said: "I just feel really fortunate to be able to build a career as a writer."
The book has been harshly derided by critics for its banality, overlooking some of the astute tips that Middleton has gathered together for readers. Examples?:
• 'Because of their size, turkeys are perfect for feeding larger gatherings" (this could catch on at, say, Christmas)
• 'For parties, wrap a small gift. Sit everyone in a circle and ask them to pass the parcel...' (why has no one thought of this before for children's parties?)
• 'Outdoor seating: hay bales and tree stumps are practical' (this could be big in Peckham)
• 'Store cupboards, drawers or boxes should be packed full of useful odds and ends (so that's what they are for!)
Of course, big names have flopped with books before. Wayne Rooney's My Decade In The Premier League (part of a 12-year, £5million, five-book deal by HarperCollins) sold only about 6,000 copies in the six weeks after its launch - and celebrity books by Marie Helvin, Brian Paddick, Christopher Biggins and Bill Oddie had disappointing sales.
But take heart, Pippa. You've done better than Alec Baldwin. When his book A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood was published in 2008 ("sludgy prose": New York Times), it sold only 12 copies sold, making £175.01.
It's true . . . it's always best to get that book advance in full.
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