John Boyne's Blog

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From The Bookseller:

Harris, Picoult and Boyne join Millionaires Club

Joanne Harris, Jodi Picoult and John Boyne are the latest writers to become members of the book trade’s “Millionaires Club”, an exclusive list of authors who have seen at least one of their books pass the 1,000,000 sales barrier since official sales records began in 1998.

Harris’ Chocolat, Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper (Hodder) and Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (both Black Swan) have all reached the seven-figure barrier in 2012, with Chocolat the first to achieve the feat in January. My Sister’s Keeper passed the mark in February, with The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas soaring into seven figures at the end of March. In total, a combined £16.7m has been spent on 3,005,000 copies of all three novels, all of which have benefitted from silver-screen adaptations.

Chocolat sold 564,000 copies in the year its big-screen adaptation was released in the UK (2000), while 428,000 copies of My Sister’s Keeperwere snapped up in 2009 when its Nick Cassavetes adaptation hit cinema screens. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas sold 438,000 copies in the year its adaptation was released.

According to Nielsen BookScan data, Harris has become only the fourth British female novelist, after J K Rowling, Helen Fielding and Kate Mosse, to join the Millionaires Club, while Boyne is only the second Irish novelist, after Cecelia Ahern, to become a member.

Since records began in 1998, nine writers have seen two or more of their books become 1,000,000-plus bestsellers: J K Rowling (eight), Dan Brown (five), Stephenie Meyer (four), Stieg Larsson and Philip Pullman (both three), Julia Donaldson, Khaled Hosseini, Helen Fielding and J R R Tolkien (all two).

Transworld m.d. Larry Finlay said: “I couldn’t be more thrilled that Chocolat has joined this exclusive club of million-plus sellers. And what perfect timing as we gear up for the Doubleday hardback publication of Joanne Harris’ triumphant return to the magical setting of Lansquenet on May 27th. Peaches for Monsieur le Curé is going to capture readers’ hearts and senses all over again.”

Random House Children’s Publishing m.d. Philippa Dickinson added: “From its first publication by David Fickling Books in 2006, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has touched readers of all ages all over the world.  We’re delighted that it has now also reached this significant milestone of selling over one million copies in the UK. John Boyne is a wonderful storyteller, and we look forward to his latest book, The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket, which will be out on 2nd August.”

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Last night I was very proud to receive this year’s Hennessy Literary Awards Hall of Fame Award.

With my agent Simon Trewin

The Hennessy Awards have been running for 41 years, celebrating the best new writers in the country. 20 years ago, in 1992, I was shortlisted for an award for my first published short story The Entertainments Jar, and this year I became the 10th recipient of the Career Achievement award, known as the ‘Hall of Fame’, which has previously been given to Dermot Bolger, Joseph O’Connor, Patrick McCabe, Colum McCann, Frank McGuinness, Anne Enright, Hugo Hamilton, Neil Jordan and Sebastian Barry.

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I’ll be conducting two public interviews with American novelist John Irving in May to discuss his new novel IN ONE PERSON. Tickets are available for these events here:

London – Tuesday 29th May

Edinburgh – Wednesday 30th May

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Here’s 2 parts of a long television interview from Canadian television in which I discuss The Absolutist and my writing in general.

Part 1

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Part 2

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I’m delighted that THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS is one of the 20 novels included on the new Vintage Children’s Classics list, which will be published in August of this year. Vintage Classics publish the best in classic fiction from the last 3 centuries so to be part of this list is a great honour.

You can pre-order the edition from Amazon here.

The full list is:

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome

The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner

The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Five Children and It by E Nesbit

The Railway Children by E Nesbit

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Treasure Island by RL Stevenson

Peter Pan by JM Barrie

What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge

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I’ve been in North America for the last 2 weeks – 2 weeks! – on promotional duties for THE ABSOLUTIST, which will be published in the USA by The Other Press in July but is published in Canada by Doubleday this week.

At the Random House offices in New York

The trip started in New York, where I hosted a lunch for 30 reviewers / bloggers / literary types at the Museum of Modern Art. A great afternoon and fascinating to hear of all the amazing writing websites which are online now. So much brilliant new writing out there.

On to Washington DC then for something similar before making my way to Canada to begin a book tour in Toronto. I’d read at the Authors at the Harbourfront series 2 years ago while promoting The House of Special Purpose. A real delight to be back as it’s a great reading space, where the audience sit around tables drinking rather than in formal theatrical seats.

Toronto: Authors at the Harbourfront

Next up Calgary, my first trip there, for some media interviews and now finally to Vancouver for more media and the festival of international writers. I’ll be reading this coming Wednesday night before heading home – at last! – before the weekend.

Canadian Edition

US Edition

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I've spent the last week in Germany to promote the German language editions of THE ABSOLUTIST (Das Spate Gestandis des Tristan Sadler) and NOAH BARLEYWATER RUNS AWAY (Der Junge Mit Dem Herz Aus Holz), both of which were published here this month.

First stop was the Leipzig Book Fair, then my 2nd trip to the Cologne Literary Festival and a stay at the amazing Wasserturm hotel – an old water tower – followed by readings in Bonn and Freising, near Munich.

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I've written the introduction to a new edition of James Joyce's DUBLINERS, which is published today by O'Brien Press. The book has been selected as the One City One Book choice for Dublin this year. Dublin a UNESCO City of Literature so it's particularly relevant that DUBLINERS is the book that everyone is encouraged to read during April 2012.

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This is the jacket for THE TERRIBLE THING THAT HAPPENED TO BARNABY BROCKET, which will be published in the UK, Ireland and Australia/NZ on August 2nd. The jacket is designed by Oliver Jeffers, who has also provided the illustrations for inside the book.

Here's what the book is about:

"There's nothing unusual about the Brockets. Boring, respectable and fiercely proud of it, Alistair and Eleanor Brocket turn up their noses at anyone strange or different. But from the moment Barnaby Brocket comes into the world, it's clear he's anything but normal. To the horror and shame of his parents, Barnaby appears to defy the laws of gravity – and floats.

Little Barnaby is a lonely child – after all, it's hard to make friends when you're ten feet in the air. Desperate to please his parents, he does his best to stop floating, but he just can't do it. Then, one fateful day, Barnaby's mother decides enough is enough. She never asked for a weird, abnormal, floating child. She's sick and tired of the newspapers prying and the neighbours gossiping. Barnaby has to go . . .

Betrayed, frightened and alone, Barnaby floats into the path of a very special hot air balloon. And so begins a magical journey around the world; from South America to New York, Canada to Ireland, and even a trip into space, Barnaby meets a cast of truly extraordinary new friends and realises that nothing can make you happier than just being yourself."

You can pre-order Barnaby from Amazon and Waterstone's.

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