Books of the Year NON-FICTION: NARRATIVE
WINNER BECOMING MICHELLE OBAMA VIKING
The publication of Michelle Obama’s Becoming wasn’t just the biggest publishing event of 2018: it seemed to be one of the major social moments of the year, too. The media and public frenzy on her arrival in the UK and at events steered by Penguin Random House was at a level more usually seen for film or music stars than for authors, and the sales numbers generated by Becoming were near-unprecedented in narrative non-fiction. The book proved to be more personal and passionate than many
had expected, full of honesty and emotional subtlety. It was a timely insight into big issues around race, gender and inequality, too. But while its popularity in the US was guaranteed, the success in the UK was surprising and remarkable. Penguin General can take a lot of the credit for that, having dealt
with numerous headaches around embargoes and security to give the book the best possible launch. It meticulously built a buzz way out from publication, and targeted infrequent readers and BAME communities in particular. Marketing didn’t let up after Obama went home, with sales snowballing right up to Christmas. In just a month and a half at the end of 2018, Becoming sold more
than half a million copies—or roughly 500 an hour. With an average selling price of £17.04 in the final week of the year, it was also the most expensive number one bestseller since TCM records began—testament to the extraordinary demand. As the British Book Awards judges put it: “Becoming took on a life of its own… the emotional impact it seemed to have was astonishing.”
SHORTLIST
EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE DOLLY ALDERTON FIG TREE Passion project for Penguin with brilliant marketing that drove 135,000 sales in all formats
FIRST MAN IN ANT MIDDLETON HARPERNONFICTION Swashbuckling tales that somehow hit both military memoir and self-help markets. Also shortlisted for Audiobook of the Year
THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS WINNERS 2019
THE SECRET BARRISTER THE SECRET BARRISTER PICADOR Insights into the legal pro- fession that overcame the obstacles of an anonymous author to post 165,000 sales across all editions
THE LANGUAGE OF KINDNESS CHRISTIE WATSON CHATTO & WINDUS Nurse's memoir that struck a chord and flew into the bestseller lists after a Radio 4 “Book of the Week” slot
FIRE AND FURY MICHAEL WOLFF LITTLE, BROWN News agenda-setting story of the White House that began the publishing year with a bang and ended it with 165,000 sales
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