Richard & Judy Book Clubs

Running from 2004 to 2009, the campaign behind the book strands on the popular TV duo’s show on C4 became a hugely successful sales boost for the industry. Perhaps the biggest generic book promotion there has ever been. In that period, over 75 million copies of the selected books were sold bring an extra £1/4 billion into the trade.

Several authors have been turned into millionaires and household names by the exposure.

Agile marketing jointly promoted the concept with Cactus TV and liaised with all publishers, retailers, libraries and sponsors; Galaxy to ensure it continued to deliver for the industry.

The various campaigns associated with the TV book strands won 3 Bookseller Retail Awards for expanding the market.

Other campaigns were delivered by agile marketing as off-shoots to this, such as:

Richard & Judy’ Christmas Books selection – TV show & campaign

Richard & Judy’s Children’s Books selection – TV show as part of C4’s award-winnning ‘Lost for words’ series which aimed to help reverse child literacy patterns.

Richard & Judy’s ‘How to get published’ & ‘True’ writing competitions

Here is a list of titles that were selected for the bookclubs:
2009
Jesse Kellerman - The Brutal Art
Kate Summerscale - The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher
Andrew Davidson - The Gargoyle
Kate Atkinson - When Will There Be Good News (winner)
David Ebershoff - The 19th Wife
France Osborne - The Bolter
Joseph O'Neill - Netherland
Beatrice Colin - The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite
Elizabeth H. Winthrop - December
Steven Galloway - The Cellist of Sarajevo

2008
Danny Scheinmann - Random Acts of Heroic Love
Katharine McMahon - Rose of Sebastopol
Roger Jon Ellory - A Quiet Belief in Angels
Patrick Gale - Notes from an Exhibition
Joshua Ferris - Then We Came to the End
Mark Slouka - Visible World
Lloyd Jones - Mister Pip
Tim Butcher - Blood River
Peter Ho Davies - The Welsh Girl
Khaled Hosseini - A Thousand Splendid Suns (winner)

2007
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun
William Boyd - Restless
A.M. Homes - This Book Will Save Your Life
Lori Lansens - The Girls
James Robertson - The Testament of Gideon Mack
Griff Rhys Jones - Semi-detached
Jed Rubenfeld - The Interpretation of Murder (winner)
Catherine Ryan Hyde - Love in the Present Tense

2006
Julian Barnes - Arthur & George
Richard Benson - The Farm
Geraldine Brooks - March
Michael Connelly - The Lincoln Lawyer
Martin Davies - The Conjurer's Bird
Nicole Krauss - The History of Love
Anchee Min - Empress Orchid
Kate Mosse - Labyrinth (winner)
Eva Rice - The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets
Andrew Smith - Moondust

2005
William Brodrick - The Sixth Lamentation
Paula Byrne - Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson
Justin Cartwright - The Promise of Happiness
Karen Joy Fowler - The Jane Austen Book Club
Chris Heath - Feel: Robbie Williams
David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas (winner)
Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife
Jodi Picoult - My Sister's Keeper
Andrew Taylor - The American Boy
Carlos Ruiz Zafón - The Shadow of the Wind

2004
Monica Ali - Brick Lane
Martina Cole - The Know
William Dalrymple - White Mughals
Zoë Heller - Notes on a Scandal
David Nicholls - Starter for Ten
Joseph O'Connor - Star of the Sea
Alice Sebold - The Lovely Bones (winner)
Asne Seierstad - The Bookseller of Kabul
Nigel Slater - Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger
Adriana Trigiani - Lucia, Lucia

Summer Read

2009
Dave Boling - Guernica
Julian Fellowes - Past Imperfect
Stephen L Carter - Palace Council
Colin Bateman - Mystery Man
Sue Miller - The Senator's Wife
Janice Y K Lee - The Piano Teacher
Jill Dawson - The Great Lover
Charles Elton - Mr Toppit

2008
Sadie Jones - The Outcast
Linwood Barclay - No Time for Goodbye
Julia Gregson - East of the Sun
John Hart - Down River
Margret Cezair - The Pirate's Daughter
Rebecca Miller - The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
Toni Jordan - Addition
James Bradley - The Resurrectionist

2007
Kim Edwards - The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Simon Kernick - Relentless
Kate Morton - The House at Riverton
Paul Torday - Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
Jane Fallon - Getting Rid of Matthew
Mark Mills - The Savage Garden
Jonathan Tropper - How to talk to a Widower
Mary Lawson - The Other Side of The Bridge

2006
Jim Lynch - The Highest Tide
Sam Bourne - The Righteous Men
Victoria Hislop - The Island
Dorothy Koomson - My Best Friend's Girl
Elisabeth Hyde - The Abortionist's Daughter
Elizabeth Kostova - The Historian

2005
Karen Quinn - The Ivy Chronicles
George Hagen - The Laments
Anthony Capella - The Food Of Love
Susan Fletcher- Eve Green
Ben Sherwood - The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud
David Wolstencroft - Good News, Bad News

2004
Jennifer Donnelly - A Gathering Light
P. J. Tracy - Want to Play?
Cecelia Ahern - PS, I Love You
Maile Meloy - Liars and Saints
Ben Richards - The Mermaid and the Drunks
Bella Pollen - Hunting Unicorns