Bestseller

This was my first published novel, a satirical look at the world of publishing. As the TLS said, “While not necessarily directed at paying off old scores… Bestseller shows that its creator clearly enjoys laying about him, not just at the book trade’s monsters and grotesque, but at their consensual victims in the shape of writers and editorial underlings.” Tibor Fischer said of it: “Too depressing, too accurate.” If you would like to know how to write a “bestseller”, read my 2010 piece in The Times here.

“A fine comic caper and a biting satire on the publishing industry … it is cleverly plotted and lands several juicy thumps on its target.” Independent on Sunday

“Gallenzi … slips in sound insider’s judgements on how this business works. Read it for the lowdown on the low trade.” Boyd Tonkin, The Independent

“Light yet serious, funny and painful, somewhat fantastic yet shot through with truth.” The Scotsman

“A clever satire on the world of publishing.” The Times

“Very funny and too awfully right in so many ways.” Tim Parks

Jim Talbot, a writer with a dozen unpublished novels under his belt, has been roundly rejected by every agent and publisher in the land, and is willing to go to extreme lengths to make his dream of literary stardom come true. Charles Randall, the eccentric founder and managing director of Tetragon Press, a small independent publisher that has managed to survive for thirty years in a fierce environment dominated by corporate juggernauts, is about to be brutally sacked by a newly appointed business consultant. In the cut-throat world of modern publishing, Charles and Jim’s paths towards literary salvation are fraught with the most unpredictable dangers.

A novel of intrigue, deceit and sheer desperation, Bestseller is a caustic portrait of contemporary culture and of Britain’s obsession with fame, success and becoming the next J.K. Rowling.

Available for purchase from the publisher’s website