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The story teller and his tales
The story teller and his tales.“When I got to know from agent that my debut book, ‘Not a Penny More and Not a Penny Less’ was a best seller in England, I was excited and asked how many copies of the first edition were sold.
Author Speak
Celebratedauthor, politician, Lord Jeffrey Archer is on a five-city tour in India to promote his new book. During his Hyderabad visit, the master of tales had few stories to share
“When I got to know from agent that my debut book, ‘Not a Penny More and Not a Penny Less’ was a best seller in England, I was excited and asked how many copies of the first edition were sold. He nonchalantly replied, ‘3,000’. I asked for the publishers to go for second print and it took much persuasion to print another 25,000 copies, which also sold like hot cakes. Decades and 17.75 million copies later, I still have to call my publisher and persuade him to print 25,000 more,” shares Jeffrey Archer, who was having his afternoon tea. The acclaimed author was in Hyderabad to launch the fifth book of ‘Clifton Chronicles’ series, ‘Mightier than the Sword’.
Archer’s penchant for story telling permeates through the conversation as he recalls, “My second book ‘Kane and Abel’ was auctioned in the US and a publisher got rights for USD 3.4 million in 1978. I wasn’t a big name in the US and was even un-heard of, so my publishers put me onto a 6-minute slot on the morning news in the CBS.
It was the time when Concord was launched and I was brought from London in the plane and I was overawed. In the morning, I had found out that the slot will be shared by three - Bobby Carter (the US president’s brother), Mickey Mouse (who was celebrating 75 years) and I. Carter took 2 min 14 sec, Mickey Mouse 2 min 41 sec and I had to promote my book in one minute. The anchor asked me about how was my journey I kept drooling about the plane and after I finished he just said, ‘Thank you Mr Archer’ and to my horror I saw my publisher fuming as I had failed to say ‘Kane and Abel’ even once.”
Narrating the story behind how the masterpiece got onto to be the Number one best seller on the New York Times list, “My next pit stop was a radio show and the show host was a legend. It was the usual six-minute slot, and this time, all for me. I made up my mind to tell the name ‘Kane and Abel’ as many times as possible, but the host had other plans.
It started like this, “Today, we have a legend with us, the one who conquered Mt Everest, Edmund Hillary… Well he is going to be a bit late so let’s talk about this book, which I have read last night. It is a gripping drama and a page turner and a best pal to spend your weekend with…” and the slot was done, I never uttered a single word. The show was aired on Friday, when my book was 35 on the best sellers list and by Monday it was on number one,” he recalls.
Kane and Abel’s100 edition will be out soon and Archer shares that he and ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ author Nelle Harper Lee were the only ones whose books saw 100 editions or reprints. “My publishers told me that my book has sold 37.75 million copies and Harper Lee’s book sold 40 million copies. Well that is less than the number of copies of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ that were sold,” he quips.
The Englishman is old school when it comes to writing and he still writes with pencil on paper and doesn’t mind producing multiple drafts. But, he confides that he occasionally reads books on ‘Kindle’ though he prefers real book in hand. “I am old school and don’t mind writing multiple drafts, in fact I wrote 14 drafts for the current book.
I don’t plan a great deal either. Even if I do, it will be the next couple of pages. I like to go with the flow, I am a story teller not a writer,” he shares.The septuagenarian dismisses the idea of autobiography, “Harry Clifton is me and Emma is my wife… so no autobiography. I wanted it to be a five-book series, but I couldn’t kill all characters by the end of the book so there will be two more.”
The first book of ‘Clifton Chronicles’ will be soon be adapted into an 8-hour long television series and the author has finished the story outlines for the spot, “My producer flew to the US to meet studios and casting will be done soon,” he shares.A vociferous admirer of RK Narayanan, Archer termed ‘Malgudi Days’ as a master piece. “I agree with Graham Greene, ‘Malgudi Days’ is an amazing piece of work and it deserved ‘Nobel’,” he opines.
“I have four books in the pipeline. Two in ‘Clifton Chronicles’ series and out of them one would be partially set in India, a book on short story and novel. As per my conservative estimates, I will take five years to finish these books and 80 by then,” he says.Signing off, the legend shares an interesting experience. “I was reaching my hotel from Mumbai airport and the car stopped at a signal. A small boy knocked on my window and I pulled it down, he said, “Sir, Do you want the latest Jeffrey Archer?” “My boy, I am the latest Jeffrey Archer,” he smiled.
By Aditya Parankusam
