Books ‘n Bites

A new initiative by UK broadcaster David Freeman called “Book Bites”  invites authors to read from their own work, as he believes that the best person to promote a book is the author. Galley Cat’s taken a listen to a variety of these clips, and reports back with her favorites:

Stella Duffy on Immaculate Conceit:

This is a book about “women’s body issues,” “how society sees women’s

body issues,” but also about “being in love, and what happens when you actually have an affair with an angel.”

Nicholas Sparks on The Guardian:

My boyfriend, after watching this clip, likened Spark to a high school

senior, convinced the sophomore girl he’s talking to has a crush on

him, when she really doesn’t.

Michael Connelly on The Poet: Is the 180 here intentionally or unintentionally comic? I’d prefer to think the latter.

As it happens, I suspect it’s the former–he’s a deadpan kind of guy, after all…

Lots of crime writers, including Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Simon Kernick and PD James, are among the contributors. Some deliver their sales pitches very well; others, however, make me question the site’s mission. Because sometimes the author is the least likely person to know what’s really going on with his or her book…