My other job is journalism

Another week, another book serialisation. Only, this one's a bit higher-profile than most, involving the suspension of the author, the Sun columnist Garry Bushell, when his first novel, Face, was serialised last week by the paper's rival the Daily Star. Apparently, the outspoken TV critic was unaware that his publisher was negotiating with a rival newspaper. But reports that Bushell had been in talks with the Star's owner, his old friend Richard Desmond, about a new job triggered extensive press speculation. The result? Welcome publicity for Bushell's book, its publisher, John Blake, readily admits.

Known to many in the business as the "king of newspaper serialisations", Blake has published numerous journalist-authors in the 10 years since he set up his company, John Blake Publishing. One of his first was Piers Morgan's Secret Lives; Kelvin MacKenzie paid £15,000 to secure serialisation rights for The Sun. Other journalist-authors on his books include Stafford Hildred (ex-Sun), Nicholas Davies (Mirror) and Tim Ewbank (Mail).

A former editor of the Sunday People, Blake knows the serialisation business inside out and has an extensive network of newspaper contacts past and present. That helps to explain not only why Bushell's book ended up at the Star but also why The Sun's arch-rival obtained the serialisation rights for free.

"All editors until now have treated serialisation as a way of showing a well-loved columnist they are appreciated ­ I have never had any editor turn down a book from one of their own columnists," says Blake. That is why Bushell's novel was offered first to The Sun's editor, David Yelland.

"First, I wrote, but he didn't reply. Then I ran into him and asked him again. I even e-mailed. He decided not to respond," Blake explains. "After [Bushell's fellow Sun columnist] Richard Littlejohn's new novel was serialised in The Sun, I decided to give Garry's free to the Star ­ purely for the publicity. I was so frustrated they wouldn't talk to me. It seems, if something is not published by HarperCollins, The Sun's not interested." (Like The Sun, HarperCollins is part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation empire.)

This week, The Mirror is publishing extracts from One for My Baby, the new novel by Tony Parsons, who is a columnist for the paper. For any author with a new book, selling the serialisation rights to a newspaper is usually a significant bonus. Such newspaper exposure not only helps the author's publisher to recoup costs but can also help to market the book by whetting potential readers' appetites. Journalists with literary ambitions in staff jobs on national newspapers seem ideally placed to capitalise on their position.

But that doesn't always mean a book ending up in the publication they work for. Take the case of The Observer's chief political columnist, Andrew Rawnsley. Exclusive revelations about donations made to the Labour Party by Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One boss, from Rawnsley's headline-grabbing exposé of the Labour government published last year appeared not in his own paper, but in the Daily Mail.

The Observer had a first-rights deal, and the Mail the second serialisation rights, but it was the Mail that got the scoop. Putting a brave face on it, The Observer's editor, Roger Alton, claimed that he was completely happy with the arrangement. "We got a very good deal, and the Mail got a good deal," he said. "It was not the cheapest book serialisation."

Alton's comments underline how tricky book serialisations can be. For, while an employer may want to publish extracts from a book by one of its writers, it may not always be able to afford to do so.

Over the past 10 years, the market for serialisations has polarised, with numerous deals being done for £30,000 or less and a small but steady number for more than £100,000. At the top end, serialisation rights for the highest-profile autobiographies, such as Alex Ferguson's, or the latest headline-grabbing royal exposé can go for up to £500,000. When The Mail on Sunday ran James Hewitt's autobiography (another John Blake publication), it cost the paper a cool £600,000.

When selling serialisation rights, a publisher will naturally lean toward the highest bidder but may not always be able to do so with books by journalist-authors. It is not uncommon for a journalist's contract of employment to specify that any book they write must be offered first to their employer and only afterward, if rejected, elsewhere.

It's not just about money, though. Just as important is matching the book to the right newspaper, says Blake: "Generally you try to think who would like this particular book, rather than what's the most I can get for it by encouraging a number to bid in an auction. Often a particular newspaper springs out as the obvious choice." That can result in the sort of compromise struck between The Observer and the Mail by Rawnsley.

Journalist-authors, Blake adds, get no preferential treatment from newspaper editors. In fact, given the ins and outs of Fleet Street politics, it can, on occasion, go against them. At the end of the day, however, the sharpest editors will put personal loyalties (or the reverse) aside if dealing with a book they believe will boost their own newspaper's sales.

At the Daily Mail, the literary editor, Jane Mays, says a really strong serialisation, such as Andrew Morton's Diana (which appeared in The Sunday Times) can put on up to 12 per cent in sales.

"It is an important part of our overall editorial package ­ to give readers real added value with prior access to a new book," she explains. "In an ideal world we aim for one major serialisation per week in the main paper and any number of other, smaller serialisations in sections such as Femail, Good Health or Weekend."

It's not just the newspapers that stand to benefit, of course. With a growing number of books today being sold for huge advances, it is important for publishers to make as much as they can from selling newspaper rights, says Benedicte Page, news editor of The Bookseller.

"Price depends on how much money a newspaper has and how many newspapers are chasing a particular book," she says. "With the right book, with the right newspaper, it's possible to make a substantial proportion of what a publisher needs to cover costs from serial rights alone."

Such is Blake's juggling act. And as a former editor and former buyer of book serialisations, his pitch is more tightly targeted than most. "I know how a particular book will work for a given newspaper in a particular area, and that if they promote it with a TV campaign, it might add 20 or 30,000 to their sales," he claims.

"Any TV advertising campaign for a newspaper costs £300,000 a minute. Buy a book for £100,000, and if the paper is good, you will attract new readers who have been drawn by the serialisation to try it out. Serialisation is extremely cost-effective."

Which makes David Yelland's apparent failure to recognise the potential of Bushell's literary efforts seem somewhat strange. Until, that is, you realise that Bushell is reportedly looking to jump ship. And that Yelland was already spoilt for choice with two other serialisations from Sun staffers already in hand ­ one for Littlejohn's To Hell in a Handcart; the other for Jane Moore's Fourplay, which is to be published in September.