book brilliantly. They hired a young artist, Achim Kiel, to do the cover, but when he insisted on designing the whole book, treating it as an art object, Luebbe had the courage to go with his concept. He was expensive, but he succeeded in communicating to the buyer Fritzscheâs feeling that there was something special about this book. (He went on to design all my German editions for many years, creating a look that Luebbe used again and again.)
The first intimation I had that readers saw the book as something special came when Luebbe took an advertisement to celebrate the sale of 100,000 copies. I had never sold that many hardcovers in any country other than the United States (which has three times as many people as Germany).
After a couple of years, Pillars began to appear on the list of longest-selling books, having made some eighty appearances on the German bestseller list. As time went by, it just stayed there. (To date, it has made more than three hundred weekly appearances.)
One day I was checking my royalty statement from New American Library, my U.S. paperback publisher. These statements are carefully designed to prevent the author from knowing what is really happening to his book, but after decades of persistence I have learned to read them. And I noticed that Pillars was selling around 50,000 copies every six months. By comparison, Eye of the Needle was selling around 25,000, as were most of my other books.
I checked my U.K. sales and found the same pattern: Pillars sold about double.
I began to notice that Pillars was mentioned more than any other book in my fan mail. Signing in bookshops, I found that more and more readers told me Pillars was their favorite. Many people asked me to write a sequel. (I will, one day.) Some said it was the best book they had ever read, a compliment I had not received for any other book. A British travel company approached me about creating a Pillars of the Earth holiday. This was beginning to look like a cult hit.
Eventually I figured out what was happening. This was a word-of-mouth book. Itâs a truism of the book business that the best advertising is the kind you canât buy: the personal recommendation of one reader to another. That was what was selling Pillars . You did it, dear reader. Publishers, agents, critics, and the people who gave out literary prizes generally overlooked this book, but you did not. You noticed that it was different and special, and you told your friends; and in the end the word got around.
And so it happened. It seemed like the wrong book; I seemed like the wrong writer; and I almost didnât do it. But it is my best book, and you honored it.
I appreciate that. Thank you.
âKen Follett
Stevenage, Hertfordshire
January 1999
On the night of 25 November 1120 the White Ship set out for England and floundered off Barfleur with all hands save oneâ¦. The vessel was the latest thing in marine transport, fitted with all the devices known to the shipbuilder of the timeâ¦. The notoriety of this wreck is due to the very large number of distinguished persons on board; beside the kingâs son and heir, there were two royal bastards, several earls and barons, and most of the royal householdâ¦its historical significance is that it left Henry without an obvious heirâ¦its ultimate result was the disputed succession and the period of anarchy which followed Henryâs death .
âA. L. Poole ,
From Domesday Book to Magna Carta
PROLOGUE
1123
T HE SMALL BOYS came early to the hanging.
It was still dark when the first three or four of them sidled out of the hovels, quiet as cats in their felt boots. A thin layer of fresh snow covered the little town like a new coat of paint, and theirs were the first footprints to blemish its perfect surface. They picked their way through the huddled wooden huts and along the streets of frozen mud to the silent marketplace, where the gallows stood waiting.
The boys despised everything
The first intimation I had that readers saw the book as something special came when Luebbe took an advertisement to celebrate the sale of 100,000 copies. I had never sold that many hardcovers in any country other than the United States (which has three times as many people as Germany).
After a couple of years, Pillars began to appear on the list of longest-selling books, having made some eighty appearances on the German bestseller list. As time went by, it just stayed there. (To date, it has made more than three hundred weekly appearances.)
One day I was checking my royalty statement from New American Library, my U.S. paperback publisher. These statements are carefully designed to prevent the author from knowing what is really happening to his book, but after decades of persistence I have learned to read them. And I noticed that Pillars was selling around 50,000 copies every six months. By comparison, Eye of the Needle was selling around 25,000, as were most of my other books.
I checked my U.K. sales and found the same pattern: Pillars sold about double.
I began to notice that Pillars was mentioned more than any other book in my fan mail. Signing in bookshops, I found that more and more readers told me Pillars was their favorite. Many people asked me to write a sequel. (I will, one day.) Some said it was the best book they had ever read, a compliment I had not received for any other book. A British travel company approached me about creating a Pillars of the Earth holiday. This was beginning to look like a cult hit.
Eventually I figured out what was happening. This was a word-of-mouth book. Itâs a truism of the book business that the best advertising is the kind you canât buy: the personal recommendation of one reader to another. That was what was selling Pillars . You did it, dear reader. Publishers, agents, critics, and the people who gave out literary prizes generally overlooked this book, but you did not. You noticed that it was different and special, and you told your friends; and in the end the word got around.
And so it happened. It seemed like the wrong book; I seemed like the wrong writer; and I almost didnât do it. But it is my best book, and you honored it.
I appreciate that. Thank you.
âKen Follett
Stevenage, Hertfordshire
January 1999
On the night of 25 November 1120 the White Ship set out for England and floundered off Barfleur with all hands save oneâ¦. The vessel was the latest thing in marine transport, fitted with all the devices known to the shipbuilder of the timeâ¦. The notoriety of this wreck is due to the very large number of distinguished persons on board; beside the kingâs son and heir, there were two royal bastards, several earls and barons, and most of the royal householdâ¦its historical significance is that it left Henry without an obvious heirâ¦its ultimate result was the disputed succession and the period of anarchy which followed Henryâs death .
âA. L. Poole ,
From Domesday Book to Magna Carta
PROLOGUE
1123
T HE SMALL BOYS came early to the hanging.
It was still dark when the first three or four of them sidled out of the hovels, quiet as cats in their felt boots. A thin layer of fresh snow covered the little town like a new coat of paint, and theirs were the first footprints to blemish its perfect surface. They picked their way through the huddled wooden huts and along the streets of frozen mud to the silent marketplace, where the gallows stood waiting.
The boys despised everything
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