A fresh look for the book in time for its Mass Market Paperback launch in May. I really like this and thanks to Lisa Horton at Transworld for her fantastic work.
END OF YEAR LISTS
Considering I've never featured in any newspaper or magazine's end-of-year lists before, 2011 turned out to be a pretty good year. First up was The Independent, which was brilliant, despite the fact they appear to have changed my name.
Then there's The Daily Telegraph. Another one I was delighted to see, even though they have me down as a Chelsea fan. I also got a mention in The Guardian.
Another brilliant thing was getting totally unexpected recommendations from Danny Kelly, Freya North (below) and finally one of my favourite football writers, Henry Winter, again in the Daily Telegraph.
WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Yes, it's me getting a leather-bound copy of 32 Programmes from telly celeb John Inverdale. The book made the shortlist of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Awards and the ceremony was held at Waterstones in Piccadilly. It was a great day out, apart from forgetting to hold my belly in when the photo was being taken.
32 PROGRAMMES MAKES THE WILLIAM HILL SHORTLIST
Much excitement in these parts when this arrived in the mail - an invitation to the William Hill Sports Books Awards in London. 32 Programmes is one of seven shortlisted books for the prize, which is worth a scarily astronomical sum to the winner.
32 PROGRAMMES MAKES LONGLIST FOR WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF YEAR 2011
It's the world's longest established and most valuable sporting book prize, so getting on the longlist is an exciting achievement - especially in a year that has seen so many brilliant sporting books. The next stage is when the 14 books are cut down to a shortlist of 6 in late October. Fingers are well and truly crossed.
The longlist in full (alphabetical order):
Carlo Ancelotti: The Beautiful Games of an Ordinary Genius by Carlo Ancelotti with Alessandro Alciato (Rizzoli International Publications)
The Bicycle Book by Bella Bathurst (HarperPress)
Among The Fans: From Ashes to the Arrows, a Year of Watching the Watchers by Patrick Collins (Wisden Sports Writing)
Into The Arena: The World of the Spanish Bullfight by Alexander Fiske-Harrison (Profile Books)
Gold Rush: What Makes An Olympic Champion? by Michael Johnson (HarperSport)
The Ghost Runner: The Tragedy of the Man They Couldn’t Stop by Bill Jones (Mainstream Publishing)
Racing Through The Dark: The Fall and Rise of David Millar by David Millar (Orion)
The Smell of Football by Mick Rathbone (Vision Sports Publishing)
A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng (Yellow Jersey Press)
32 Programmes by Dave Roberts (Bantam Press)
The Following Game by Jonathan Smith (Peridot Press)
Babysitting George by Celia Walden (Bloomsbury)
“Get In There!” Tommy Lawton – My Friend, My Father by Barrie Williams and Tommy Lawton Junior (Vision Sports Publishing)
Behind The Boundary: Cricket at a Crossroads by Graeme Wright (A & C Black)
32 PROGRAMMES LAUNCH EVENT
The launch of 32 Programmes took place at Waterstone's Bromley, in early August 2011. In front of around 100 people (according to me) or 40-50 people (according to everyone else), the actor TJ Herbert read a chapter from the book, before it finally went on sale.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, especially meeting up with some of the people who buy my books. After signing a few copies, with Ben from Transworld in charge of what he calls "leafing" (finding the page for signing see photo), many adjourned to an Italian restaurant in the High Street.
FIRST REVIEW OF THE NEW BOOK!
32 Programmes reviewed in The Bookseller by Caroline Sanderson. View PDF by clicking here.
NEW FOOTBALL BOOK FROM DAVE COMING OUT NEXT SUMMER
Dave's next book, 32 Programmes, will be published by Transworld in August 2011. Not surprisingly, it's about football programmes - 32 of them. The idea is that when he decided to move to the US with his wife Liz, he had to whittle his collection of 1,134 programmes down to whatever would fit inside a Tupperware container the size of a Dan Brown hardback, as there was no space for any more. The book gives the story behind each of the 32 chosen and covers everything from an obscure FA Cup qualifying round game between Bromley and the Civil Service, through to Argentina playing Peru for a place in the World Cup semi final.
Giles Elliott, sports books editor at Transworld, said: “It’s an absolute honour and pleasure to be publishing Dave. He’s the fan’s fan, as obsessive as they come, and a wonderful writer. It’s a brilliant concept for a book, and beautifully delivered.”
10 May, 2010
Dave is working on his next book, which again deals with youthful football obsession, crushes on disinterested girls, rubbish jobs and trying to impress skinheads. Watch this space for more details...