Juliet Mushens interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Episode “The Strange Death of Cultural Originality?”

Juliet was delighted to be interviewed on BBC Radio 4 by Ben Chu for their “The Strange Death of Cultural Originality?” episode. Chu noted the prevalence of sequels and spinoffs in film and TV and of more established writers and musical artists dominating sales and decided to investigate, interviewing experts across multiple cultural mediums.

However, after interviewing Juliet, Chu wondered if the death of originality might not apply to the same degree to the books industry, as Juliet insisted that originality is still highly prized. She noted that finding fresh debut voices is what drives the publishing industry forward and that decades-established editors with big brand authors will still buy debuts, as they want them to be the brand authors of the future. She added that it’s actually easier for a publisher to acquire an unknown fiction author because they have no sales record to base the decision, or advance amount on, so the deal is primarily based on the editor’s gut instinct that the book will become a big book. Juliet also mentioned that BookTok has fuelled an elevated word of mouth situation, where books published years ago suddenly gain a huge new readership and unexpectedly rocket into the bestseller charts.

You can listen to the full episode here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002697q