It goes without saying that Keith Richards’ memoir "Life" is a bestseller even before its official release on October, 26, 2010. The Rolling Stones guitar legend reportedly received $7 million to write his autobiography. Advance orders for the book have been impressive, although exact number of books that have been purchased in advance have not been released since most book sellers are privately owned companies that do not publicly divulge how many pre-order sales that a book has gotten.
More information about sales numbers may become available after the book’s release. Little, Brown and Company (a division of the Hachette Book Group) is the book’s U.S. publisher. Wiedenfeld & Nicolson (a division of Orion Publishing Group) is the book’s U.K. publisher.
A way to gauge interest in the book before its release is to look at where it ranks in sales at retailers that post that information online. According to these rankings, "Life" is selling the most at the U.S. operations for Amazon.
Here are the sales rankings for "Life," as of October 24, 2010 — two days before the book’s release date. (This information is subject to change.)
Amazon.com (United States): #1 in overall book sales
("Life" is also #1 on Amazon.com for biographies and books about rock music.)
Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom): #2 in overall book sales
("Life" is #1 on Amazon.co.uk for biographies and books about rock music.)
Amazon.ca (Canada): #435 in overall book sales
("Life" is in the Top 10 on Amazon.ca for biographies and books about rock music.)
Amazon.de (Germany): #56 in overall book sales
("Life" is #1 on Amazon.de for biographies and books about rock music.)
Amazon.jp (Japan): #85 in overall book sales
("Life" is #1 on Amazon.jp for biographies and books about rock music.)
The Bargain Bookstore (United Kingdom): #6 in overall book sales
Barnes & Noble (United States): #7 in overall book sales
Book Depository (United Kingdom): #745 in overall book sales
Although excerpts of "Life" were published in mid-October 2010 by Rolling Stone magazine and The Times, advance reviews of the book have been scarce. That’s because there was a stricter-than-usual embargo on the media getting copies of the book, according to what a Little, Brown and Company publicist for "Life" told me. Usually, the media get advance copies of a book one or two months before a book goes on sale. "Life" (which is co-written by journalist James Fox) is being made available to select media just a few days before it goes on sale.
The book publisher has released the image that is on the back cover of "Life's" hardcover book's book jacket. It is a photo of Richards (circa the late 1960s), lounging in the sun, and wearing no shirt and bell bottom jeans. A hand-written message is written across the photo: "I'm not in this game for the money. I'm here for the insane desire to turn the folks on, to be able to make records. Here's the story. Thanks and praises, Keith."
A 20-CD audio box set, a digital download and a Kindle/eBook version of "Life" are also available. The U.S./U.K./Canadian release of the audio CD set features narration read mostly by Johnny Depp and Joe Hurley. Richards is a "featured" narrator in the recordings. The main narrators in the audio CD set vary according to the native language in the country.
An audio excerpt from the "Life" CD set has Richards saying: "Believe it or not, I remember everything. So get ready for the ride. It starts with a bang. It starts with a moment when I was in deep trouble. When was I not? When everything — Rolling Stones and all — looked as if it was going to come to a sticky end on a country road in Arkansas. I used up my nine lives long ago, but here I am. I’m still playing. I’m still rocking and still rolling and I survived to tell this tale. And I hope you enjoy it."
As previously reported, Richards is set to do a limited number of public appearances to promote "Life." The two appearances that have been announced so far are a Q&A at the New York Public Library's Fifth Avenue location in midtown Manhattan on October 29, 2010, and a book signing at Waterstone's in London's Picadilly Circus neighborhood on November 3, 2010. Tickets for the New York Public Library Q&A sold out the day that they went on sale. For the Waterstone's book signing, wristbands will be distributed to the first 450 people in the queue.
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