And what a year that was, eh? I may not have found a major publisher, yet, and my books might not be in Waterstones and TG Jones and selling two million like Jamie Smart's, yet, but I've not done badly for someone who's made the vast majority of his sales hand to hand and over the table. Yes, almost every one of these books was signed and sold personally by me. At comicons, book fairs, and at a lot of schools, I sign and sell my books, and this year I did it with 2316 of them.
The graph's a bit distorted at the top. The big column shows the 999 Richard The Thirds I sold in total, and below that I've broken it down to show the 750 black and white editions (the ones that, mostly, school pupils buy), and the 249 colour editions (which sell best at live events). Next year, all going well, I'll be doing the same thing with Romeo and Juliets, which haven't really had the chance to be sold in schools yet (12 lucky pupils in Durham have a copy, and a librarian in Potters Bar, along with 38 Kickstarters and a couple of friends). Let us see what the future holds.
Meanwhile all my other major books have exceeded their previous years sales:
Colouring Books 396 (2024: 298, 2023: 379, the big dip last year coming from the loss of online sales which continue to decline as Amazon continues to de-list them). The biggest seller is the Doctors Who book, which I've updated several times through the year, followed by Cult TV, and the various Pop Star volumes. I have about 20 different titles on the go, hence their collective place in the chart.
Findlay Macbeth 176 (2024: 86, 2023: 133) Boosted by a half-tone colourised edition of the book which I launched with a Kickstarter in the middle of the year
Midsummer Night's Dream Team 169 (2024: 155, 2023: 125) Ever the popular favourite, still pulling the crowds
Space Elain 169 (2024: 85) Doubled last year's debut sales, going strong in b&w and colour editions
Hamlet Prince Of Denmark Street 147 (2024: 91, 2023: 143) Sales bob up and down year on year, always the bridesmaid
Others various 90 (2024: 54) I should really separate these out as they include Book Of Esther, who'd rank well, and the new Socks Do Shakespeare, which sold a bunch at The Lakes. Also the kids comics collections (Attack Of The Sausages etc) which always sell well when I remember to bring any.
Shakespeare Omnibus 53 (2024: 29, 2023: 13) Given that this is my most expensive book, at £19, it sells surprisingly well. I should display it more prominently maybe. Or offer it to schools?
Romeo & Juliet 53. As noted above, I didn't get any copies from the printers till the start of December, so it won't get its chance to shine until 2026. You watch it go!
Joseph & Ruth 33 (2024: 31) Now in colour as well as black and white
Tales From The Bible 31 (2024: 21, 2023: 27) Another one that would sell more if I'd remember to stock it. Being A4 it's the wrong shape for the graphic novels on the table and merges with the colouring books.
(Some of these columns don't actually add up, cos I got bored updating them. But the gist is correct).
And for comparison here's last year's graph. See, I even have a better graph this year too.
Onwards and upwards, thankyou for reading this nonsense, if indeed you have.
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Richard The Third (Colour) | Doctors Who? Colouring | Socks Do Shakespeare | Kids Comics Annual 2026 |
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Richard The Third (bw) | Findlay Macbeth | Prince of Denmark Street | Midsummer Night's Dream Team |
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Shakespeare Omnibus | Comic Tales From The Bible | Joseph, Ruth & Other Stories | Space Elain |
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