News
Lord Alan Sugar tells Pan Mac: 'You're hired'
08.02.10 | Benedicte Page
No-nonsense business guru Lord Alan Sugar has done a deal with Pan Macmillan for his autobiography, to be published this autumn. The star of TV's "The Apprentice" chose Pan Mac after a publishers' "beauty contest", brokering the deal himself without the services of an agent.
Editorial director Ingrid Connell bought world rights to the book for an undisclosed sum.
Lord Sugar said he would be telling the story of his journey from a Clapton council estate to the world's Rich Lists himself. "I have been approached countless times by publishers with offers of ghost writers to ease the burden of writing my autobiography," he said. "I would never allow a book to be published unless I had written every word, so that readers feel they hear my voice and that I am talking to them personally."
Having recently reached the "milestone" of becoming Lord Sugar of Clapton and appointed as an advisor to the government, the time was now right to tell his story, he added. "As a marketing man through and through, I know the key rule of marketing is to give the market what it wants at the right time," he said.
Connell said Lord Sugar had already started work on his book before approaching publishers with a partial manuscript. The Amstrad boss is "as frank about his mistakes and doubts as he is about his successes" she said, calling his autobiography "everything you'd hope for...straight-talking, funny and highly entertaining."
Lord Sugar will be appearing in two BBC1 series in 2010: "The Young Apprentice" will be screened this spring, with a sixth series of "The Apprentice" coming later in the year.
Comments on this article
By Clive Pratt
Wow, a celebrity memoir on how he made millions palming off cheap tat to the public because 'that's what they want' - cheap, ill-engineered, short life crap. And excuse it all as morally OK because cheap rubbish is what the public want and 'that's business'. As if all ethics are discarded in the pursuit of economic gain. I spy a parallel with celebrity memoirs - cheap, rehashed, churned out crap that the public want.09 Feb 10 09:41
By Phil
Read all about it. East End Jewish barrow-boy done well. Sure to be uplifting and inspiring, and told with his trade-mark humility.09 Feb 10 10:31
By imatree
massive seller, well done panmac, about time you had a decent book to sell09 Feb 10 10:53
By Oliver Frey
At least he's writing it himself! Not like so many others…09 Feb 10 11:19
By Daphne Bentwater
If he's written it himself I should think it will be unintelligable rubbish.09 Feb 10 12:16
By Daphne Bentwater
Yes Nick, I do. I was all emotiuonal. My hero riting a book.... All abaht his fascinatin life flogging cheap gear expensively. And making a mahintin of lovelery lolly.09 Feb 10 17:36
