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Headline's sporting misery

Headline is launching what it describes as a new genre in sports publishing: sports misery. The books--stories of men "for whom sport did become a matter of life and death"--are a cross between sports autobiographies and misery memoirs. Headline hopes to find a large crossover readership, although it acknowledges that the first half of the year is traditionally a quiet time for sports publishing. Deputy m.d. Kerr MacRae says the success of Gazza: My Story (June 2005) revealed a "massive" demand for non-fiction beach reads for men that go "beyond the straightforward sports autobiography".


Sports misery kicks off with Fallen Idle by Peter Marinello, published on 22nd March in trade paperback at £12.99. Black and Blue by Paul Canoville, also a £12.99 trade paperback, will follow on 28th June. Both are half-forgotten professional footballers of the 1970s and '80s.

Extensive media coverage is planned for both titles, which have a tabloid look to stand out from other sports autobiographies. Headline will continue with two titles a year each spring.

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