If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Ben Schott should be thrilled. The British author has written three books of trivia (or "miscellany") that have sold 2.5 million copies worldwide. The books, published by Bloomsbury, have dull titles (deriving from the first book, Schott's Original Miscellany) and dispense what some call useless information—yet the unlikely bestsellers have spawned a multitude of copycats.
Among them are British house Robson Books' Companion series, a 20-title collection with volumes on gardening, the history of Britain, sailing, Shakespeare and other subjects. The Robson books (which are distributed in the U.S. by Trafalgar Square) are almost identical in trim size to Schott's books and feature the same layout: blurbs of text in an elegant font, punctuated by occasional b&w line drawings. Polly Powell, publishing director of Anova Books Company Ltd., of which Robson is a part, says the Companion books have been successful, but admits Schott has something on them: "The writers of all the Companions are good writers, and Ben Schott is a fantastic writer."
Upcoming imitators include A Wine Miscellany by Graham Harding (Clarkson Potter, Nov.), which will have a 15,000-copy first printing; A Military Miscellany by Thomas Ayres (Bantam, Oct.), which will have a 13,000-copy first printing and a trivia sweepstakes advertised on historychannel.com and discovery.com; and the paperback A Biblical Miscellany and A Theological Miscellany by T.J. McTavish (W Publishing Group, Jan.). The books range in price and format, but have one thing in common: they dispense details in an attractive package that is decidedly more upscale than other popular books of trivia (see Why Do Men Have Nipples?).
But Schott's imitators haven't stopped him. His next book, due out October 31, is Schott's Almanac 2007. The book's 2006 edition (which was published only in the U.K.) landed on the Sunday Times top 10 bestseller list within days of its November 2005 publication and has sold more than 150,000 copies. This fall, Bloomsbury will publish three different editions of Almanac in the U.K., the U.S. and Germany.
