From the Dole Queue to Book Number Two ; Author Who Wrote First Book 'by Hand' Sells 23,000 Copies

Summary

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Danny Birch's first book started life as a handwritten scrawl on a spare pad of paper. It went on to sell 1,000 copies. Published two years ago, his look at the shadowy streets of Hull where gangsters trade in violence, sex and drugs was the culmination of a lifelong ambition to write a crime novel. Now, the Bransholme author has followed up on his success with rocketing sales of his second book, Get Some, selling 23,000 worldwide. "I couldn't believe it when I found out it had sold that well," says the 33-year-old, who cites growing up watching the The Godfather and Goodfellas as his inspiration. "My publisher got in touch with me and said we had sold a stack of books. It's crazy really, but I was over the moon.

"I only started writing a few years ago. I was on the dole at the time and I wrote my first book for something to do. "I didn't have a computer so I wrote it by hand, not expecting anyone to read it, but a friend gave it to a publisher and it went from there. "Now I've got two books and it shows that anybody can give writing a go." Danny's first book was published by Author House in 2008, while Get Some was published earlier this year by Night Publishing, which was set up by another Hull writer, Tim Roux, who is now based in Belgium.

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From the Dole Queue to Book Number Two ; Author Who Wrote First Book 'by Hand' Sells 23,000 Copies

Described as "a bit more polished" than his earlier efforts, Get So...

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