"Reality" TV for Book Lovers

For a long time, I've ridiculed "Reality" TV to anyone who stands still long enough to listen to me. I detest it and I sincerely believe that it's as much a culprit in the dumbing down of America as anything else that the media have thrown at us. Any time that I stumble onto thirty seconds of "The Bachelor" I wonder how this country manages to survive for another day. Now I see that "Reality" TV for book lovers may be the next chapter in the never ending parade because Simon Cowell's big brother, Tony, is about to launch such a show in the U.K. The photo shows Tony Cowell, standing, at a London Book Fair panel discussion.

I lived in London during some of the '90s and, from what I can tell, "Reality" TV had its start in the U.K. because several of the shows that I remember from those days were later adapted for American audiences (Survivor, American Idol, Big Brother, and the like). So if "Bestseller" is a hit in the U.K. it is only a matter of time (and not much of that) before knockoffs of the show are on television all over the world, including the U.S.

Now would-be writers are to get the reality TV show treatment in an attempt to find a new Dan Brown or JK Rowling.

Aspiring authors will be invited to pitch their ideas for a blockbuster novel to a panel of judges headed by Tony Cowell, big brother of The X Factor's Simon Cowell.

Winners will receive a six-figure advance and a deal with a major publisher in Britain and America. Contestants who survive the first round will be 'mentored' by a line-up of authors expected to include Jackie Collins and Jeffrey Archer.

"We want people of different backgrounds and ages to take part' said Tony Cowell. "It could be a 20-year-old student who adores Harry Potter or an 80-year-old lady who wants to be the new Agatha Christie.

Viewers will see the mechanics of writing a book - how people come up with a crazy idea and make it work against all the odds.

"The only conditions are that they must have a completed manuscript and never have been published before. Some will have had hundreds of rejections. But we want to give them another chance."

I've really got mixed emotions about this one. On the one hand, the show might offer some insight into how the publishing business really works and might present some interesting writers who refuse to give in to the rejections that they've received. On the other hand, Jackie Collins is on the panel of judges. Enough said.