The Bachman book Thinner (1984) sold 28,000 copies during its initial run-and then ten times as many when it was revealed that Bachman was, in fact, King. King concludes that he has yet to find an answer to the 'talent versus luck' question, as he felt he was outed as Bachman too early to know.

He says he deliberately released the Bachman novels with as little marketing presence as possible and did his best to 'load the dice against' Bachman. In his introduction to The Bachman Books, King states that adopting the nom de plume Bachman was also an attempt to make sense out of his career and try to answer the question of whether his success was due to talent or luck. He convinced his publisher, Signet Books, to print these novels under a pseudonym. King therefore wanted to write under another name, in order to increase his publication without over-saturating the market for the King 'brand'. About the AuthorĪt the beginning of Stephen King's career, the general view among publishers was that an author was limited to one book per year, since publishing more would be unacceptable to the public. THE RUNNING MAN: TV's future-favourite game show, where contestants are hunted to death in the attempt to win a $1 billion jackpot. ROADWORK: An immovable man refuses to surrender to the irresistible force of progress. THE LONG WALK: A chilling look at the ultra-conservative America of the future where a gruelling 450-mile marathon is the ultimate sports competition. Now the secret is out - and so, brought together in one volume, are these three spellbinding stories of future shock and suspense. The 10th anniversary edition of Andrea Levy's iconic, million-copy The name on the covers was Richard Bachman but the imagination could only belong to one man: Stephen King.įor years, readers wrote asking if Richard Bachman was really world-bestselling author Stephen King writing under another name.

Bachman books the long walk