A spectacular rise in sales of tripe books in the run-up to Christmas could mean that tripe is about to enter a new era, Tripe Marketing Board chairman Sir Norman Wrassle told a reporter from the Wigan Daily Mail earlier today.  “The figures I’m seeing mean that thousands of people throughout the country will be tucking into a tripe book this Christmas,” Sir Norman said, adding “It’s a personal vindication of my 10 year plan to put tripe back onto the coffee tables, bookshelves and bedside cabinets of the nation.”

“I’m not sure what was going on on 27 November – whether the TV schedules were particularly poor that day, I don’t know – but by any measure sales of almost 7,000 books in the five weeks since our campaign began is pretty good going for a small publishing house like TMB Books,” he said.

A critical factor has undoubtedly been the decision by the TMB to exploit an unexpected price drop by Amazon on one particular book.  Sir Norman said, “We know this is probably an algorithm at work – although we can’t entirely rule out the idea that a senior executive at Amazon is a closet tripe lover.  Stranger things have happened.  But this is most probably a case of a loss leader meeting its match in a particularly altruistic publishing house which decided to team up with local food banks to offer a striking opportunity to raise funds quickly.”

Sir Norman said he was particularly pleased with the support the TMB had received from its followers in social media. “They’ve been brilliant. Many of them have bought copy after copy of the same discounted book, week after week. That commitment is going to make a real difference to food banks in the spring, when I’m told donations tend to dry up a little,” he said.

He paid tribute to the TMB’s social media and backroom volunteers, as well as to the heroic efforts by Amazon’s couriers who were being called upon to deliver tripe books all over the country.

The sales figures mean that the TMB is already committed to donating a minimum of £13,766 to food banks, as £2 from the sales royalties for each book are destined to go there. “Of course, the more books that people buy in the days ahead, the more money we’ll be sending,” Sir Norman said.

After the unexpected November peak, sales slowed again but a second wave of tripe  appreciation was triggered after The Big Issue carried an online article about the TMB’s work in supporting food banks.