As celebrity books rake in million-dollar advances around the world, industry insiders in the UK spotted a decline in the actual sales of such popular titles this year–potentially scary news for publishers banking on celebrity hits.

A New Statesman essay focused on Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, television hosts who started a popular book club. While the club has racked up big sales in the past, the article wondered how declining sales and a new television venue for the show will affect book sales.

Here’s more: “Publishers are banking on the celebs again this autumn, but have serious worries that this genre will play less well in credit-crunch Britain. Richard and Judy selections seemed to be as prominent as ever in the charts this spring, but turned out to have sold, according to an analysis in the Bookseller magazine, about a third fewer copies than the spring 2008 selections.” (Via MobyLives)