A list was unveiled yesterday of 25 British authors tipped to be the biggest stars of the first quarter of this century. But by no means all of them will scale the commanding heights of literature. In contrast to the more familiar forecasts for star literary novelists - from Kazuo Ishiguro to Zadie Smith - produced by Granta for each decade since the 1980s, the new compilation is far more varied and down to earth.

It features the cookery author Jo Pratt, the winners of romantic novel prizes Maggie O'Farrell and Peter Hobbs, the high priest of violent science fiction, Richard Morgan, crime writers CJ Sansom, Chris Simms, Nick Stone and Louise Welsh, and the specialist in historical stories Robyn Young. Gautam Malkani, who caused a stir with Londonstani, his much-hyped debut novel about the "rudeboy" anti-assimilation Asian subculture, also features. The diverse list was compiled by a panel of senior book buyers in the Waterstone's bookshop chain from 100 entries sent in by 250 publishers, publishing editors and authors' agents.

Yesterday John Howells, the panel's chairman, said: "This is a list for the ordinary reader who goes into our shops, not for those who follow literary trends."

Some listed authors get free front-of-shop promotion today and all on the list can expect to have the formidable muscle of the Waterstone's sales force behind them - an advantage not open to those on the Granta lists. This muscle has already helped turn two listed writers - Susanna Clarke and Marina Lewycka - into bestsellers for the Victorian fantasy Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian.

The list in full

Naomi Alderman

Susanna Clarke

Siobhan Dowd

Jasper Fforde

Julia Golding

Emily Gravett

Steven Hall

Jane Harris

Peter Hobbs

Marina Lewycka

Robert Macfarlane

Gautam Malkani

Jon McGregor

Charlotte Mendelson

Richard Morgan

Maggie O'Farrell

Helen Oyeyemi

Jo Pratt

Dominic Sandbrook

CJ Sansom

Chris Simms

Nick Stone

Louise Welsh

Ben Wilson

Robyn Young