Time to break out the crankypants.

So, I just received a book in the mail.  Normally I'd be all happy, because, yay, more to read, but then I glanced at the promotional materials included with said book.

And I got annoyed.

Looks to me like the publisher is promoting the author rather than the book.  As in, look at the Pretty Young Thing!  So Young!  So Pretty!  So Talented!  And a Friend of Famous People!

Anyway.  The book might be totally good.  I don't know.  I'm going to wait a while before I pick it up, though.  And I'm chucking the info sheets immediately.

Comments

[Brian F.]

Crankypants, Crankypants, what are they feeding you?
Crankypants, Crankypants, it's not your fa-au-ault!

[Brian F.]

Oh, and NOT that I would be defending the actions of a publisher who draws focus on the author rather than their work (because, honestly, when I see blurbs from celebrities who have nothing to do with the literary world, I just roll my eyes and pass the book over) by playing up the author's ties, looks, or vaguely asserted talent for a young age..

...BUT...

...I am very sad to report that, depending on the audience, those are the sorts of things some people respond to. There are people (I've met them) who pick up a book cover and say, "Ohmygod, George Wendt said this chick lit book was the best thing he's ever read. I should read it too!" Before Opal Mehta chick got exposed as a fraud, all the hype around her was "So young! So talented" and that's what drove people to the book, not an actual word about her writing (which, turns out, wasn't hers).

This is why I'm absolutely galled at book trailers. It makes the actual writing a means to an end. Ignore the craft as long as we've got a few visuals to help the imaginatively impaired (allegedly to drive them to the book and...then what? IMHO, most of the people I know who are drawn to a book by a trailer aren't going to respond to the text once it's missing flashy jump cuts and driving, public domain music).

In case it got missed in the tirade, I agree with you that it's sad when who/what an author is gets spotlighted over their work. But some audiences respond to that. Some people never mature beyond the popularity gauge of high school. You're obviously not one. Good for you. That's why I keep coming back here.

[Leila]

Dude, if George Wendt loved a chick lit book, I'd totally read it. Maybe.

But thank you. And I know that they do it because people respond to it. Mostly I'm just annoyed with myself because I immediately get annoyed, avoid the book, and then worry that I might be missing out on something I might like. I have been known to fall into that nose-spite-face trap. Grrr.

[TadMack]

See, Leila, this is why you know ME. See, when you pick up my book, you'll have to just read it. The author knows Jack -- but not well -- and Pretty Young Thing! So Pretty! So Young! -- well, we can just say no to that, too.

Actually, I found that I do a lot of tossing of the promotional materials except for one piece of paper that contains the ISBN so I can take notes on the back.