But often, the publishers back an author with everything they got and do a media-blitz that saturates and numbs us. If this is the case, we receive millions, billions, all the -illions you would ever want--or not want--by that author. A great example is Sarah Palin's book "Going Rogue". Yes, it was a best seller, but not in Dayton. At Borders--and every other bookstore--we received box after box after box of this book. We may have sold one box's worth of this book. As a cashier, I was well aware of the way this book did not sell; we would ask each other if any of us sold one and we would monitor our store sales. We did not hide this book. It was featured on many displays including the main table right at the entrance. So, just to let you know, WE TRIED VERY HARD TO SELL THIS BOOK! But, the tea baggers would not open up their wallets, and our bookstore went bankrupt; thanks, Mrs. Palin.
Side note One: From the beginning, it was all about the money. Customers would gripe about the price of the book written by their demigod and want to know when the paperback version was coming out. We would tell them our stock line: 'that depends on the publisher's contract with Mrs. Palin and the sales of the book'. When the mock-book "Going Rouge" by the editors of Nation came out, people mis-took this straight to paperback book as Palin's book. Being sensitive to the needs of my customers, I would ask them if they wanted this book or the Palin book (yes, I profiled them). They would ask what the difference was. Here are the covers:
Can you spot the differences?Side note Two: My Borders was in the first round of closures when the corporation went bankrupt. During liquidation, we became the repository of items that were not selling well at other stores. So not only were we stuck with all the -illions of "Going Rogue" languishing in our stockroom, we got extra-illions of this book! Back it went onto the promo table, and on the shelves, and under the tables and behind the register; everywhere! Whereas the liquidators were still at the 20% off phase, this book began at 40% off then quickly jumped to 70% off. We would tell customers--jokingly because we really didn't have any power--we would throw the book in free with any purchase; we could not give this book away.
Authors have loyal followers who know when the next book is coming out, even after said-author is dead: Robert Jordan (deceased author of the fantasy-genre "Wheel of Time" series), James Patterson (who is basically a corporation with a sweatshop of writers in his attic), Lauren K. Hamilton (who--like Mr. Patterson--has a two inch margin framing her "story" which is written in size 32 font), Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb (each book the same, with covers that almost differ), Charlaine Harris (she of True Blood fame), and to quote the King from the musical The King and I, "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera". But then there are the authors that become viral by word-of-mouth. Authors like Dan Brown, Khaled Hosseini, Elizabeth Gilbert, William P. Young, and E.L. James.
Dan Brown, wrote "The Da Vinci Code". Legend has it that a bunch of publishers decided to take a little known author with a so-so book (this is according to legend, but I found the book to be filled with too many cliches, coincidences and it was really just so-so) and begin a word-of-mouth marketing campaign. They manipulated us and made us think it was a phenomenal book, which many people think it is. Then they made it into a so-so movie and everyone became rich.
Khaled Hosseini beat the odds as an author with a very un-American name overcoming stereotypes while pocketing our American dollars. He is the Afghan-born American author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns". This overachieving author/physician/Goodwill Envoy has sold over 38 billion books (thanks, Wikipedia). "The Kite Runner" was made into a movie in 2007, and in 2015 so will "A Thousand Splendid Suns".
Elizabeth Gilbert wrote "Eat, Pray, Love" and is a recipient of the Oprah juggernaut. Her book makes women feel good, I have heard; I haven't read it. But, it was made into a movie starring Julia Roberts. It may have been a good movie, but I did not see it. But now she is rich and famous.
William P. Young made 15 copies of his book "The Shack" and handed them out to friends. A couple of very supportive friends worked with him on some revisions and they went out to sell the book to publishers. They were rejected by 26 said companies (again, thanks Wikipedia) before deciding to create their own company. With a $200 marketing budget and a word-of-mouth campaign, the book became the number one trade paperback fiction best-seller in 2008. While working Sundays at Borders, the after-church crowd would come through my line to purchase this book. Sunday was also a big day for porn purchases (yes, from the same crowd).
That leaves us with E.L. James. That's Erika Leonard's pseudonym. She began by writing fan fiction using yet another name: Snowqueens Icedragon. Her "Twilight" fan fiction grew into her erotic trilogy: "Fifty Shades of Grey", "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed", and sales of grey ties soared worldwide. My Barnes and Noble sold out of the first book the first day having only recieved a few copies; who knew? Certainly not the publisher because they had to go into a second printing of said first book and women everywhere had to wait impatiently for about three weeks for the next shipment. I have never experienced anything like the phenomena of this series. Women of all ages are still coming in for this book and reading it in broad daylight (10 million copies sold!). It's a sado-masochistic book and grandma's are reading it! I am sure their men--and the men of all the women who are reading it--are reaping the benefits of this book. And yes, the movie rights have been sold.
So, dear readers, that leads me to list some authors that I think deserve a word-of-mouth shout-out:
- Jasper Fforde If you want to read something imaginative, funny, and intelligent (meaning, he doesn't insult the reader's intelligence), you have got to read his "Thursday Next" series. Beginning with the book "The Eyre Affair", this series brings you into The Book World: a place where fictional characters move in and out of books and monitor all things fiction and non-fiction. Let the word plays roll!
- Carlos Ruiz Zafon The third book of his trilogy is not being published in the US until July! I have been waiting forever. The books--in order--are "The Shadow of the Wind", "The Angel's Game" and "The Prisoner of Heaven". His books are a book inside of a book about a book. The first book is set in 1950's Barcelona. A little boy is taken to a place underneath Barcelona where books have been hidden to protect them from being destroyed and/or forgotten (this is during Fascism in Spain). He is told to pick one book from the -illions that he comes across; this is the book he will be responsible for. He chooses the book "The Shadow of the Wind" and becomes curious about the author, who is trying to burn every copy of his own book.
- Wilkie Collins Mr. Collins was a contemporary and collaborator of Charles Dickens. I became interested in him after slogging through the book "Drood" by Dan Simmons. In Mr. Simmons book, Wilkie Collins is a dope fiend and very jealous of Charles Dickens. I read Mr. Collins' book "The Lady in White" and will eventually be reading "Moonstone". His writing style is much more accessible than Dickens and is one of the few Victorian writers that I will read a second or third time.
