Wednesday Midday Links: Guardians strange erotica list, Sarah takes Kirkus on, Children’s book deals
Publishing Newserotica / Fifty Shades / genre critique15 Comments
Erotica: better reads than Fifty Shades of Grey | Books | The Guardian – “It is thought that its e-beginnings, which allowed people to read without fear of discovery or embarrassment (Kindles have no covers), has vitally contributed to its success. How the internet has spoiled today’s stimulation seekers. A click of a button and off you go, clicking your own button on the way.” Personal Note: I can’t think of a better article than this that explains the popularity of Fifty Shades. The list is identified as erotica reads better than Fifty Shades and includes a book by Susan Napier, Judy Blume, Judith Krantz, Wuthering Heights!!!, Flowers in the Attic!!!! Seriously. The Guardian
On UX and Branding: Fixing the disaster | brett sandusky – “The first area to tackle is our big UX disaster: currently it is very unclear, in the case of most publishers, to consumers what it is that they are even offering. Our b2b, walled-garden, tastemaker, above-it-all past has created a situation whereby the majority of our brands experience no or low brand recognition and the general public has nary a clue about what it is that we actually do. The average consumer sees absolutely zero difference between self-publishing and the Big Six. 50 Shades, Twilight, meh. All the same. (I’m not suggesting that readers think these are the same books; but they make absolutely no distinction between how they were published and by whom.) In a market of enhanced competition, publishers need to be absolutely clear about what they bring to the table in order to compete at all. It’s not just brand awareness, it’s about connecting, engaging, and educating consumers about what it is that they’re buying…For an industry based on selling stories, it’s time we starting selling our own autobiography.” Brett Sandusky
Joe Wikert’s Publishing 2020 Blog: B&N Desperately Needs To Become a Technology Company – “Competition is always a good thing, right? In today’s marketplace B&N is the company best positioned to compete with Amazon for #1 in ebook sales. The problem is B&N still operates like a brick-and-mortar retailer while Amazon is a technology company to the very core. Some have suggested that Microsoft’s investment in B&N will help them make the transition to becoming a technology company. If spinning off the Nook business is what it takes for B&N to start thinking more like Apple, Google and Amazon then let’s hope they do it soon. As the owner of a Nook with GlowLight it’s painfully obvious that B&N has a long way to go to catch up with Amazon” Joe Wikert’s PublishInnh Blog
Bad, Kirkus, Bad | Kirkus Book Reviews – “Kirkus reviews for The Proposal included this line: “Balogh contravenes the conventions of historical romance by introducing an ingredient the genre is not always known for: intelligence.”
Sarah’s response: How nice for Balogh, who is a marvelous author. How absolutely insulting to every other author of historical romance, and every reader who enjoys it. My reaction to the reviewer: bite me. Clearly you don’t know dick all about romance as a genre, as you’d be aware that there are more books written with and by those possessing ample intelligence than I have room to name here. As soon as I find out your name, I’ll be sure to put exactly the right amount of confidence in your future reviews, which would be exactly none. You’ve insulted us most thoroughly and now can have nothing more to say. My reaction to the publisher and editor: REALLY, KIRKUS?! REALLY?!” Kirkus
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Loved The Guardian’s comment on Wuthering Heights. As usual Sarah at “Smart Bitches” wrote a spot-on response to yet another slap at romance novels and the women and men who read and write them.
Ah well, at least I got a mention in the comments of that Guardian piece. Still not sure if it was a compliment or a slam though. ;)
Well, that Kirkus thing is just dandy, especially since The Proposal – while a pleasant read – is far from Balogh’s best work as it suffers from her obvious and repeatedly publicly stated aversion to write dark combined with a story line about a group of Regency persons basically suffering from PTSD.
I think I like it better when romance is ignored by the main stream press. I think a mere 3% of the articles I have ever read have been truly positive about the genre :(
Go Sarah!!!!!
Wow, that Guardian piece is even worse than I expected. And I had low expectations. The slamming of Mills & Boon is completely unnecessary and uncalled for. For shame.
What’s the big deal? Romance isn’t known for it’s intelligence. Stating the obvious hurts our feelings now?
I’m not defending it, or making light of it – but honestly, it’s Kirkus. I know more than a few librarians who keep up with Kirkus solely for getting their snarky fix. Or sure, they’ve mellowed quite a bit in recent years – but they have a long standing reputation for things like this, although they usually reserve it for less-than-positive reviews. Also, speaking in generalities, they don’t exactly have the best track-record when it comes to lovin’ on genre fiction (and I’m talking all genres, not just romance). There was a time when if there was any small shred of a chance a book was going to be “popular fiction,” it was pretty much guaranteed that Kirkus would hate it with the passion of a thousand blazing suns.
Although, again, they’ve gotten a bit softer in recent years. I partly attribute to this to the fact that they almost folded entirely a couple of years back.
And neither here nor there, my favorite snarky line from a Kirkus review ever? This one, which was in a review for a children’s title written by Clive Cussler:
Mean girl bloggers don’t look so mean when held up against that…..
Ah, its a good day for news.
Mangan’s idea of “racy” is puzzling but my favorite puzzler in her article was this:
Older women? Huh? What’s next, nana porn?
And then the Kirkus review with it’s contravening of conventions. Who knew Mary Balogh was such a dangerous girl.
Have to admit that some parts of Mangan’s Guardian article made me laugh. How could I not when we have something like this? “But if your psyche can deal with peripheral visions of the likes of Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron rutting with their respective spouses, then well done you and off you go.” In any case, the article is very much in Mangan’s style.
@Ridley: Because Romance is usually singled out for that kind of comments while also-not-known-for-its-intelligence genres aren’t, maybe?
I, too, laughed at Mangan’s article. We must be same age; the same books made their way around my school with the same intent (aside from Jilly Cooper, whose books didn’t make it to Southern California as far as I know.) Poor Mills & Boon, all its books lumped together in the most condescending manner, but that’s the Guardian for you: never letting the dismissal of a stereotype get in the way of a snarky joke.
But boo! Kirkus. And yay! Sarah.
@Chandra Blattner: I liked the Mangan article for exactly the same reason. Not all of them, but many, were the books I read as a teenager which widened my perceptions of what sex was and what it could be. I think that the appeal of 50 Shades is very similar to these books.
I admit to laughing out loud at the Guardian article when Mangan writes about how Nancy Friday expanded her sexual education beyond what she learned from Shirley Conran’s “Lace”: “a) something about one woman putting a strawberry cream puff in a place where at that point I believed only goldfish should go.” And speaking of “Lace”, was that the book where one of the girls is of uncertain parentage and confronts three women with the deathless line “which of you bitches is my mother?” (which has got to be one of my favorite literary quotes ever.
Seriously, reading the comments on DA is more entertaining than reading the original article. Although Mangan did make me smile.
Well done, Sarah–as always.
Oh, Morgan’s snark on the better books – in love. Seriously. So great. Especially the comments on VC Andrews. Just so much good. I wanted to be happy so I didn’t read the rest of the links.
Susan/DC,
I hope it is. I loved that book when I read it around 16, I think. I found it in an old box my mom had that she and her mother read – elderly mom loved the bodice rippers, my love began with shiny covers. And I loved the mini series with Phoebe Cates even more, especially when you found out the truth and went “EW, ICK. Wrong! Brain bleach, please!” It’s so bizarre to see that movie and then see Grelims, going “WTF?” But I so loved the overly dramatic scenes and “oh, dear”s that you had to utter.