I hope publishers will soon realise that their tactic isn't working and could, in fact, backfire badly. If all book covers look the same, then none stand out. And if we know that how a book looks is no indication of its content, we might just become so dispirited that we bypass the bookstore and rent a DVD instead.Indeed, Suzanabrams, commenting on Shipley's post, says that she has been avoiding this apparent influx of the genre into the bookshops, unaware of this new practice.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Dressed to Kill the Market?
A year ago we were commenting on the tendency of publishers to 'brand' 'chicklit' novels with outrageously similar covers. Now Diane Shipley writes of an even more troubling move: having established that 'chicklit' books are the hot sellers, publishers are now dressing up very different novels to look like them. Shipley comments:
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5 comments:
Publishers have long done this, however. I have some Emile Zola translations from the mid-70s with wonderfully salacious covers. Oh, how disappointed those looking for cheap literary thrills must have been when they read the darn thing!
Come to think of it, Mark, you're right - it has always gone on.
You're bang on the nail with this - we just read 'Love in a Cold Climate' for our book club and they had Nancy all done up like a pink cupcake.
Hi Elizabeth,
Indeed you're right. I hadn't a clue until Diane wrote about it which was a good thing because now I do browse through those stacks with new eyes and have come across some gems.
regards
Very interesting, Susan. Shows we need to keep on our toes.
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