You know, everywhere I go lately, I’m hearing about s Diana Peterfreund’s debut novel, Secret Society Girl. I like Diana’s online personality, but I don’t really get the hype re the book, mostly due to the fact that as a Brit, I don’t understand the concept of secret societies within universities. There certainly weren’t any such societies at my uni, or at least no bugger told me about them.
Every time I surf over to Diana’s site, she has a new tale about radio interviews, major newspaper reviews, sponsorship deals, ad campaigns etc, etc. You name it, she’s done it.
Currently on her blog, she has a vid of her latest (or maybe it was her first) tv interview. Talk about impressive.
Every time I see a new marketing initiative for SSG, I marvel at the amount of effort, that has gone into promoting this book. I also want to know, how much of that was engineered by Diana herself, and how much was organised by her publishing company.
In the past year, I’ve read an awful lot about how the marketing machine works in Romanceland. Apparently it’s hard work, and a lot of midlist authors have to part with their own money to push their books.
So, what’s Diana’s secret?
As I watched a very personable Diana being interviewed by some bint reporter, the answer hits me square in the eye.
She’s a very marketable product.
She’s young, she looks good, she sounds great, she’s articulate (although I do think she looked a little embarrassed when she admitted to having been a covergirl on a very sexy romance book heheh) she has all her own teeth, and most importantly, the wench has good hair. If I was an author, I’d probably fly into a jealous rage right about now.
A while ago, there was a discussion on how good an author looks vs how much their publishers promote them. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s the quality of the writing that really counts, yaddah yaddah yaddah, but let’s face it, we live in a world, where looks do matter, and the better looking you are, the more chance you have of being pimped all over the place, and if you’ve written a wickedly good book, well, all the better.
Look at that bint Vishwanathan, of the How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, etc, etc, fame. OK, perhaps a bad example, but you get my drift dontcha? That bint got lauded all over the bloody place, and people were convinced that she’d written a good book, because the media machine told us so.
I’m sure that SSG is probably a fantabulous book, but seriously, would DP be getting this much media air time, if she’d been a 400lb ginger-haired, acne-ridden, hippocrocapig?
I’m just sayin’.
Anonymous
August 7
9:44 pm
Well, I am going to have to go to Diana’s site, but I have to say this brings up the question about how many good books are missed as they don’t get the marketing push because the author is, “a 400lb ginger-haired, acne-ridden, hippocrocapig?”
What books have been overlooked because the publishing house only has so much budgeted for promotion and has used it all on an author who is take home cute? Nothing against Diana; I have not read the book and it very well may end up being a favorite. On the other hand past experience has shown that I find this type of book hideous at worst and over-marketed at best.
So, if someone else reads it and thinks it is great… I might change my mind, but I have a hard time believing anyone is that clever – especially with a debut novel.
Maria
Anonymous
August 7
10:18 pm
Yes, she’s marketable. She obviously wrote a great book with a great hook and that ties into alot of those marketable qualities. Also, I believe her book sold for beaucoup bux in an auction/bidding war, so there’s a lot of moola to be recouped for the publisher, hence the great big push in marketing this debut book. Which I think might be the main reason behind the scope of the marketing, than anything. As good as the book is/might be, and as personable/photogentic Diana herself is, I suspect that if the book sold for less, a lot of what you see (read about on her blog) happening wouldn’t be the case.
Gamblog UK
August 8
1:57 am
Off topic –
Found you after changing the address.
Women do the weirdest things sometimes.
Be well Karen, Jon.
nicoletterivers
August 8
3:35 am
What an interesting question. I supposed that a good-looking person really would be wise to do the talkshow circuit, but other than that, what should it matter?
I look at author pictures, and just want then to look personable — I’m not there to date them. I do find it funny to read a really steamy book, and then she an author pic and find out the writer is matronly. 🙂
Nicole
August 8
4:15 am
Well, my college didn’t have any secret societies either. I think of it more as an East Coast/Ivy League thing.
And well…I admit to being less than wowed by SSG. It was a fun read, but on the whole, not that satisfying. Kinda like candy.
Avid Reader
August 8
4:28 am
I forgot what show it was that addressed this issue but YES, YES, YES, if the author is attractive and articulate speaker, they will sell more books as opposed to someone who doesn’t speak well or personality is not all that engaging. The example the piece used in this case was the author of The Historian versus the author of the The Traveler. Both books received critical reviews but The Historian sold more because the author toured and had a more engaging personality and was able to sell her book.
Keishon
Avid Reader
August 8
4:31 am
Also, at the Smart Bitches site, Diana mentioned that she didn’t like Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (boo!) but she did mention enjoying Valiant by Holly Black which made me pick up the first book, Tithe, and it was a keeper. Thanks Diana 😉
However, I’ll have to take a pass on the SSG book, can’t really relate to it as I didn’t attend an Ivy League school.
Keishon
Wendy
August 8
6:16 am
Should I point out that there could have been a secret society at your uni but you might not have been considered secretive enough?
Jane
August 8
1:38 pm
lol, Wendy. For all her pre-pub hype, I haven’t heard a lot of post hub hype from readers. I also haven’t seen her make it onto any list. I could be wrong though I just checked the USA Today list. But I think if you are good looking, it can make a difference. Lisa Kleypas’ past beauty queen win is a much referenced thing. As a reader, I could care less what a writer looks like. I do think that JR Ward and Kresley Cole are two good looking blondes and I generally am not a blonde fan.
jmc
August 8
2:33 pm
I read Secret Society Girl. Meh. Literary cotton candy — tastes good, but dissolves quickly, leaving you vaguely dissatisfied with the wasted calories and still hungry.
When I think of the marketing machine for Peterfreund’s debut novel, I am put in mind of Kavya Viswanathan (pre-plagiarism).*** KV was a hot commodity: a smart, charming, marketable Harvard student with a marketable product (her Opal Mehta book before the passages were noticed) who was easy to sell to booking agents on TV, radio, etc.. Booked to the Today show and any number of other publicity spots, with a book tour including London planned, which I assume is a big deal for a publisher to foot.
I hadn’t considered looks as the primary factor, but educational elitism. Here is this book written by someone from Yale or Harvard or another Ivy League school. Their degree confers respectability or some degree of credibility on the reader (and the publisher) albeit by a degree of separation. See, my chick lit novel [or suspense novel or mystery-lite novel or however you’d like to label it] was written by an Ivy League grad, therefore it must be of more value than comparable books written by graduates of “lesser” schools.
***I am not stating or implying that there is any plagiarism going on with SSG, it’s an original piece of work. The similarity (in my mind) is with respect to the publicity machine only.
Monica
August 8
8:44 pm
I think publisher hype frequently makes the book.
The books that are lucky enough to get hyped are of a “hot” genre and type with marketable authors.
There are tons of hot authors writing the next hot book, so it’s sort of like winning the lottery.
Luck has a lot to do with it. I never begrudge luck because I wouldn’t want to scare it away from me.
But if I had my druthers I’d love to be a slim, attractive white women and get to buy a lottery ticket too.
Anonymous
August 9
1:33 pm
Well i dont know about a great book… its a good one, but its not great. US ladies like the idea of just having something that not everyone can enter.. thats the snob in us all i guess.
But i think it really comes down to Diana having a fantastic Agent and a fantastic publicist… though i dont actually know, nor have i went to her site. I read the book, it was… decent.
I have learned that Hype is what you make of it. Odds are shes got a great PR team as well.