Squawk Radio
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Eloisa on the Anatomy of a Bestseller that Doesn't Sell
There was an interesting column in Publishers' Weekly a few weeks ago, talking about how nobody knows how to make a bestseller. Just think about huge bestsellers that have hit the shelves in the last few years: The Nanny Diaries, The DaVinci code, Freakanomics, The Devil Wears Prada, He's Just Not That Into You...
None of the publishers really honestly knew that they had a wild bestseller in their hands when they launched those books. Or maybe it's more fair to say that publishers often hope that they have just such a bestseller -- but who can say which book will make it and which won't?
One interesting thing the column (by Sara Nelson) pointed out is that publishers often make the mistake of jumping on the same old bandwagon and shelling out big bucks to get the author to write the same thing over again, in so many words. According to Nelson, Simon & Schuster paid a reported $2 million for Everyone Worth Knowing, the follow-up to The Devil Wears Prada. Who's heard of it? Not me. Broadway coughed up around the same amount for the "sequel" to He's Just Not That Into You called It's Called a Break-up Because it's Broken. Nelson says the Break-up clung to the bestseller list by its toenails.
She suggests that the repetitive publishing industry didn't take into account the luck of tapping into the perfect moment -- timing is all. I think Hollywood suffers from the same short-sightedness. (Although in the case of the Break-up, it could have been that truly crappy cover, above.)
Sitting in the movie theater this afternoon, people behind me were talking about yet another remake of King Kong that's apparently on the way. Hollywood hardly seems to get an original idea, so they remake old bestsellers in a way that reeks of desperate hope.
What do you guys think makes a huge bestseller simply pop out of nowhere? Any examples? And what's the lamest follow-up book or movie you've paid for recently, and wished you hadn't?
Eloisa James, 9:32 PM
25 comments
