The Post Pub

Publishing Hits & Misses of 2007

Thanks to a friend, this AP article was brought to my attention today. It begs the question, "What defines a literary success?"

I was surprised to find that Junot Diaz's book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, is considered a flop for selling 27,000 copies. Everywhere I look, I see Oscar Wao reviewed, endorsed, praised and advertised. A friend and I tried to find a copy to buy at the Barnes & Noble in Forest Hills, Queens (NYC) two days ago, and were surprised to hear that the copies had sold out.  Plenty of copies of the hit Eat, Pray, Love were everywhere I looked in the store. What made Wao fly off the shelves four days before Christmas?

What is a literary "hit" in this day and age?  Is it the buzz factor -- hearing the author and the book title everywhere you go, within your own little world -- or is it pure sales, plain and simple?  And how much does a movie option, or the hope thereof, influence whether a book sells?

All questions worth exploring here in 2008.

Social Networks

Here's a link to an interview in which Rich Brooks of Flyte New Media discusses social networks.  This is a good introductory overview of Facebook, LinkedIn and Ning: how they work and how to use them to connect with like-minded people.

2007 Best Books of the Year: Lists

Due to the general craziness of December, posting will be light at The Post Pub during the holiday season.  However, book-related end-of-year lists have started coming out in a variety of places. I'll do my best to gather & post links to them here on the blog.

Official Lists

• Book Sense Picks Highlights: 2007
• Boston Globe: Best Fiction and Nonfiction Books of 2007
• The Economist: Books of the Year 2007
• Kansas City Star's Top 100 Books of 2007
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2007
• New York Times 10 Best Books of 2007
• Publishers Weekly: Best Books of 2007  (Note: Because the source material timed out on me, this is a link to the list as posted on Zaadz.)
• School Library Journal's Best Books of 2007

Social & Community Picks

• Amazon: books tagged "Best Books of 2007"

Fun Stuff

• Boing Boing: Best Book Covers of 2007

Have anything to add?  Leave it in the comments below.

How to Spot a Shill

There's an interesting discussion about this going on at Amazon. Food for thought for authors who are planting fake book reviews.

Will the Kindle Encourage Stealing?

Maybe. But who wants to read a 120-page novel on an electronic screen?  It's terrible on the eyes.

Here's an idea:  market books as a restful antidote to the eye-strain that comes from reading computer screens.

Win a Copy of "American Gangster"

Too lazy to sit through the 2-hour plus movie version?  Read the novelization, which Bookgasm is giving away in this week's Monday contest.