The WSJ‘s Jeffrey Trachtenberg tells us that book publishers are now building buzz long before new titles are published, just as Hollywood studios aim to generate pre-release excitement so their movies “open big.”
There’s another parallel here that Trachtenberg neglects. Namely, that when it comes down to it, publishers — just like Hollywood studio honchos — never truly know which of their offerings will become runaway hits.
As William Goldman* explains in his fantastically entertaining film industry expose, “Adventures in the Screen Trade,” it’s all essentially a crap shoot. Seemingly sure-thing, can’t miss, big-budget, star-laden pictures sometimes bomb, and sleeper indie films are occasionally and inexplicably big hits — there is no universal recipe for mass success.
The book business works a lot like that, too. So I’m not surprised to see the New York publishing mandarins co-opting the techniques of their entertainment industry counterparts on the left coast.
*Goldman, incidentally, is one of my favorite writers ever. If you haven’t read him, get thee to a book merchant and make a purchase STAT.