Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Disappointing book promotion news -- times two

From a book promotion and book sales standpoint, it's hard to know which news is more disappointing: 1) Glenn Beck's novel, which was panned by critics, is the number one New York Times bestseller or 2) Larry King's CNN talk show will end in the autumn.

Both news items are scary for those who care about book promotion and book sales. Beck's novel, which -- based on its terrible reviews -- should have sold a handful of copies, has outpaced more masterfully written titles to leapfrog to the top of a prestigious bestseller list (presumably) because of his strong Fox News's television audience following. That's not supposed to happen. And Larry King's CNN show, which has sold hundreds of thousands of books for the past 25 years and granted book promotion opportunities to authors both deserving and not, won't be there anymore.

This is not good news for book promotion and book sales. It's not good news for book publicists. And, finally, it's not good news for authors and publishers.