Why do people buy books? As a good friend of mine opines, if we knew the answer to that, every book would be a best seller.
The controversy around American Dirt reminds me of my days on FM radio when the record companies would ‘hype’ a particular artist and spend lavish amounts promoting them. Sometimes the promotion took the form of bribes, known as payola, to convince radio stations to play the record. Ad campaigns, parties, junkets all contributed to the noise.
Sometimes it worked, but often it didn’t. The issue was that even if radio stations played the record constantly, if people didn’t like it, they wouldn’t buy it. Springsteen got a lot of media attention with his first records but was labeled a ‘hype’, until Born to Run hit paydirt with the masses.
Publishing is different. You can’t hear a book for free on the radio and decide whether you like it or not. You have to take someone’s word for it. If Americans trust Oprah’s judgment, they’ll buy. Will they actually read it? Who cares, as long as the money changes hands? That would be the commercial attitude.
Of course, if Oprah or anyone of similar influence (is there anyone?) promotes a string of losers, her credibility wanes and readers will no longer follow the lead.
But the backlash to American Dirt is unlike any I’ve ever experienced. It’s inauthentic, they cry. Who is this woman to write about the migrant plight? Why she’s not even Mexican. Her command of Spanish is laughable, they say.
That’s where professional jealousy enters the frame. I wrote a book called An American Storm. Why didn’t Oprah make it a best seller? It’s really good. Deals with important issues. It’s populated with many compelling characters.
Poor me. I couldn’t convince the powers that be that my book is as commercially viable as American Dirt. But that’s MY problem — like all the other thousands of deserving writers who don’t sell millions. We haven’t figured out the star making machinery. Why complain and denigrate someone who has? Listen to Van Morrison’s Professional Jealousy for some clues.
Lucky? Yes, but Jeanine Cummins wrote a book that struck a chord with the movers and shakers in the publishing industry. Is it any good? The only way to know is to read it and even then, it’s merits are based on our subjective opinions. Is the dialogue believable? Are the lead characters truly sympathetic and the antagonists despicable enough? Do you slog through it like an assignment or could you not put it down? Is the subject matter something you want to commit the time it takes to read a lengthy novel?
Again, if I had the answers, my protagonist, Riley King, would stand alongside Jack Reacher, Gabriel Allon, and Alex Cross as fictional characters who became a household name amongst thriller readers. Maybe someday he will , but in the meantime, I can’t begrudge another writer her success. Sometimes, it’s just being in the right place at the right time with the right story. And be able to sell it to the right people.
