Pull up a chair, the owl is in.
So I've read the article " The James Patterson Business" about 3 or 4 times and I'm trying to figure out what the controversy is and to be honest I don't see the controversy. What I'm getting out of this article is Patterson is a pretty smart author who has put his advertising past to good use ( and those around him in the book publishing business know how to market him and why it works.) For example, when the creative director talks about how they go about in designing a cover, they say that besides looking at what is in the manuscript they run the idea with Patterson, who they say is very open-minded about what works and what doesn't . I also like Patterson's take on what makes a good bookstore ( and in Googling him, saw a few articles about him campaigning, even taking out ads in various publications to save bookstores and libraries. I will post a few.) He also has this great website for parents and kids, ReadKiddoRead.com, which he created to help reluctant readers.
As to if people still read them, I would assume so since he is still writing new books ( I know the kids love his Middle School series because it is very similar to Wimpy Kid. I do too, but a lot of his non-mystery books, like The Christmas Wedding.) As to the co-authors, if you read the article, Patterson does say on he is very hands on and outlines each chapter ( My opinion: Having read books with co-authors, I find it very cool and interesting, especially when you can't tell where one writer ends and another author starts.)
Overall, I don't see the problem. Personally the fact that he still writes means he enjoys it (heck, how many times has Stephen King said " I'm retiring" and he has how many projects?) If it is all about the money, then it's his business. Otherwise, I just keep reading and move on.
By the way, here are some articles on Patterson's campaign for bookstores
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/24/james_patterson_speaks_out_about_his_aggressive_book_industry_bailout_ads/
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/56940-patterson-sees-ads-as-a-wake-up-call.html
http://www.tampabay.com/features/books/author-james-patterson-campaigns-to-save-books/2117609
Hope that covers the prompt. Got lots to do.
I'm O.K. with Patterson's method of cranking out books because I think that he's upfront about it. Although we don't know what percentage of the book that's his writing and what percentage of the book is that of his cowriter, he's not trying to fool the reader into thinking the book is all his.
ReplyDeleteHere's another link to add to you list - James Patterson in SLJ about saving school libraries. I've always appreciated James Patterson for his promotion of libraries; and his crazy co-author craze is just something for me to roll my eyes about and move on. Like Snmelfi said, he's not trying to fool the reader.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slj.com/2013/10/authors-illustrators/james-patterson-lets-save-reading-and-school-libraries/#_
I don't have anything against him as a person in terms of what he's doing for libraries and bookstores, but I had said in my own post that the money thing bothers me. I think I take it personally; I didn't go to school for creative writing because I wanted to be rich, I went because I loved doing it. After awhile it makes you wonder whether he's doing it because he loves it or because it's easy money (and a lot of it too.)
ReplyDeleteI had read the article a couple days back and I forgot that part about his understanding of book stores. It would be interesting for someone to go back and interview him more carefully about that. He probably has fairly good ideas about organization and presentation of materials in libraries. If he writes long hand he might not be the one to ask about a web site, though.
ReplyDeleteGood point about advertising. One thing that James Patterson does that I have yet to see anyone else do is make TV commercials for his books. What a great idea, and it works obviously. He and his team's creativity in marketing has led to his success just as much as his writing ability. The controversy is overblown. He's not lying to us like other people have... ahem, James Frey.
ReplyDeleteMore authors should stand up for bookstores and libraries. According to the New York Times since 2006, one out of every 17 novels bought in the U.S. was written by Patterson. His marketing strategies clearly work with readers (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24patterson-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0).
ReplyDelete