From: Amytimber13 at aol.com <Amytimber13>
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 11:02:40 EDT

Hi everyone --

I haven't posted in AGES, but I do enjoy your discussions. I am wondering about celebrity books. Are there more celebrity books now than in the past?
  

And if the celebrity books are coming in greater quantities these days, does this have anything to do with the fact that independent bookstores are struggling? It seems to me that without knowledgable sales staff in the children's

sections of bookstores, parents are going to head toward what they know. Billy Crystal's name sells (as well as the huge cardboard bookstand with Billy Crystal basically embracing his own books), and so does having Jay Leno's head attached to a little kid's body on the front cover of his book.

(About sales staff: I think the chains can have very good sales staff -- the problems come when the staff is so overworked that they don't have time to talk to the customers. I've noticed a lot of chains that seemed understaffed recently and in the children's sections, good sales staff is very important.)

Or are there a lot of celebrity books because of the economy and book-buying in general, and publishers taking fewer risks in the adverse climate? I mean, these books sell very well. They are always at the top of the lists.

That's what I've been wondering about!

Amy Timberlake
(The Dirty Cowboy, FSG 2003)
Received on Fri 09 Jul 2004 10:02:40 AM CDT