Needless to say, pitching Jericho's book to my editorial board was like pitching iPads to the Amish. A whole lot of blank stares and a whole lot of people saying 'I don't get it'. Now, this is not the fault of the individuals, but it is the fault of a system in which in a room of 15-20 people, not one of them knew what I was talking about.I think there is something to be said about the gender disparity in publishing, just like there's something to be said about the geographical and political clustering in the industry. But Chris Jericho? Ech.
4.27.2010
Men can't read, or so I hear
At HuffPo we find former editor Jason Pinter talking about why publishers don't think men read. He writes about pitching a book by professional wrestler Chris Jericho to a room full of New York editor:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Wait a second. So, this guy is saying that publishers are alienating half the population because they don't want to publish books by guys like Chris Jericho? So basically 100% of the males have only one interest: pro-wrestling. And they don't buy books because gosh darn publisher won't cater to their one interest.
ReplyDeleteSolid reasoning.
I do not like this article. I do not like it at all.
Huh. I read about a book a week. I buy way more books than that (my "to read" pile is far too tall). I've never heard of Chris Jericho, or Jason Pinter either. And yes, I did watch pro wrestling when I was a kid. But I don't want to read about pro wrestlers.
ReplyDelete"the fault of a system in which in a room of 15-20 people, not one of them knew what I was talking about" Hubba-wha? A publishing industry that's never heard of Chris Jericho is obviously flawed? I suppose any collection of 15-20 males who have never heard of Chris Jericho is a flawed group of males (or a group of flawed males). Huh.
*begin rant*
ReplyDeleteIs he not understanding that there is a such thing as "audience" that plays a huge factor in book sales? He was pitching a book that had absolutely zero appeal to women of ANY age (how's THAT for alienation?), yet he gets infuriated that they chose a 15 y/o boy to show them if his book had market appeal? What a dumb-ass. That would be like pitching the Twilight series to a random 14 y/o girl, or reading a Dr. Suess book to a group of 6 y/o's, and saying that it was irrelevant research.
I HATE WHEN PEOPLE WHINE JUST BECAUSE THINGS DON'T GO EXACTLY THEIR WAY. The book became a bestseller, regardless of how that came about, and there were enough sales to warrant a sequel. Cash your checks and shut your yap already.
*rant over*