Who Wrote This Book?
If your answer is Dan Brown, you’re wrong.
This has to be one of the most audaciously deceptive and insulting marketing campaigns ever. And that’s saying something…
(Thanks to the lovely and talented Lisa Spangenberg for the link.)
AuthorScoop
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:15 pm
When publishers began the practice of making the author’s name larger and more prominent than the title of the work (15? 20? years ago) I took it as a (very) bad sign. I figured it meant that whatever was written in the book was not as important as who wrote the book. Now it appears that neither what is written nor who has written it is of much importance at all. Splashing Dan Brown’s name across the cover of this book is marketing deceit of the highest order! While this type of maneuver might work with other commodities where the consumer is beguiled into believing that a comparative level of satisfaction will be achieved through the purchase of a similar-looking product (knock-off Louis Vitton’s come quickly to mind), I think this particular publisher, however desperate they may be to sell books, has overlooked one very salient aspect of most book buyers:They Can Read.
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:36 am
beautifully stated.
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:20 am
That’s just appalling.
July 24th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Did I miss the part where it said that dan Brown agreed to this?
I am not an attorney but, in stories about trademark cases, one frequently hears the phrase “likely to cause confusion”.
If Dan Brown did not give permission, I think he has a very strong case against this publisher who is not just likely but almost certain to cause confusion regarding the author of this book.
At some point, people have to step up at work and say ‘no, this is just wrong’.
And even if Brown did give permission for the use of his name in this manner, the whole ordeal is shameful.
July 24th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Have you heard of the nine Tek novels “written” by William Shatner? It’s widely known that those were ghost-written by veteran science Ron Goulart. Ron’s name doesn’t appear on them, though he’s credited in the comic adaptations.
It’s also a fairly sleazy setup as well… pasting Shatner’s name across the top of a series of science-fiction books with a title almost identical to “Trek”.
July 24th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
true. but such is the case for any ghost-written venture. it’s apples and oranges to what’s happening here, which is a writer completely unrelated to any aspect of the project.