Woke books that were bought for huge advances by 'inexperienced' editors have flopped commercially, insiders say. 'Ideological fanatics' allowing their politics to dictate professional decisions have seen profits slump, according to industry experts.
Gosh, you’d really have to have a heart of stone, wouldn’t you?
Among the works responsible for huge losses is a hotly anticipated memoir by the actor Eliot Page about his journey transitioning. 'Pageboy' sold for a $3 million advance but has sold just 68,000 copies.
Just sack a few woke editors, to recoup the money!
Other recent 'woke' flops are Carolyn Ferrell's, 'Dear Miss Metropolitan' described by the New York Times as 'a story of three young girls, Black and biracial, who are kidnapped and thrown into the basement of a decaying house in Queens.' The novel was acquired in a deal estimated to be worth more than $250,000, but has shifted just 3,163 copies since it was published in 2021.
Blimey, that’s not that much more than if all her friends and relatives bought a copy…
Another example is 'queer feminist Western', 'Lucky Red' by Claudia Cravens which has sold around 3,500 copies despite commanding a $500,000 advance.
Its clearly true what they say about a fool and their money. But let’s face it, they had it coming:
'We flat-out decided we weren't going to look at certain white male authors, because we didn't want to be seen as acquiring that stuff,' one senior editor told The Free Press.
When asked whether editors acknowledged they were 'discriminating against writers because of their skin color', the editor replied: 'I don't think it was worded quite as blatantly as that. It was worded more like, 'Is this the right time to be championing authors of more traditional backgrounds?' Often, the language was a bit opaque.'
The bank balance isn’t opaque, it’s pretty stark, isn’t it?
"queer feminist western"
ReplyDeleteStarring Clit Eastwood?
Dear Lord, i'd rather stick rusty pins in my eyes than open the cover of any of those offerings.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness Dean Koontz and the many other stale males manage to write stories worth the time of day.
I have noticed that the majority of new writers are female. Whenever a list of "the ten best novels of 2023" crops up at least seven of them are female and four have sub saharan sounding names. I'm not against any person for what or who they are, I will read what I like regardless. The sad fact is that this new crop of writers just don't entertain me.
ReplyDeleteI can only agree with you Andy.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should skim though a Judge Dee tale from the heap on top of my computer.
"Starring Clit Eastwood?"
ReplyDeleteOh, well done! 👏😂
"Dear Lord, i'd rather stick rusty pins in my eyes than open the cover of any of those offerings."
Yes, they don't inspire, do they? Not even to try a free sample chapter on the Kindle!
"I have noticed that the majority of new writers are female. "
Yes, me too! And at my favourite review sites like io9 or Tor, the prevalence of 'written by/about queer or bisexual' features prominently now, as if that was a good thing purely in and of itself..
"Maybe I should skim though a Judge Dee tale from the heap on top of my computer."
I had to Google that!