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?
