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If it is in the media, people are attracted to it either because they are really interested in reading the book for the sake of reading it; or, they want to see what all they hype is about so they read it out of curiosity.
If a book is made into a movie, it usually is on the best seller list just before the movie is released because people want to read it before watching the movie; and, it maintains best seller list until after the movie is released because it did well in the box office. However, the amount of time it is on the best seller list depends not only on movie trailers, who is in the movie, and how good the movie actually is (according to box office reports).
The end all and be all of a books success is how good the book actually is (at least with very few exceptions). As Oprah continued her book club, not all of the books did well via best seller lists. If a book was good, it did really well. However, not all people will fall into the 'Oprah or Hollywood loves this book so I will, too' mentality. There are some of us who have our own mind and make it up on our own.
That being said, I have been led to many great books (in my opinion) because I was notified that they exist by popular media. Those books deserved their 'best seller' status.
I think your take on Oprah's Book Club is interesting. I agree with you when you say that the media helps to shape how popular a book is. It kind of relates back to what we talked about a couple weeks ago with reviews of books and how they can help shape how popular a book is too.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that others have experienced this as well, but when a book is becoming a movie, we suddenly circulate that book/series so much more right before/during/after the movie is released. It's funny to me because the majority of those books have been on the market for years before the movie was made. I've noticed the last couple years that people are really taking notice of these articles on BuzzFeed and other places about "books-that-will-be-movies-this-year", and they're flocking to these books to get them read before they see the films. (Here's an example: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/books-to-movies-2015#.jaVllQQve). I admit, I'm guilty of perusing these lists...to me, the fact that a book is being turned into a movie is kind of an indicator of that book's quality. The story "must" be pretty good if someone wanted to pay millions of dollars adapting it into a film, right? Maybe, maybe not. I think the book-to-movie thing is a good schtick to get people into reading, though.
ReplyDeleteI am always skeptical of books that get a lot of hype. I read "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" because it sounded amazing. I loved the first part, beautifully written, but I kept waiting for something to come together. By the time it finally ended, I was just angry with the author and with myself for wasting my time!
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing Maya Angelou being interviewed. She had a steady but small readership until Oprah discovered her. Angelou barely knew who Oprah was until she was on the show. Oprah dramatically increased Angelou's readership base.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit, hype and controversy will get me to read a book. Sometimes it works out well, like with "Harry Potter" (which I started reading after the 2nd book came out because I heard people thought it was evil), and sometimes it's not as good, like "50 Shades of Grey" (which I read because people kept going on and on about it). I would blame being a librarian and needed to stay up on current trends, but both of those books were read before I worked at a library!
ReplyDeleteFor me, I like to be able to discuss and have an opinion on books that are popular. It gives me something to chat with people about. I also like to read books that have movies coming out (just checked out "Paper Towns" by John Green last week!), because I'm also a movie reviewer and people ALWAYS ask me how the movie compared to the book. Also, my mom had a rule when I was a kid that I had to read the book before I saw the movie, so I still feel like I'm cheating if I don't read the book!
I do like it when a celebrity like Oprah will bring attention to a great book, though! I do wish that people with that much clout would be sure to feature a variety of genres, though - sometimes it seems so tied to certain kinds of books.
I have a pop culture obsession. I am an avid reader of an immense amount of entertainment news on a daily basis. Does this shape my choices? Absolutely! On numerous occasions, I have been directed to a reading choice due to its prevalence in the media. I don't consider this a bad thing. I'm always disappointed when my library seems to be behind in their collection development in relation to a TV or movie adaptation. Knowing that it is going to be in demand, and anticipating that demand is an important part of our job. Personally, I hate when I am one of 48 on a waiting list for a particular title--especially when there are only a few copies circulating...
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