Love Letters of Great Men

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“Ooh goodie,” I thought as I read Metro during today’s commute, “the publishing industry is getting smart.” You don’t have to work in newspapers, books or magazines to know the industry isn’t making tons of money & people don’t read as much as they used to. Back in grad school I read this report called “The Alliterate American” or something like that. Basically, the gist of it was something like: yeah, adult illiteracy (people who can’t read) is bad and alliteracy (people who can read but choose not to) is just as bad. I blame our 24/7, instant gratification culture; but, I also, in part, blame the publishing industry for not making a half-ass effort to make reading sexy. Every other industry, company and brand (Sephora, Rihanna, Nike, MTV … fuck, even milk) has put their product out there and, in essence, gone to great length to create demand. What did publishing do? They print. The thought pattern seemed to be: if we print it, they will come. People stopped “coming” and starting “going” online long ago. Why? Because it was easier, cheaper/free, more fun, hip, up-to-date, new and interesting. And, oddly enough, the publishing industry seemingly only discovered that in recent years.

But, back to the point of today’s post.

Did you see the Sex and the City movie? If so, you already know there’s this part where Carrie reads from a book called “Love Letters of Great Men.” Supposedly, people lustily ran to bookstores craving the title. “The problem? There was no such book — until now,” writes Dorothy Robinson in her Metro article How “Sex” Helped Sell “Love”. (Great, catchy title by the way.) “There are plenty of movies that have been ‘novelized’ but this is the first instance I know of in which a book that was a figment of a scriptwriter’s imagination has subsequently become real,” editor of the newly published “Love Letters of Great Men” Ursula Doyle is quoted in the paper. There was demand so, the publishing industry sought to fill it. Oooh, smart! Very smart. Ursula kinda sorta says her book is the only “Love Letters of Great Men” (e.g. an anthology of men’s love letters titled “Love Letters of Great Men”). After, like, 0.53 seconds of research on Amazon.com, I discovered Love Letters of Great Men, Love Letters of Great Men and Love Letters of Great Men; but, Ursula’s book (Love Letters of Great Men) indeed appears to be the only “real” book (i.e. a hardcover title printed by an established, heavyweight press: St. Martin’s Press). Sounds like an interesting read; I’m gonna try to get my hands on a copy.

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Psssst! Shout out to Little Brown for embracing Twitter; follow them! I love it when publishing houses use social media. Also, speaking of books and Amazon and shit, did you know you can support my blog without paying me a dime? Next time you shop on Amazon.com, please use this link. It won’t cost you anything extra. For every dollar you spend, Amazon will kick a few referral pennies my way. To date, Funky Brown Chick readers have purchased 61 items totaling $763.10 — granting me $34.91 to buy more books. I’m not getting rich off this stuff; I just appreciate support (and the books!).

Technorati Tags: alliteracy, Dorothy Robinson, funky brown chick, funkybrownchick, illiteracy, Love Letter of Great Men, marketing, Metro, publishing industry, Sex and the City, Twanna, Twanna A. Hines, Twanna Hines, Ursula Doyle