Celebs’ book clubs…
It’s bad enough that celebs produce more hyped and ludicrous books than most other authors (the books are often written by ghostwriters, of course), but they also freely advertise each others’ books along with a lot of other formulaic and fluffy fiction from the Big Five publishing conglomerates. First there was Oprah’s Book Club, then CNN’s and other talk shows’ hosts pimping their guests’ Big Five books (does Jake Tapper read all those books he prattles on about?), and now Charlie Gibson has dusted off the mothballs to create a book-club podcast with his daughter. I doubt any of the mentioned celebs read ten per cent of the books they pimp, assigning that reading to staff to get a synopsis (although old Charlie might make his daughter take a peek—what’s her name again?).
Most celebs can’t write (hence the boon for ghostwriters), and it’s doubtful they can read when one listens to their zero-content reviews. And you have to wonder if the Big Five gives them a cut of the royalties if their clubs discuss a Big Five book. The NYC publishing industry is an incestuous group at best, from the Authors Guild to the NY Times “critics” and the huge Big Five conglomerates. Greed and power beat the crap out of quality and creativity.
Of course, you’ll never see any self-published books or authors discussed by these celebs’ book clubs! You won’t even see small press publications. And you’ll only hear “critiques” like “This book is taking the reading world by storm” or “Bookstores can’t keep this book on the shelves” because the celebs really can’t say anything more intelligent and only serve as PR and marketing services for the Big Five.
None of these celebs’ “opinions” should impress any serious reader. 9In general, celebs don’t impress me, period! That Johnny Depp lawsuit is a farce. C’mon! Both plaintiff and accused are actors. Why would anyone expect actors to tell the truth on the stand? They’re acting!) The only Big Five books I read now are non-fiction tomes that people give me. I won’t pay Big Five prices, especially for fiction that’s drivel and not interesting nor entertaining. That’s more because I’m an avid and discerning reader who looks for quality. (For that reason, I pay no attention to Amazon’s book recommendations either! The Bezos bots’ recommendations are worse than the celebs.) I also react negatively to anyone who tells me “You really must read this book!” Especially if that person read the book because it was recommended by a celeb!
***
Comments are always welcome. (Please follow the rules found on the “Join the Conversation” web page. If you don’t, you comment will go into the spam folder.)
$0.99 cent sale! It’s the last week! The “Mary Jo Melendez Mysteries” series and the “Chaos Chronicles Trilogy” are now both on sale at Smashwords. The first series contains the mystery/thriller novels Muddlin’ Through (QS68B), Silicon Slummin’…and Just Gettin’ By (SH53M), and Goin’ the Extra Mile (VX88P). The second contains Survivors of the Chaos, Sing a Zamba Galactica, and Come Dance a Cumbia…with Stars in Your Hand! (all three novels are contained in an ebook bundle, GF69F). All four ebooks are only $0.99 each. (If the promo codes don’t appear, you see them here and can use them to get the sale price.) Enjoy!
Tomorrow on PubProgressive.com. “The 2022 Midteerms.”
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
