ARC Prices

pynchonoid pynchonoid at yahoo.com
Wed Oct 11 14:53:16 CDT 2006


--- Carvill John <johncarvill at hotmail.com> wrote:

> >I continue to disagree, in a friendly way I hope,
> 
> Definitely continuing to disagree, absolutely in a
> friendly way.


Yes, friendly.  I can tell because, unlike Ya Sam not
so long ago, you're not sending me offlist email
calling me names.

> 
> I dunno about much of a 'spike' on the ARC thing, I
> know it was mentioned 
> here and there online but nowhere near as much as
> the blurb, as far as I've 
> seen.
> 
> Agree about treasuring (and mentioning in reviews)
> the personalisations, and 
> that you'd have to be hard-hearted indeed to rip
> that page out and sell the 
> thing on ebay or whatever. I'd be highly intrigued
> to see a list of ARC 
> recipients, 

That sort of thing costs money, you know.  PR folks
live and die based on that kind of list - assuming it
is truly a focused list of reviewers known for an
interest in Pynchon and thus people well positioned to
give it an honest appraisal.  Of course most reviewers
will have to piss on it one way or another, just to
make their mark like a dog.


>I'd bet some go to reviewers at big name
> publications who aren't 
> that enamoured of Pynchon, I do dimly recall some
> fairly unappreciative 
> reviews of M&D, particularly focusing of the archaic
> grammar and so on. How 
> anyone could not be won over by the rhythm and
> beauty of that opening 
> sentence is beyond me.
> 
> Now, roll on all the reviews....
>

One of the attractive things about the internet, for
marketers, is that it facilitates many more, and more
unobtrusive, ways to reach potential customers, and
some of them don't look like traditional marketing at
all.  Getting Pynchon's new book news out through the
blogosphere where fans and other interested parties
can themselves spread the word - that's the Holy Grail
of online marketing. You might not trust an
advertisement, or even a reviewer at a slick magazine,
but when a friend or other trusted source starts
passing around the buzz, that's difficult to resist -
and all kinds of companies are making serious efforts
to spark that kind of activity online.

I'd be willing to bet my next paycheck that Pynchon's
publisher posted that Book Description knowing that a
few pynchonoids out there watch out for that kind of
thing all the time (with automated notification email
services), knowing that it would create a stir.  I
don't know that the appearance and disappearance of
the BD was intentional, that seems a bit much. 

Likewise, they knew that reviewers would start talking
about the book to their friends, and that this would
generate a new wave of buzz and interest.

Again, I point to the ripples of interest in the book
that are spreading in response to the publisher's
actions - proof in the Pudding!

 The article about Jackson Pynchon wouldn't have been
planned by the publisher, but it is an example of the
kidn of thing that can happen once this
semi-controlled online buzz-making marketing gets
rolling.,


Later will come, I imagine, more traditional marketing
moves - display advertisements, point-of-sale
promotional materials, other media, etc.

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