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Monday, October 10, 2011

Big, Huge, Fantastic, Amazing New Books Hype

So I was browsing GoodReads. GoodReads is a great website where users can review, rate, recommend, and talk about books they're reading. Most of my friends on that website have similar tastes to mine, so I was eager when one of my friends posted about Gayle Forman's new duology.

Gayle Forman wrote the amazing If I Stay:

and

Where She Went


Both are amazing books -- I read them this past summer and enjoyed both. One of my friends on GoodReads posted about Forman's new books, a duology. On GoodReads, books are often released onto the website as soon as they are announced (usually without a pitch or cover).

However, Forman's new books already had pitches, despite being released 2(!) years from now. Here are the summaries:

Just One Day (Just One Day, #1)
JUST ONE DAY is in Allyson's (also known as Lulu) POV. The companion is JUST ONE YEAR.

"Can you fall in love in just one day? Can you become a new person? How about in just one year? In JUST ONE DAY and its companion novel JUST ONE YEAR, sheltered American good girl Allyson “LuLu” Healey and easygoing actor Willem De Ruiter are about to find out against a guidebook-worthy array of foreign backdrops. Equal parts romance, coming-of-age-tale, mystery and travel romp (with settings that span from England’s Stratford upon Avon to Paris to Amsterdam to India’s Bollywood) JUST ONE DAY and JUST ONE YEAR show how in looking for someone else, you just might wind up finding yourself."

Expected publication: 2013 by Dutton Juvenile
as well as

Just One Year (Just One Day #2)
Companion to JUST ONE DAY. It will be in Willem's POV.

"Can you fall in love in just one day? Can you become a new person? How about in just one year? In JUST ONE DAY and its companion novel JUST ONE YEAR, sheltered American good girl Allyson “LuLu” Healey and easygoing actor Willem De Ruiter are about to find out against a guidebook-worthy array of foreign backdrops. Equal parts romance, coming-of-age-tale, mystery and travel romp (with settings that span from England’s Stratford upon Avon to Paris to Amsterdam to India’s Bollywood) JUST ONE DAY and JUST ONE YEAR show how in looking for someone else, you just might wind up finding yourself."

Expected publication: 2014 by Dutton Juvenile
 
Both the books sound great, and two years from now I will be picking up the books. But there was something else that amazes me about these books. Already people have rated the book four stars (this isn't a surprise on GoodReads; books are usually high ranked before they're published since readers are eager), and 30 people put the book on their shelf.
 
30 people.
 
It's been two days since Dutton announced the books.
 
30 people have already chosen the book to read, and there are several gushing reviews. Here's one (name omitted):
 
GAYLE FORMAN!!!!!'
 
Loved If I Stay and Where She Went, this one sounds even more adorable and charming. Oh my god, Gayle Forman!!!
 
Too bad we have to wait two years for it :(
 
Despite the amount of exclamation marks in that comment, this user had a good point. They got excited about the book, but for one reason. Gayle Forman wrote it.
 
And I like Gayle Forman, I do.
 
But that brings me to my point. Hype.
 
This user only wants to read it because Gayle Forman wrote it. S/he has read Forman's previous other books, and knows that her newest should be just as amazing and remarkable.
 
But that's hype. SO AND SO WROTE AMAZING BOOK, NOW LET'S READ ALL OF HER BOOKS.
 
And hype isn't bad; it can help authors and publishers and make everyone excited for the books. But it can be bad, too.
 
Authors don't always churn out amazing books. They can write a stellar novel and fail in their next. Some people can be uneasy about hype, especially when they're nervous about the book. It can lead to disappointment instead.
 
So really there are two sides to hype. Sometimes hype becomes dramatic, with the publisher plunging it everywhere and readers getting more and more excited. I've seen good and bad hype, especially at confrences like BookExpo America.
 
I read an article about one of the most hyped books at the show,
 
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
 
People were eagerly waiting for the novel at BEA. The author's signing line was long, and bloggers were excited like crazy, reviewers fought for a copy.  The book was featured at a panel for new YA, and there was a massive line. But then the reviews started to pour in. Quite a few people were disappointed, and many people said that they preferred other YA debuts to Hodkin's. This is a quote from a blogger:
 
It just didn't live up to the hype. People were parading it everywhere as the next great YA, and it fell short of every expectation I had. I wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't. Disappointed.
 
See what I mean about disappointment? I haven't read the book, but it fell short of all the hype people had.
 
Another issue with hype is the big-name author. The author everyone knows. James Patterson. Lauren Oliver. Stephenie Meyer.
 
People jump on everything they write, just like that commenter did with Gayle Forman. And why? Because the author's well known. And often times, they'll buy and read the book just because of the author. And they might like it, even though it's terrible, for one reason only.
 
__________ (Big Name Author) wrote it.
 
So hype can go any which way.
 
GoodReads, blogs, and reviewers are good ways to know about the hype. There are really only certain authors I get hyped about, but the truth is we all get hyped.
 
The thing to remember is that you never know which way it'll go, plain and simple.
 
Because who knows about hype?
 
That's the big question.
 
You never know.

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