Book-on-Book Product Placement
Talk about blurbing a book. Patricia Cornwell likes forthcoming debut novel American Rust by Philipp Meyer so much, that she put it in her latest book, Scarpetta (p 33). The NY Times explores why in their “Media & Advertising” section, Endorsement at a Crime Scene – A Book Plugged in ‘Scarpetta“.
Will the plug boost sales? Hard to tell, but library reserves are not heavy yet. The book got strong reviews in both PW (“Fans of Cormac McCarthy or Dennis Lehane will find in Meyer an author worth watching”) and Library Journal. It is on order by most libraries.
American Rust
Meyer, Philipp
- Hardcover: $24.95; 384 pages
- Publisher: Spiegel & Grau (February 24, 2009)
- ISBN-10: 0385527519
- ISBN-13: 978-0385527514
January 19th, 2009 at 11:30 am
I know she didn’t mean it in the same way Cornwell did, but in Claire Berlinski’s Lion Eyes, Berlinski mentioned her friend Norah Vincent’s experiences in writing Self-Made Man. Thanks to that mention, Vincent’s was the next book I picked up. Perhaps there is something to this type of “advertising” after all.
February 27th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
[…] Cornwell declared herself a fan by placing Philipp Meyer’s debut novel, American Rust in her most recent book, Scarpetta. […]