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Blog Archive
Forget the Hype
Hype. Buzz. Anticipation. Expectation. All seemingly positive words. Good words. Yet dangerous words. What happens when the hype bites you in the ass?
Unless you're living under a rum bottle, you know the movie Twilight hit theaters this past weekend. The book upon which the movie is based is immensely successful. In fact, the four books in the series have sold over 25 million copies. Not bad for a Mormon mom who says her main characters came to her in a dream. I need to pay more attention to my dreams.
I have not read the books, but I did see the movie on Friday. I wasn't overly impressed, but to be fair, I'm not the target demographic for this thing anyway. My question is, did the hype do more harm than good?
Most of us here long to have our Romance novels on the bookshelves someday. But getting them on the shelves is only the beginning. If we don't get people to actually buy them, that first book will be the last book. And getting people to buy them involves creating buzz. Getting our name out there, getting our covers out there, shouting our blurb from the mizzenmast and hitting up every contact we've ever made to let us drop anchor at their blogs for a day.
But if you go through all the trouble of hyping the binding off your book, you'd better be able to deliver. You better have a story that meets the high expectations and then if you're lucky enough to find success, you have to write another story and do it all over again.
So today we're going to talk about expectations. Do you worry about giving people what they want? Or are you confident that if someone would just publish your book, you know the readers will love it? And what book, movie, or television show has let you down lately? What hype have you bought into and then wanted to demand your money (or time!) back?
Books by the Crew
43 comments:
You know you see the best of every movie in the trailer. Why bother to go? I'm almost always disappointed by gush, and gush rarely myself for the simple reason that my opinions are MY opinions only, and someone else might have a completely different take. Now that I write, I'm far more analytical (i.e., critical) of books. So I'm a non-gushing curmudgeon. I have reservations about everything, especially my own stuff! Woe is me.
Maggie, you are too funny. No woe is me. I know Hidden Beauty will incite a great deal of emotion in my reader. It is just one of those books. You are really really going to love it, or really really hate for all the same reasons. I'm full of myself, I know, but it's all the truth, I swear it. :)
TV has been a disappointment since they first pulled Firefly, then Buffy, then Angel from the air. Then they had this awesome series called Moonlight, that got yanked. I expect nothing good from TV now.
Have I ever wanted money back.... yes. I walked out of a movie, once --- Elizabeth, an eon ago ---seriously we didn't make it fifteen minutes in,we thought it was so terrible. They wouldn't give us our money back, the buggers. Books... I just chalk the bad ones up to wall bangers and never buy the author again.
Ter - great blog!
I would say I'm more like Maggie; I am very critical of my own stuff. I doubt that is something that will ever go away, even if my ramblings find their way to the NYTs.
But, I'm a horrible gusher. If I find something I really like, I tend to spread the word. I've already made four of my friends read Twilight, my copy is so dog-eared it's practically falling off its binder.
Maggie - I HATE when I see a movie and the trailer really was the best part. Recently I took kiddo to see Igor and I loved it but I think it didn't do well because they didn't put enough good parts in the commercials. It was intelligent and very funny and I look forward to getting it on DVD. And I NEVER buy DVDs. LOL!
I think hype makes us automatically skeptical. It's that whole "it can't really be as good as they say" thing.
I actually do think my story is good and if I pull off what I want, it will take care of itself. But the bottom line is, we HAVE to have confidence in our work. No one will believe in our stuff if we don't believe in it first.
Tiff - My guess is your confidence went a long way to getting that agent. You're like a dream client. For one, you believe in your work and your talent which translates to publishers and they know you'll sell the heck out of it once it's out there because you feel so strongly about it. Kudos to you, chica!
Marn - It's okay to be hesitant and nervous about your work...on the inside. LOL! But your story is wonderful (not that I've seen the whole thing...just sayin') and you need to stand up and be proud of it.
And I tend to gush too but only if I *really* like something. I'm looking forward to seeing Bolt, which we'll likely take the girls to this weekend, and I'm hoping it's as good as I think it's going to be.
Nothing I write will be of the Twilight (or for me, Harry Potter) magnitude. I wish, but no. I don't have any characters quite that memorable, on that level. I think they'll do OKAY, though.
I did watch Twilight over the weekend. I snickered myself senseless at some of the dialogue, the overly dramatic shots where Edward, in horrible makeup, would turn his face away from Bella and look like the tragic monster he thinks he is... I did like the characterization of her father better in the movie than the book. There was lots more I liked about the movie than the book--so I don't exactly blame the movie for bad dialogue when they were already saying that florid stuff before. Personally I enjoyed the humor of it. It NEEDED it to keep itself from taking itself too seriously, which, I think it was in danger of doing otherwise.
Books that have disappointed me lately: Janet Evanovich's last book. The Twilight series didn't impress me either (and OMG, any crush I had on Jacob was tamped out by that joker in the movie, what an ass), and probably some romances I'm having trouble remembering...because they were just that unmemorable...
Word, Hellie.
I heard on the grapevine that they are going ahead with production of One for the Money for sometime next year. I hope they don't. That's one movie *I* don't want to see because no one they cast will *be* Ranger. No one comes close to him in my mind and I don't want to be disappointed. I'm already disappointed because of where the series has gone.
There was a lot I didn't like about Twilight. I saw it twice- last night's twilight showing added to my Thursday night fevor. I liked it much more the second time but still didn't like the editing or the special effects. I hope both get better with the next one because there will be a New Moon now.
I always worry about if I'm working on the right thing, if I'm going about it by the right angle. Since I'm working on my paranormal and world building right now, I've got to remember not to info dump and just work on building my character slowly. And I'm tackling it in third person which is like my arch enemy. I just hope that someday if someone gets a hold of my novel they will just love it as much as I love my characters. That's all I want. One and a million end up with a fan base like SM, JE, JKR- and it won't be me.
Captain - Since I didn't read the books I couldn't be sure about all that dialogue. But I have to think the actors could have delivered the lines a bit better. When Edward made that dramatic (melodramatic maybe?) statement about, "I'll do whatever I have to do to make you safe again" I just rolled my eyes. And I think the delivery was more a problem than the line. Which means they likely picked the wrong take when they edited the thing together.
Sin - I too hope the money this thing makes goes into making the next one better. I did love the music they used so kudos to whoever picked that. And I hope Jasper doesn't look so constipated in the next one. LOL!
Oh, and I think the actor playing Jacob was adorable. LOL!
Sin - I don't have any illusions about creating this kind of buzz frenzy. But I also don't want everyone to be talking up my book and then a week after it's out, the blogosphere lights up with readers complaining that it was awful and no where near what they expected after dealing with all the hype. I guess I just worry about the negative impact TOO MUCH hype can have.
Not that I think my own stuff will ever be hyped like this, but even in a small way. Like my online friends who haven't read my stuff who already tell me their sure it'll be great. That's a lot of pressure! LOL!
I've thought about this Twilight thing. I mean my girls are still raving over it. The want to see it again and again. They are constantly bugging me over when it will come out so we can buy the DVD. *rolls eyes* Anyway, yes there were parts of overdramticness, but I saw that kind of like Edward Scissorhands, or Sweeney Todd (btw, did you see JD is doing Alice in Wonderlnd?) Okay, so anyhow, I think they were going for the JD yummy weirdness, yet make him totally an awesome hero. The thing is, it probably won't work too well for those of us, dare I say...nope I won't say it. I will say however, it obviously works very well for girls age 9-16.
I have NO confidence. None whatsoever. I've always been a wallflower. At least until I have a few coke and rums, then I don't really care. I worry that I'll never be able to do my stories justice. Even when I know something is good, or I've done something good, I hate to be put on the spot. I'll have to hire a publicist or something.
As a writer, I pick apart books and movies. The one movie I was totally disappointed in after all the hype was Titanic. The most recent movie I regretted spending money on, I Am Legend, and I'm a huge Will Smith fan. There was just too many holes.
Great blog, Terri!
Renee
When Edward made that dramatic (melodramatic maybe?) statement about, “I’ll do whatever I have to do to make you safe again” I just rolled my eyes.
See, my girls gave a huge sigh. *laughs*
Renee
Renee - See, that's why I say I'm not the target demographic for this thing so it's not as big a deal if I didn't like it. I don't mind things as much when I know I wasn't meant to get it anyway. LOL!
Funny thing is my friend (who is closer to 40 than I am) has already seen it three times and sent me an email this morning that she wants to see it again. But to be fair, I think she stopped maturing around age 15. LOL! She'd be the first to tell you she's a big kid.
Now, you're stuff is awesome! You should be very proud of it and GET IT OUT THERE. The world needs to have your work and it deserves to be read! I'll pitch it for ya if ya want. LOL!
Renee- I have to say I sighed a little too. Then I got a little teary because I know what happens next.
Gah, some of the lines in the movie made me want to poke my eyes out. "So the lion fell in love with the lamb." It couldn't have come a worse spot!
ARGH.
It's just frustrating. I'd rathered they'd left some of the book lines out to keep the awkwardness of the scenes at a minimal.
Actually the lion/lamb lines I liked. *LOL* It was the "You're my brand of heroin" that had me falling into the aisle, snorting like some unromantic 9 year old boy.
There were parts I really liked; there were parts I really didn't. *LOL* But the books never really had me either. I do like Edward better now, officially. He was too annoyingly perfect, except for that vampire hitch, but after having to see Jacob and his toothiness...ick.
Thanks, Terr. You can pitch it anytime. ;)
Sin, oh my gosh, I so rolled my eyes at the "So the lion fell in love with the lamb." I had to ask the youngest what he said because I was sure I hadn't heard right. She had to wipe the drool from her hand before she could answer me. Ewwwww.
Renee
I so have to go get the books. I have a feeling I know what happens next, but I guess I'll wait and see.
Renee
“I don’t have any characters quite that memorable”
Not memorable? Uuuhhh Hellion forgive me if I am mistaken … but aren’t you writing about Lucifer?
Who, IMO , is about as Memorable as it gets! But what the hell do I know! Get it? hell? Uuh Yah... I'll go bug somebody else now...
I enjoyed Twilight, but I gotta agree with the over-dramatic or melodramatic aspects. I found myself hoping that once Bella and Edward got together, he'd get that look off his face, but no such luck *g*
I go back and forth on confidence - some days I think I've created phenomenal characters, other days I look at it and say "why would anyone want to read this?" lol. I hadn't even started worrying about hype yet, so thanks Terri! *g* another thing to panic about
I hate when work interferes with my blog time. Gah! I guess they could have changed the dialogue a bit but it seems to me that you have to at least blame the acting for the way they come across.
Good catch, Julie. Captain's characters are VERY memorable. LOL! Lucifer a case in point.
Hal - Edward was fine when he was smiling. Or rather that slight sexy grin. But the rest of the time he took the tortured thing a little far. LOL!
And you're welcome, Renee and Hal. Buzz, Hal. Buzz is everything! LOL!
Terri, you're right, buzz is everything. Now if only the agents would bite on the buzzzzzz.
Renee
Renee - At least you're better off than I am. I'm working on Buzz for others and making connections with people when I have nothing written. LOL! At least you're doing it in the right order. And I'm sure you'll get that bite any day now!
What the hell are you waiting for? Aren't exams over with? You better take full advantage of winter break. I always let my kiddos have Thanksgiving week off. I think it is senseless to let them school for two days, I'm not sure why PS does it especially since many had two days off two weeks ago.
Anyhoooo, while they are off, I'll be writing or polishing, or working on that damn synopsis.
Renee
Renee - I'm in the middle of a quarter. Just finished a term paper yesterday. I'll have the last couple weeks of December off and I'd love to write some. But who knows. My life is a bit crazy right now. However, the week of Xmas, my kiddo and BF are out of town. So I have LOTS of time to myself. Whoohoo! LOL!
Time to yourself is always good. But if you're anything like me-but you're not. I have faith you'll get lots of writing done and will soon be pitching your own work.
Unfortunately for me, the type of historicals I write don't seem to be in at the moment. Oh well, I will continue to write them because I love them.
Renee
yeah, that should read "but my teenagers and their friends"....I need lunch...
Ok, now here's my dissenting opinion (grinning and holding out hand for a drink before I offer it...) I really loved the movie, and my teenagers but their friends tore it apart because they can quote the books...and of course no movie can match a book, but they don't think like that.
To give the movie studio credit, they do acknowledge they've got to up the quality of the special effects for New Moon, and now that they have buckets of money, will be able to do that.
Does this get me tossed overboard? ;)
Gillian - Dissent is always good. We are pirates after all. And I'm not saying I didn't like it, I just would have been content to catch it on DVD later. LOL! Though I haven't read the books, I've heard SO MUCH about them. And I'm really looking forward to seeing New Moon as I figured it will be new and improved and look much better.
Hey Tiff
I just twigged that you now have an agent.
Wow! Well Done!...I always suspected that you did really know where all the full stops and commas went. Can't wait to see the cover! *g*
Terri , I know great artists have to eat, so writing stuff that sells can be important for some. On the other hand, great art is often only recognised as such after the artist is deceased. With that in mind, maybe you could leave me a couple of your rejected manuscripts in your will....you never know! :wink:
Sorry luv, I'm just feeling frivolous having won a copy of Eloisa's book.
In my serious moments I really have great faith that you can do it! :D
Q - It makes me feel all mushy inside knowing you'd stump my stuff post-humously. LOL! I could probably meet the deadline of "finish right before you die." LOL!
Congrats on the win! And thanks for the faith, bud. When I finally sell, the first signed copy is going to you. :)
I honestly thing hype can be overdone. But as a consumer, I expect it to be overdone, so I tend to dismiss it. Too many movies show the best part in the previews...I think that happened with Madagascar 2. But I can saw that I didn't go see Igor because I wasn't captivated by the trailers! So, it's a mixed bag.
I don't tend to take my self seriously when it comes to when I publish drama. I know my stuff is fun. And some people will enjoy it, and some won't. So the hype, if I have any say in it, will be more of the 'try it, you might like it' variety. I know from editor feedback, some get it some don't.
But I will knock myself out promoting myself, get as pirate ass silly as it takes...because yeah, you have to sell the first to sell the second!
When I was selling books in a bookstore, I very aware that there is a reader for every book. But they seldom are the same reader! Diane Duane did the wizard school thing long before JK Rowling...but one took off, one didn't. Ah, the vagaries of the wind...
I won a book! Yipee!
I'm gonna drag the husband off to Bolt this week...
What's interesting? For all the hype and all the bad reviews...Twilight still broke some records.
They're going to produce Stephanie Plum? Who the heck would play her...since Sandra Bulluck is too old?
And excessive hype can work against a movie... I know I never saw Spiderman 2 or 3... Or Matrix 3. Just got overwhelmed by all the push! Likely why I haven't actually read the last two Harry Potter books...don't shoot me! And since most things I really enjoy on tv get cancelled...I generally don't even start watching a big new show until I know it's going to last...
All that stuff I picked up at RT in Pittsburgh? Didn't really push me to read a particular book. Of all the chockies (sp?) I picked up, I took two authors home that I followed up on. Same with RWA in San Francisco.
Am I picky or is everyone like me?
2nd - I watched the making of Madagascar 2 and wanted to see it. Does this mean I've pretty much scene the whole thing already? And I highly recommend Igor. Not that I'm pushing or anything.
I don't think I've ever picked up a book because of a pen or bookmark or postcard. BUT, word of mouth works wonders and that's where the Buzz comes into play in my mind. You have to get people talking!
I just found out Twilight pulled down $70.5 mil this weekend. I'd say New Moon will be exceedingly better. LOL! Or at least have a better production budget.
There's a few cute scenes you don't see in the trailers, but the best of it is already there. At least that was how I felt about it. I'll look for Igor when it comes out in DVD, as I missed the theatrical release. Teach me to not follow my instincts!
Keep to the rules. Johnny involved? Go. John Cusack involved? Go. Robert Downey, Jr? Go. Sandra Bullock? Serious review. There's more, but that's the bulk of it...
Put a pirate ship on the cover? Read. A dog? Read. A beagle? Read and recommend.
I be a simple soul...
Read the first in the Twilight Series and had no interest in the following books. I didn't see the movie and I don't think I'm planning on seeing it--maybe--MAYBE on DVD.
Usually I'm disappointed in most movies that come from books that I've read; so I usually prepare myself to have a low expectation as to not ruin the whole cinematic experience.
I did watch the "Busy of Life of Bees" a book which I've read and I have to say I was pleasantly happy. Yes, there were a few things that didn't happen in the book but I wasnt't disappointed. Unlike too many to name.
I'm only envious of her success. Why didn't it happen to another Mormon mom?! LOL!
IG - I SOOOO want to see The Secret Life Of Bees. The good thing is, I read that book about five years ago so remember very little. I'll never notice the changes they made. LOL! You're smart to wait for the DVD. And by the time it comes out, you'll need reasons to sit and put your feet up. LOL! Perfect time to enjoy a movie.
2nd - All the voices were great in Igor. Some of them I didn't even recognize and was surprised when I watched the credits. But Steve Buscemi steals the show. Him and the one who played Jack on Will & Grace. Sean Hayes I think is his name. They make the movie!
Good rules there BTW. Remind me to put a dog on my cover.
Chance, I have no idea who'd they get to play Stephanie. I can't see any actress in Hollywood today pulling Stephanie. Or an actor for Morelli or Ranger. I don't want to see this movie. :( They will ruin it all for me.
Sin - Hon - isn't it already pretty much ruined? Seeing as that's the only book I've read, at least I'd know what happens in this one.
Yeah, give me a pirate ship with a beagle at the rail...drool...
I always think a dog adds to the humanity of any novel...Save Stephen King. He always does terrible things to dogs...
Sin - I thought they did a fair job with VI Warshowski (sp?) a few years back. But the movie still bombed... Mainly, they got the right actress. But I never expect much from the movie of any book I really dug.
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