(no subject)

[jdemorae.livejournal.com]

Hello! I'm a newbie--found the comm through the Amazon discussion threads and Google.

Speaking of Amazon... I've been going through my recommendations and something hit me: there are an awful lot of vampire, shapeshifter, fae, whatever books out right now. I don't just mean the paranormal romances, but adventure stories, too.

"How does she stay published/how can they publish this crap?" (especially in light of the recent Harlequin spoiler) is a frequent lament here. It occured to me, just looking over the recommendations here, LKH going bad was perhaps a gift to publishers. People drawn in to 'vintage' Anita Blake and unhappy with the current books have gone looking for something better, but in the same genre. There is demand... and there are sales. Lots of sales.

So it's kind of a 'no press is bad press' thing, but it's in favor of the publishers, not LKH. They let her churn out her sexploitation dreck, and the number of disappointed readers grow, they look for other authors, other titles, other series-length stories. Then the publishers smile and produce several books with, "If you liked the early Anita Blake..."

Her sales drop, but they make up for it by selling other books, books that become more popular as more disgruntled fans say, "Hey, I know you liked the Anita Blake stuff when it was good. Try this!"

The savvy marketing isn't LKH's doing. It's the publishers. She didn't create the genre, but the decay of her storytelling ability created a market.

Comments

[cactus-wren.livejournal.com]

Ya know, I told myself and told myself I was *not* going to click on that link. Was not. And I did. *weeps* Just spent the last hour looking through it (an hour of my life I will never get back) and found this in chapter 17 on page freakin 45 (61 pages in that thread!):

Graham: (voice horse) You're blushing. Graham touches Anita's face and says, "After all the things that I've seen you do with all the other men, you're blushing because I'm looking too hard at you.

Anita: (Stepping back) You think I can't be embarrassed because I'm a whore?

Graham: Not true.

Anita: Isn't it?

Yes, Anita, yes it is. At least you can admit it out loud.

[summersdream.livejournal.com]

I really just thought Anita's actual brain had finally caught up with her for a moment. Subconsciously, she knows she's a whore. And not even a really hot, highly-paid escort. She's the bargain basement freebie that JC's thrown in with Nathaniel as a two-for-one.

Ack. Wow. I'm bitter. I knew I shouldn't be reading those recaps. sigh.