In today's (Sept. 24, 2006) Sunday Times, the Arts Editor, Richard Brooks, writes: "An unknown British author has topped America's fiction bestseller lists after news of her debut novel spread over the internet..."The Thirteenth Tale" had few reviews in conventional media and seems to have taken off because media bloggers recommended it. 'I suppose it's a new form of word of mouth,' said Setterfield...The development of Setterfield's fan base on the internet is similar to that which gave a kick-start to musicians such as the Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and Sandi Thom."
Intrigued, I decided to investigate a bit more. It took only one click to find out that the book had received a $1 million advance from the U.S. publishers (and another £800,000 from the UK publishers). No publisher is going to invest a million dollars in an unknown book and then rely on bloggers to spread the word.
Furthermore, tucked away in Richard Brooks's article is the fact that "The book had already been bought in a film deal by Robert Redford before publication, giving it a signficant headstart." My bet is that the huge advance and the Redford deal bred a large amount of media coverage (if it didn't, the publishers should fire their P.R. department). Mind you, spreading the idea that the internet is what's behind her success is another good media story...good enough to make it into the Sunday Times.
