Instead of reading the betting sheets, Ms. Obie Joe decided to read Publisher's Weekly round-up of the Fall offerings from publishers illustrious. Because the books listed represent some of the publisher's biggest bets, we've been interested in a few trends:
• Blond, beautiful, famous, and old: Suzanne Somers' new book, Breakthrough: Changing the Face of Medicine, is printing at 600,000 copies.
• Bald, famous and know-it-all: Dr. Phil's Real Life: Preparing for the 7 Absolutely Worst Days of Your Life at 1 million.
• Smart, rich and contrary: The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life at 1 million copies.
• Connects with fans as you should: Debbie Macomber at 600,000.
Numbers we don't understand, but comprehend: Bill O'Reilly's memoir (1 million); Ina Garten's new bookbook (800,000); and Nicholas Sparks (1.5 million).
And Annie Proulx's new book at only 150,00. For shame! Ms. Obie Joe thinks a copy should be pressed into the hands of everyone, and not just 150,000 of us besotted fools.
So! The lesson in all of this for striving authors? Get famous, or write well, but in any case, make connections with your audience.
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