I was cruising the internet this morning when this headline caught my eye: Kate Gosselin New Book Flops. I started to move right past the link before it struck me that I had no idea what the headline means. From the headline, though, I can tell a few things: Gosselin has written previous books, those books must have done fairly well, and this new one is a surprise loser when it comes to sales.All well and good, I thought, but who in the world is this Kate Gosselin person?
So I clicked on the link and found this:
Did Kate Gosselin’s new book flop? Kate Gosselin’s newest book is not selling nearly as well as many experts had originally predicted. Her latest book, “I Just Want You To Know: Letters to My Kids on Love, Faith, and Family,” has reportedly only been able to sell around 10,000 copies since it was released. That is a fraction of the sales that Gosselin had previously seen from her other books when they were released. Both of her previous books, “Eight Little Faces” and “Multiple Blessings,” were able to climb to number 5 on the New York Times bestselling list.Turns out that Kate Gosselin is part of that weird couple who sold their children to some supposed reality TV show a few years ago. I think I remember hearing that the male half of this marriage from hell is gone now but that the show will go on.
Now the headline really confounds me because I can't imagine how this woman's first two books sold in such big numbers that 10,000 copies of the new one is bad news. That leads me to ask the question: who is buying and, perhaps, even reading these three books? But, more importantly, why are they doing that?
Good grief, "reality TV" is about as real as professional wrestling. How does someone like Kate Gosselin become a "star" for even 15 minutes, much less long enough to write and sell three books? Unbelievable...we are a country of idiots.
Sadly, I can say that the university library I work at purchased Multiple Blessings. Our Acquisitions Librarian has a habit of purchasing things topping the bestseller's lists. In her defense, she probably does it so that we don't have to deal with multiple ILL requests for them.
ReplyDeleteBeing a celebrity doesn't take much - the media more than does its part in breeding them, a people gobble it up, for a while at least.
Obama's book has made him millions. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteI would argue, though, that a book by a president is another animal altogether. Books by presidential hopefuls or politicians in general, as well. All Kate Gosselin has done is have eight children and a messy divorce - one book I could forgive, but not several. Several is just disgusting.
ReplyDeleteLibrary Girl, I can sympathize with your acquisitions librarian. I suppose a certain number of "popular" (pop culture) books need to be on the shelves to please all the patrons (tax payers) but it is surely tiring to have to wade through that "stuff."
ReplyDeleteFactotum, I used to think that Obama was more a celebrity than a president...now I only wish that were the case.
ReplyDeleteLibrary Girl, it's the fact that she hoodwinked the public THREE times that gets me, too. Fool me once, shame on you...
ReplyDeleteYes, but you see...she has a new hairdo now, so she needed a whole new book to show off her new image!
ReplyDeleteI never heard of Kate Gosselin until Octomom had her kids, then KG was interviewed about the difficulties of bringing up a huge family of multiples. Then Octomom accused KG of trying to horn in on her fame. Sigh. I hate it that I even know this stuff.