Is there no such thing as bad publicity?
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Monday, February 11, 2008
This topic rears its ugly head every once in a while. This time it was in connection with customers of a certain vanity publishing company. One author had managed to get the "local person writes book" profile in their local paper, and someone else wrote a letter to the editor with a scathing attack on the practices of the publisher.
Out of respect for the author (and the fact that this person seems to have had to defend themselves and their publisher to everyone in their town, which I think is enough), I'm not going to mention the author or the publisher. But some people may guess the latter and I suspect they won't be wrong.
Fellow customers of this publisher have counseled this writer not to worry about it because there is no such thing as bad publicity.
That adage does not hold water with me. Some people thrive on controversy, but they're the exception rather than the rule. Generally speaking, bad publicity sucks. And unless you're a politician or big-name entertainment figure with the money to pay for a spin machine, you probably can't afford bad publicity.
I suppose it boils down to the particular situation, but based on my own observations, it seems that it's possible to overcome one instance of bad publicity if the situation is handled in the right manner. Call it spin if you wish. Call it class. Sometimes the simple act of deflecting criticism with grace and class works. Whining makes the situation worse.
Writers tend to put their egos on the line every day. It's easy to take criticism the wrong way. I've had my share. It was no fun to open up a newspaper that ran my column and find a letter to the editor calling me a talentless hack. Guess what? It's part of the business.
The thing is, we have to move on from our mistakes. If there's any good that comes from bad PR, that may be it.
So what do you think? Is there no such thing as bad publicity? Am I typing out my a** again? Let me know.
Tags: Writing
Filed under: Writing
Comments are closed
Karen Funk Blocher said:
Of course there's such a things as bad publicity. If you are selling a product and fewer people buy the product because of the publicity, that's bad publicity. If you are not selling a product but your reputation is ruined, your spouse sues for divorce and your dog bites you, that's bad publicity, too. I haven't followed this story, but it seems a poor show if the author was attacked rather than just the publisher. I suppose the odds are against the book being good, but there might be a way to spin things as "Please judge the work on its merits, as the author is not personally responsible for whatever the publisher has or has not done."
Date: 2/12/2008 1:11:17 AM
Date: 2/12/2008 1:11:17 AM
Karen Funk Blocher said:
Of course there's such a things as bad publicity. If you are selling a product and fewer people buy the product because of the publicity, that's bad publicity. If you are not selling a product but your reputation is ruined, your spouse sues for divorce and your dog bites you, that's bad publicity, too. I haven't followed this story, but it seems a poor show if the author was attacked rather than just the publisher. I suppose the odds are against the book being good, but there might be a way to spin things as "Please judge the work on its merits, as the author is not personally responsible for whatever the publisher has or has not done."
Date: 2/12/2008 1:11:17 AM
Date: 2/12/2008 1:11:17 AM
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