We're going to call said author Bob Smith, if he chooses to comment that would be great and I will gladly give him a shout out. Bob is a great writer and has chosen to e-publish like so many writers have with the advent of that technology. The problem was, like so many going it on their own, Bob was struggling with selling his books.
Bob re-vamped his covers, re-named the books and gave himself a pseudonym. This is where my curiosity perked up. Sales improved drastically and Bob is very happy. Why would my curiosity perk up you may ask? Because Bob chose his pseudonym to be the equivalent of Stevie King. Meaning the name he chose was almost identical to that of a best selling author. Now, I wondered, was this a type of infringement on the national bestselling authors rights to their own name? If not, it's a very smart marketing move on Bob's part. I believe he writes in the same genre as the author who's name his pseudonym is so close to, and I think people would see it and think that they're related, most likely twins.
Please remember (you especially Bob if you're reading this) this is not meant as a critique. More only an observation that I found very interesting and really wanted to share with others. I mean hey, if this is a plausible way to drum up business, call me Stephanie Mayer ;P
What are you're thoughts on this? Was Bob making a smart move or do you think he might have given himself more trouble down in the long run?
5 comments:
People do it all the time...they make book covers look similar so you pick up the wrong book in a hurry, names are the same way. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Good point Nat. I haven't seen much of this going on so I was taken aback by it a bit. I mean it could be a super smart move on his part. I guess only time will tell. :)
I'm kind of on the fence about this. Was it a good way to sell books? Yes. Is it cheating? Maybe. I think if I were a reader who bought this thinking he was Stephen King, I would be mad when I realized he wasn't.
That was also one of my thougts Jesilea. More than that, if I was Stephen King and found out someone was riding my coat tails I might be peeved enough to do something about it.
I think I know who you're referring to--and I've been super intrigued myself. I did not (and still don't) know the pen name he chose. I so want to check out this book he says is selling better than the rest, and now with the added layer of his choice of pen name... would you consider whispering it in my ear? Or, since that's not possible, emailing me? sophia hyphen martin at hotmail dot com.
Post a Comment