Hype vs Following

To me, hype and following are two completely different things. They both affect people's buying habits but how varies by person. I personally will specifically avoid books with a lot of hype and spring for books with a large following.

Hype
Hype typically occurs prior to a book's actual release. Companies spending millions of dollars every year hyping their products and publishers are no exception. The books that are predicted to be the most popular are typically the most hyped. My favorite example is the Twilight series.

Following
Following typically occurs after a book's been released. A book's following is the number of people who have read, enjoyed, and recommend that book. I will read a book with a large following over a book with a lot of hype any day. It is possible for a book to have both, but for me hype cancels out following. My favorite example is The Book Thief which I only read after several people told me about it. It is now one of my favorite books of all time.

What do you think?

Comments

Unknown said…
I think those are excellent definitions. The only thing I'd caution against is completely ignoring the over-hyped books. There isn't always a correlation between hype and quality.

This particularly applies to writers who read. We should do our best to at least be aware of the types of books that are being heavily promoted.

In the end, I do agree that a following is usually a better indicator of my potential enjoyment. Great thoughts!

EJW
February 17, 2011 at 10:38 AM
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