No such thing as bad press?

[Pyram King]

What are you general thoughts of bad press helping to sell books?

It seems that bad press helps sells a lot of books.

- The women who wrote a book about stalking one of her reviewers.
- Supposedly the CEO of Thanos is getting offered a book deal
- American Dirt
etc.

Just wondering what you think.

[notthatamanda]

I wouldn't have the stomach for it. I want to sell lots and lots of books and be rich. Fame, or infamy, no thanks.

[Pyram King]

Perhaps I should rephrase...

Not that anyone wants bad press, but if one receives bad press (through no fault of their own) can they / should they - parley the bad press into sales?

[Eric Thomson]

Perhaps I should rephrase...

Not that anyone wants bad press, but if one receives bad press (through no fault of their own) can they / should they - parley the bad press into sales?

I can think of a few world leaders who parlayed bad press into political success, so hey, why not? 

[Laughing Elephant]

Perhaps I should rephrase...

Not that anyone wants bad press, but if one receives bad press (through no fault of their own) can they / should they - parley the bad press into sales?

If one is able to weather the storm of public opinion, then for sure.

[Jeff Tanyard]

Perhaps I should rephrase...

Not that anyone wants bad press, but if one receives bad press (through no fault of their own) can they / should they - parley the bad press into sales?

Depends on the details.  If China banned my books for being subversive or something, then you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to put "Banned in China" on my blurbs.  That's what I call "good" bad press.

On the other hand, if some notorious serial killer praised one of my books, then that would probably do more harm than good.  Unless I was writing a murder mystery and the killer praised it for its realism, in which case it would do a lot of good and I'd put that praise in the blurb.

Like I said... depends on the details.

[Bill Hiatt]

Perhaps I should rephrase...

Not that anyone wants bad press, but if one receives bad press (through no fault of their own) can they / should they - parley the bad press into sales?

Depends on the details.  If China banned my books for being subversive or something, then you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to put "Banned in China" on my blurbs.  That's what I call "good" bad press.

On the other hand, if some notorious serial killer praised one of my books, then that would probably do more harm than good.  Unless I was writing a murder mystery and the killer praised it for its realism, in which case it would do a lot of good and I'd put that praise in the blurb.

Like I said... depends on the details.

I agree.

Trying to make bad press work in your favor is like trying to move some dynamite around. You might be able to, but if you can't you'll just make a bigger mess.

[Anarchist]

Perhaps I should rephrase...

Not that anyone wants bad press, but if one receives bad press (through no fault of their own) can they / should they - parley the bad press into sales?

If China banned my books for being subversive or something, then you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to put "Banned in China" on my blurbs.

Perhaps with the following "testimonial" after the title page:

"I LOVED this book. My wife loved this book. My kids loved this book. But I cannot allow my people to read it. The ideas in Tanyard's thought-provoking novel are incendiary and likely to trigger riots. This is why I have banned all of Tanyard's books in China. His revolutionary ideas cannot be allowed to surface here." - Xi Jinping

Fake quote? Sure. But what's he gonna do? Sue you? lol

[twicebitten]

coinkadinkally enough, when the American Dirt dirt was flying, I went to look at the rankings of the Oregon romance writer who's on trial for murdering her chef husband, after writing an article on the various ways in which characters might murder their husbands. There was a very good ranking surge at first but her rankings aren't great now. There may be another surge when she pleas/is convicted. (er, not that I mean anything but "allegedly" here, but I read through the motions her defense attorneys have made and they made me the tiniest bit suspicious that they are floundering. Or "not waving but drowning" to quote a famous poem.)