How not to publicize a book

by Viviane on 10/11/2025

in Abby Lee, GWAOTM

Email received from Erikk at Sky Horse Publishing:

To the authors at Viviane’s Sex Carnival,

Your blog is a fantastic read, and among the greatest sex blogs on the web. I think that you and your readers will undoubtedly be interested in the U.S. edition of Diary of a Sex Fiend by Abby Lee, based on her well-known “Girl with a One Track Mind” blog (http://girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com/). This worldwide bestseller is the revealing, funny, erotic and incredibly honest journal of a young woman’s sexual thoughts and erotic experiences. Abby offers detailed descriptions of her sexual encounters, narrative on relationships, and even fun and useful “top 10″ lists. And at $16.95, this book is a sharply written treat for anyone who loves reading about sex.
(etc.)

I thought the timing odd, because the book came out in July when Abby Lee was here. Evidently, it was sent out without her permission:

So if you are a blog friend of mine, or just a reader of this blog, and have received an email asking you to write about my book, please ignore it, because it was not done with my authorisation, or my support, or with any of my wishes taken into account.

I’m Chinese and guanxi is a big thing with me. I’m happy to promote the books of my friends (look at the virtual book tours Rachel Kramer Bussel and Audacia Ray did), but ham-handed emails from publisher? Phooey.

And since I’m complaining…why’d they change the cover of the U.S. version? We’ve talked amongst ourselves how bad a move it was.

Listening to: Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright (Peter, Paul & Mary)

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  • Bad Man

    I agree on many levels (and I posted about it, too, but would feel tacky linking to my own post) but by the same token – it’s a guy just trying to do his job. I did have a suggestion about how to go about it next time (we bloggers are a prickly lot, aren’t we?) which is to coat the form letter with some personalization.
    Also, I have to give props to the publisher-emailer – he sent me an extensive personal response both in email and on my blog with an apology. Far as I’m concerned, that was an excellent and welcome move and I bear no ill will.
    Lesson learned, and now we can help Girl promote her book, yes?

  • Pingback: Book promotion through blogs

  • Juno Henry

    I was so affronted that I wrote to him directly — i didn’t even bother contacting the Girl. I’d already realised it was a form letter, but his reply showed me quite how many people had felt similarly.

    I was actually torn between continuing to feel affronted, and enjoying the company i was apparently keeping…

  • Jefferson

    If my publicist didn’t do his job, I’d be affronted. So he sent a press release that wasn’t personally scented with roses? Maybe I’m easy, but I don’t need my ego stroked in a press release.

    Well, yes, I am easy.

  • tom paine

    I also was contacted with effusive praise about my own blog. I asked Erik if the company was looking at other books by sex bloggers, since I am working on a proposal about my own. He answered “no, this is likely going to be our one venture into erotica.” But then why promote the book, and shouldn’t you wait until you see how well it does? Suppose a bunch of bloggers flog it and the book takes off?

    ????

    I thought the purpose of publishing books was to sell books? Guess not.

    Needless to say, I was not aware of the backstory on this project, or that Abby was not a part of the promotional efforts supposedly on her behalf, or I would not have bothered to reply in the first place. Thanks for airing this.

  • The Girl

    Tom, it’s interesting that the term “erotica” was used by the publisher to describe my book to you. Whilst I do not deny that my book has extremely explicit sexual content, it is a personal memoir, that also happens to have a (subtle, but there nevertheless) political subtext as well as a lot of humour: to market it as erotic fiction, as the publishers have, totally undermines both the book, and also my objectives as an author. (And other foreign publishers have marketed it as a memoir, I should add.)

    You can see the disparity in the approach the publisher took with my book back in March 2007, when the US edition was published: the New Yorker magazine ran an interview with me (which made me both immensely proud, but also hopeful that my inclusion would help bring more sex-based writing into the mainstream) and rather than build on that and obtain other ‘quality’ press, the publisher instead suggested I should go on the Howard Stern Show. I declined this and their other, more salacious, approaches to marketing the book as erotica; it became blatantly obvious that they had no interest in my wishes at all and nor were they concerned with promoting the book with me on board. (Additionally, not ONE single bit of press was obtained after the New Yorker piece – shocking to anyone in PR, I am sure.)

    Given this, and the fact that I did not wish to be seen as exploiting my friends in the blog world, I refused to ask sex bloggers to promote my book. They let the matter go and I have heard nothing from the publisher since then. Which is why, over six months later, I am absolutely stunned to discover that not only have they gone against my explicit wishes, but they have done so without informing me, let alone asking me if it was OK to approach my blog friends to plug my book. Hence why I have reacted in this way. I’ve nothing against selling more books, but not if that means stamping on people I know and/or respect.

    To sum up: It’s not the asking of bloggers to promote a book that is bad, in and of itself, it’s the way the approach is made. There’s a lesson for all of us to learn in this, writers, bloggers and *especially* publishers, I think.

  • tom paine

    Thanks, Abby, for clearing this up.

    I am happy to promote your book– if you are comfortable with that– not to help the publisher, but to help you and, by extension, all of us who write about sex and relationships. Feel free to email me at painful dot tom at gmail dot com. I obviously do not want to get in the middle of anything, nor offend you and your friends.

    Americans, despite being the porn capital of the world, are uneasy with sexuality, and mainstream publishers shy away from it. Part of the decision is, of course, the increasing importance of mass retailers like Wal-Mart and B&N, who now are brought in to acquisition meetings, or whose preferences (and phobias) take on increasing weight in the decision-making process about which books get published.

    In the interest of accuracy, Erikk is not the editor who disparaged acquiring further erotica, though my amusement at the press’s position remains.

  • Rachel Kramer Bussel

    Just on the issue of book covers, a lot of books get different covers in the US and overseas, especially if it’s a different company publishing the book in each country ( the title of her book was also changed for the US version to Diary of a Sex Fiend: Girl With a One Track Mind). I’m not in publishing so don’t really know all the ins and outs of it, just that that’s pretty common and I assume authors probably don’t have as much say when their book is being published overseas (though that is speculation on my part).

  • The Girl

    Rachel, you’re correct in saying that authors have few rights as to overseas editions; I think it’s very rare that they would get cover approval.

    Saying that though, some of my foreign publishers have been keen to have me on board their plans for the book, asking me my thoughts on the covers and their PR strategy. The result? I’m happy with the book and happy to promote it; they get the PR they need from me; the book (hopefully) sells well.

    This was not the case with my US publisher. I *fought* not to have the title changed to the stupid one they chose; it was a battle that went on for some time – and which I lost. And when I saw they had put a quote from the Sunday Times (the newspaper that outed me) on the back cover, that just smarted with me and showed me that they really didn’t care what I felt about how they were marketing my book. I was irrelevant; an annoying obstacle to them.

    So added to all the things I have mentioned above, my experience with publishing in the US has not been a happy one at all, which has upset me a lot. I had drawn a line under it until this fiasco with their sending out spam emails.

    P.S. I *still* haven’t heard from them about any of this. I’m not holding my breath…

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