The other day I sent a site that I've written for in the past a quick note about how much I love Come Back to Afghanistan and offered to write a short review for them to post. It wasn't a paying thing, it was just a chance to spread the word on a book that I think is important and well written - something that would benefit readers to know about. The site's owner emailed me back that since the book was getting plenty of publicity already it didn't seem necessary to review over there. It was a nice note, no big deal but I was just so surprised.

Come Back to Afghanistan is getting plenty of publicity? Huh?

So I checked around and yes, Booklist reviewed it and so did Publishers Weekly and Conde Nast Travler (huh?) and Entertainment Weekly, but for the average reader, that all seems like nothing to me. Unless you are a librarian or publisher you probably don't read Booklist (which is hugely important because of libraries, but still.) And only publishers and booksellers really read Publisher's Weekly and as for any newspapers (none of which I could find reviews from) - well, those are largely regional and only for folks who buy newspapers anyway. (And don't even get me started on EW - is that supposed to be the only review a book needs?) I guess what I'm saying is, I don't see this book reaching the NYT bestseller list anytime soon due to word of mouth. I certainly hope it wins some awards which would bring it some great attention, but do enough people already know about it now to pass on writing about it?

Are you kidding me?

And really - the bigger question is do do enough people ever know enough about good books to pass on writing about them? Oh please - not just no, but Hell No!

I recently discovered Sylvia Plath (all because of the wonderful Donna Seaman) and I didn't worry for a minute about writing about her because I thought she was too well known. For that matter - if Kate Moses had decided not to write Wintering because Plath was old news or Donna Seaman had decided not to interview Moses for the same reason then I would not have decided to finally read about Plath and buy Moses's book - and fall madly in love. Ariel, The Bell Jar and Colossus are all on my list of must buys for this year. That's multiple new book purchases all because of one interview - and Plath has been getting articles written about her for four decades!
So are we really ready to start passing on books that are barely even out yet?

I guess everyone has different standards for what is newsworthy and what isn't. For me, it's all about the books that matter - finding good books and letting the world know. All it takes is one new reader and the review was more than worth it. So with the exception of The Da Vinci Code, all of the Harry Potter Books and anything by Danielle Steel or Nora Roberts, I don't really think anything is overexposed in publishing (okay add that idiot James Frey to the list.) So I'll just keep writing about what I love and not worry about who already knows about. And, expect to read about Come Back to Afghanistan over at Bookslut in March. Jessa loves good books too, and that's why I love writing for her and Michael so much.