The last of my bookstore gripes is one associated with the Twilightification of book covers.
You're probably more than aware of this phenomenon:
Yeah.
Then, it was relatively new.
Now, well, there's absolutely no escaping it:
And if you look closer...
Cassandra Clare and Charlaine Harris?
LKH next to The Vampire Diaries??
Teenage?!
I didn't realise the Dewey system came with an 'if-they-have-black-covers-and-are-about-vampires-they-should-be-shelved-together' classification.
How silly of me.
Obviously I owe the fucktards an apology.
26 comments:
When I saw VC Andrews's Flowers in the Attic series being promoted in YA, my eyes bugged out. Such a guilty pleasure, so incest gothic books.
But LKH? Do the want teens to turn away from reading? I feel for them when and if they pick book up Narcissus in Chains. O.o
Oh oh, I complained to my friend for an hour when I found Night Pleasures by Kenyon at the Kids/youth section of the bookstore. I mean, a Twihard going and seeing it and buying it and reading smoking scenes at 10 or something. Come one bookstores, vamps does not mean YA. have you freaking watched True Blood
Clearly you didn't get the memo that the Dewey system has been replaced with the much simpler paranormal=YA, everything else=notYA system.
Although, in some stores, it's been replaced with the everything=fiction system.
Oh my. I'm pretty flexible about what's ok for teens to read (I didn't have any reading restrictions when I grew up), but LKH... um, no.
ignore this... stoopid blogger
What Chris said! I had no reading restrictions as a kid, but those last few LKH books (you know, post-ardeur) are a bit much!
I just caught all three posts and I have to say: You are right (as usual lol!) and I am glad I am not the only annoyed customer out there.
How very unimaginative of the publishers to print black covers with the title and a flower/face, etc. blah blah blah! Wonder how those conversations at the publishers go: :"I KNOW! Let's print the same cover a bazillion times on EVERY TITLE we publish this year...see if those dumb as rock consumers even notice they aren't buying what they THINK they are buying......snort, laugh, snort!"
The filing order of the local bookstore (and I use this term as loosely as possible) has absolutely no scientific OR realistic OR logical sense whatsoever!!!!
I swear there is some secret coalition of bookstore employees that meets the third Tuesday of every month....where they get drunk and pull ideas outta their butts to see what will mess with customers more! I have rearranged books so often I think I should get a commission when people DO find a title they are looking for cause it's guaranteed to be in the right place only cause I put it there. Truly.
Again, your greatness knows no bounds....but don't let that stop you k?
A few months ago Good Housekeeping had an article on changes you can make to improve the look of your home. One suggestion was that books on bookshelves be grouped by color. What? How would you ever put your hands right on the book you need?
Maybe book store mangers read Good Housekeeping.
Umm. Wow. Yeah. You're think that publishers would want their books in the right place for their target audience. I find it hard to believe that LKH's target audience is 13 year olds. You're going to make more sales in the usual adult sections, I'd presume because lots of parents WON'T buy it for their teen even if they pick it up.
So either book store people are totally oblivious to the label that comes on the box saying "shelve in X" (which could be possible, I heard one young employee telling a mother of a 13 year old that Twilight encouraged young girls to get married at 17 or 18 so they can have sex and it was happening everywhere), or the publishers are not being clear where they want their books placed. I'd want mine placed for maxiumum ideal customer exposure and would be pissed if a bookstore misshelved it. But hey, I'm logical that way. :-)
Um.. but it is so dramatically striking. Black and red and white, sure to catch the eye of the customer!
Hey! What's with all the LKH bashing? Sure, she's not for kids but it's not like the Tricks Rabbit lives at her house. (Did that make sense?)
Oh, and first hand experience... I can not find a book I want to save my life... but my shelves sure to look perty!
Well money talks, and when you have a mega million dollar world wide "phenom" like "Twilight".. Look out Dewey system here we come re anything vampiresqe on bookstore shelves.
But yeah, LKH for teens? Um no..
Very daring Sweet. I once send Kris a pic from my bookshelves. She is still recovering from that shock.
On topic, I agree LKH should not be in YA
Although I agree with most of the comments made.....the clerks in most bookstores make maybe a bit above minimum wage and aren't paid to think. Most have no incentive to take any ownership in their job. Why are we surprised when they use the placement of the moon to determine where they will shelve the books?? I'm going to go have some more chocolate now......
I had no reading restrictions as a kid but as a mom there are definitely some YA stuff out there that's not ok for my 12.5 year old to read. LKH is definitely on the no-no list. lol
KBC: My thing with LKH being promoted as YA is to do with how highly sexualised the stories are. I don't think that teens, especially preteens, should be reading that stuff without supervision.
Blodeuedd: "I mean, a Twihard going and seeing it and buying it and reading smoking scenes at 10 or something. Come one bookstores, vamps does not mean YA."
Exactly! Another thing that bothers me is that this is clearly geared at girls when there are some great vamp-themed stories for boys, which are being lumped into the vamp = romance = teen girls category. I believe boys are being really disadvantaged by this.
Wren: "Clearly you didn't get the memo that the Dewey system has been replaced with the much simpler paranormal=YA, everything else=notYA system."
I must have missed that one or blocked it out of my memory because of its sheer insanity. All I've seen are the horrific results.
Chris & Val: I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks that teens reading LKH is a bit much. If I was a parent who discovered what my teen was reading because it was in 'her/his' section I would be seriously pissed off.
Elaine: "I just caught all three posts and I have to say: You are right (as usual lol!)"
Smart arse. :)
I'm with you on the covers. I get sick and tired of seeing them everywhere not to mention the fact that it's totally boring as bat poo.
"I swear there is some secret coalition of bookstore employees that meets the third Tuesday of every month....where they get drunk and pull ideas outta their butts to see what will mess with customers more!"
*snort* This wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. They probably have a message board somewhere where they have competitions about how many readers they can get to go postal in a day.
Donna: "Maybe book store mangers read Good Housekeeping."
Obviously Good Housekeeping discriminates against those of us with OCD. Let's bring the consumer watchdog down on their arse!
Tam: "I'd want mine placed for maxiumum ideal customer exposure and would be pissed if a bookstore misshelved it. But hey, I'm logical that way. :-)"
:D I think it must be publishers not giving clear directions or perhaps relying on broad genre labels from which bookstores can go crazy cos it makes no sense whatsoever.
Miranda: Your shelves do look pretty, but I still think you're insane for putting them like that. It would drive me absolutely mental. :)
Lea: "Well money talks, and when you have a mega million dollar world wide "phenom" like "Twilight".. Look out Dewey system here we come re anything vampiresqe on bookstore shelves."
True that. The publishing industry, like all business, is a tale of bandwagons at times.
Ingrid: "I once send Kris a pic from my bookshelves. She is still recovering from that shock."
We agreed that this wouldn't be mentioned again! *shudders*
Barb: "the clerks in most bookstores make maybe a bit above minimum wage and aren't paid to think. Most have no incentive to take any ownership in their job. Why are we surprised when they use the placement of the moon to determine where they will shelve the books?? I'm going to go have some more chocolate now......"
I don't suppose you have any of that chocolate left? *sigh*
You're probably right about the lack of incentive for staff members. Surely, though, it would be to their bosses benefits in terms of sales to ensure that they had training enough to deal with shelving, etc?
Tracy: "I had no reading restrictions as a kid but as a mom there are definitely some YA stuff out there that's not ok for my 12.5 year old to read. LKH is definitely on the no-no list. lol"
Your girl would probably be mortified reading a scene from LKH. :)
"Your girl would probably be mortified reading a scene from LKH. :)"
Especially after the pron attack of the 'ardeur'... Yikes!
Surely, though, it would be to their bosses benefits in terms of sales to ensure that they had training enough to deal with shelving, etc?
You're being logical again girl. Stop it!
Lea: Yikes indeed.
Tam: Again, how silly of me. I must try and stop this.
I don't think I'd ever put LKH in the teenage section of a bookstore. Some of her Anita Blake novels are very grafic. YA does not equal vampire. I've read plenty of YA novels and vampire novels. Nope, don't belong together. Especially some of the vampire novels that have sex in them I wouldn't want some 12 year old reading.
Loves2Read: "Especially some of the vampire novels that have sex in them I wouldn't want some 12 year old reading."
I totally agree with you. The thought of a preteen reading some of the scenes after AB becomes 'infected' with the ardeur scares the crap out of me.
I'm not sure you could see them, but there were a whole heap of Ann Rice novels on the shelves above Richelle Mead's series. That doesn't work for me either.
I didn't realise the Dewey system came with an 'if-they-have-black-covers-and-are-about-vampires-they-should-be-shelved-together' classification.
I too have been noticing this, but had no name for it, so thank you :)
And it drives me batty!
Orannia: It drives you batty? As in vampire batty? :P
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