Episode 13: Hyped Books: To Read or Not to Read?
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Danikka: Hey there, welcome to the Snailed It podcast with Danikka and Erin, brought to you by Authors Own Publishing.
Erin: Hi everyone, welcome back to the Snailed It podcast with Danikka and Erin. Today we are talking about… hyped books.
Danikka: Yes, are they worth the hype should you pick them up? And does the hype set them up to be disappointments? Because I feel like I would maybe enjoy hyped books more if they weren't hyped. And is this like a whole like mind fuck thing? And we're going, you're coming in strong with a fuck right at the start of the podcast episode, so let's go. But like...
Erin: Hi everyone. Yeah, I agree. Because I, as we said, like literally just before we pressed record, I tend to shy away from a hyped book. I mean, having said that I'm currently reading Crescent City Three, which is like the largest of the hyped. But yeah, it took me ages to read ACOTAR because I was just like, eh, it can't be that good. Not that it can't be that good because people are talking about it, but it just, I didn't, I couldn't see how it could live up to the hype. Which I think is the curse of the hyped book, right?
Danikka: Yeah, exactly. And I mean, no book is going to be like what everyone likes. It's not going to be to everyone's taste. There's going to be elements of it. I think what scares me about hyped books is the effort that is put into making them hyped. So there's books that go viral that are not necessary–So like, for example, Legends and Lattes, which is like one of my favorite like indie through to trad published book kind of stories. I really liked that book. I read it because of the hype that it got, but it wasn't hyped through like a marketing strategy or anything like that. It was like a grounds roots. Like people found it.
Erin: it was organis.
Danikka: Yeah, exactly. So like, yeah, there was hype around that book, but it was, it almost felt, I don't want to say it like this, but I'm trying to think of a better way to say it, but it felt earned. If that makes sense. Like,
Erin: yeah. Well, because it was already out there, right? Like it went viral because people enjoyed it and shared it. So it was like that word of mouth rather than a book gaining height before it's even been released because the marketing is strong.
Danikka: Exactly, exactly, exactly. And so that's the difference. I think when you compare, for example, to traditionally published books, ACOTAR and Fourth Wing. ACOTAR became hyped and viral well after it was published.
Erin: True.
Dannika: Well, after it was published. True. Whereas Fourth Wing had a massively strategized and pushed marketing campaign before it was ever released. And then it was continued to be pushed well after it was released and into the online release. When was ACOTAR? Yeah.
Erin: Yes. I know. Yes.
Danikka: So yeah, like, I think that's the kind of thing.
Erin: It was release in 2015.
Danikka: Yeah. Yeah. So nearly 10 years after it was first published, like, I think it started to go viral in 2020 when TikTok, BookTok kind of thing started to become more.
Erin: Oh, yeah.
Danikka: Because I think that's when I first read ACOTAR was in 2020. I remember that was, it like broke my reading drought. I hadn't read a fiction book. That wasn't a book that I was editing in years.
Erin: Oh, gotcha. Yeah. That's part of the curse of an editor, right? Just as a tangent.
Danikka: It is a little bit, actually. Yeah. That's why I love audiobooks so much. And like, it makes me feel bad because I don't get to read as many indie authors as I would like to. But it means that I get to put my full focus into the books that I'm editing. But I do still get to read some fiction without destroying my eye.
Erin: Yeah. Yeah. I don't think I read ACOTAR until 2021. I'm just trying to go back through like my list of when I read things. Maybe it was 2022. Anyway, it was late to the party. Yeah.
Danikka: So like, I think if you compare, so like, I think that, yeah, the two different-
Erin: Yeah, I agree.
Danikka: Books, there's the hardcore, it's being shoved at you type of hyped book. And then there's the readers are recommending it and then it became hyped. And then because it was getting hyped, marketing kind of picked up that hype and started pushing other books around that kind of genre. And then that's why it becomes hated. Like, so you get that it's like the two different approaches to the hype. And I don't know if like people would necessarily notice it if they were just like consumer reader. Like if you're just someone who walks into a bookshop to go and pick up a book that they want to read just because they're looking for something that people are recommending and you see Fourth Wing and ACOTAR on the shelf, you would probably pick them both up because you're like, oh yeah, I like romantic fantasy. I'm going to read them both.
Erin: Yeah.
Danikka: It would only be something you would notice if you're like us and you're completely immersed in the industry. And I don't think there's other-
Erin: Because they're the ones that they're being pushed to, I suppose.
Danikka: Exactly. Yeah. Exactly.
Erin: Although I do think it does cross over at some point though because my mum who is not, well, she reads romantic fantasy because I've forced it upon her. But she was like, oh, I saw some auhtor in the paper the other day that you had talked about. And I was like, oh, who? Who are you talking about? And it was Sarah J Maas, the House of Flame and Shadow.
Danikka: Yeah.
Erin: So I'm like, obviously, because that is like at the moment a very large book or I don't know if I would say the biggest book, it's pretty. Well, and I mean, that's- In both size and type, in both literal size and type.
Danikka: And I mean, it's crossed over for Sarah J Maas because her earlier books have become as hyped as what they have now. Her later books are becoming those marketing-pushed type hype books. And I actually, I started to read Crescent City, the first book, and I haven't finished reading them. Like I didn't get into them as much as what I got into ACOTAR because I think ACOTAR was more of like a love read because it did break that drought for me. I binge read through to ACOMAF. Like I loved the first four books and then it kind of dropped off for me and I've moved back into my other, I like more kind of epic fantasy type stuff.
Erin: Yeah, well, and Crescent City is not that. They're very different as far as where their worlds are, but I prefer an urban fantasy. So Crescent City is like right up my alley.
Danikka: Yeah.
Erin: Yeah, but I suppose if you ask people, especially at the moment with Flame and Shadow having just come out, a lot of people would be like, that book is not worth the hype. Lots of people would, well, pretty much. I don't know if I've seen anyone who has finished it now who is like, loved it. Five stars, like not one. And these are like people who have been obsessed with Sarah J Maas. Like they, you know, bow down to Sarah J Maas and they're just like, that was it. That was a miss. So I think that the other thing that comes into the hype book is how fast they're put out.
Danikka: Yeah.
Erin: Especially when they're part of a series and how potentially to put them out that fast, maybe things have been skimped on. Like how much editing they probably.
Danikka: I think we saw that with Iron Flame as well. The writing level definitely declined in Iron Flame versus Fourth Wing. Yeah. I think I agree with that as well. Especially because such a powerhouse writer as Sarah J Maas, like people may not agree with her writing. There's been a few problems pointed out with her writing and I agree with them, but like she has been writing for a long time. She's got a very strong following. So for people who love her books as much as they do to be disappointed in her writing and in a later book, like for a writer who's as practiced as what she is, to have people who've been following her for so long be disappointed in her writing goes to show how important editing is. And what being hungry to push books out because of the hype and because of the money they can make does to the quality of the product.
Erin: Yeah.
Danikka: And so where do you draw the line with that? Yeah.
Erin: Well, I recently saw someone on BookTok or Instagram or whatever talking about the fact that publishing is turning into like a fast fashion type thing. I don't know if it's quite, I don't know if it's super fair because like, I don't know. I get the analogy that they're kind of pushing stuff out, but I'm not going to throw out my books like I would a crap skirt from Kmart. You know,
Danikka: And I mean, there's always been elements of publishing like your paperbacks, the Mills and Boone. There's always been parts of publishing that have been considered like fast fashion, like even for a long time, like the YA genre as it exists today, wasn't a thing. And there was books for young people. There was like a name for them, but they like, basically, they would print them on this really thin paper. And then they were like, I can't remember because I can't remember words when I want them. But it was basically a term that was synonymous with being thrown away. So I think there's always going to be an element of publishing that's around that. And I think that's where eBooks in particular are really good because it does reduce waste in that way because people who, and fan fiction and things like that, people who want that quick dopamine fix, don't want to think too hard kind of reading, can get that kind of reading from the eBooks and things like that. But if you want something that's more highbrow, you want something that is higher quality and makes you think and that you want to read again and again and have on your shelf as like your book trophies, then that's when you read something that you really love and you purchase it and you keep it on your shelf and you forever and ever.
Erin: But it's not even just the waste specifically because it's that turn, it is back to that turnaround that even if you're reading it as an eBook, that book, like if you're reading Iron Flame as an eBook or Crescent City as an eBook, it's still been turned around at a like, it doesn't feel that fast because people finish the book before I'd be like, I need it now. But in how you would, how other like in the past books would have been released, like it's really quick. Iron Flame in particular came out like seven months after the first one, for a fantasy series that's ridiculously fast.
Danikka: I think that was a big mistake on their part because the next book isn't even written so it's going to be a very long wait between that point and they definitely should have staggered that out more.
Erin: I agree
Danikka: That's a massive marketing mistake on their part. So that is probably a poor example but yeah, I don't know how they're going to recover from that to be honest.
Erin: I just don't think. Yeah, because Rebecca Yarros has said that she's only just sort of started writing it. Like people are going to be frothing at the mouth by the time that thing comes out anyway. And imagine the hype when it finally comes in.
Danikka: Yeah.
Erin: But that also puts like quite a lot of pressure on her to then bang it out really fast and then get it into edits really fast.
Danikka: Exactly.
Erin: The pressure.
Danikka: I just feel like the quality is just not going to be there. Like yeah, it's just a shame.
Erin: Because she's not being able to just sit and marinate in it which is what we need sometimes. I just said to you that I've started my current one like three times. I think I've got it on the board. I tried, like sometimes you just kind of get to a point you're like, oh, this isn't working, I need to scrap it. But if you're being forced to a super tight deadline and you have fans screaming at you on social media, it's harder to make those decisions.
Danikka: I don't know. I wouldn't want to be in Rebecca's or Sarah's shoes. Like even though what they've got is what a lot of authors dream of, I would much rather fly under the radar.
Erin: Release my little books quietly. Yeah, yeah.
Danikka: But overall, like... I say I don't read hyped books, but I do read hyped books. But I just, I'm picky with which ones I pick up. Like I haven't read the Crescent City books and I probably won't read them. But I did read ACOTAR and I did read Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. I probably won't read the third one. I'll just let you recap it for me because I know you will.
Erin: I will have no choice. Yeah, I'm definitely harder on them when I'm reading them. But I think your point about the organically hyped versus the marketing hype is important. But then I guess in the time of BookTok and Bookstagram, sometimes maybe you don't quite know.
Danikka: It's hard to know, yeah.
Erin: That could potentially, depending on when it came out, could be quite a fine line.
Danikka: Yeah.
Erin: And it does come down to that, like you said at the start, not every book is for every person. Yeah. So there'd be a lot of books that get hype because people love them, but then there'd be a whole chunk of people who are like, no, absolutely not.
Danikka: I think at the end of the day, if a book sounds good to you, read it. But the curse of the hyped books is that they are probably never going to live up to the hype for everyone. There will be people who love them and there will be people that hate them. I think for me in particular as an editor, when I read hyped books, I'm reading them more likely as an editor because I'm reading it from a business perspective. How did it get so hyped? What are people loving about it? So, and then like you said, because they're so hyped, you read them more critically. And so, yeah, they're just, that's the curse that they have because they're hyped is that people are reading them a lot of times more critically.
Erin: Yeah.
Danikka: Yeah. I think, yeah, read what you want to read. No one's going to be, well, I mean, some people do judge you, but we're not going to be judging you. I want you to read and enjoy it.
Erin: If someone is judging you for what you read, you don't need to talk to them because that's not the energy that any of us need in our lives.
Danikka: Yeah, that's what the block button on social media is for. Bye.
Erin: Correct. And if you start your hyped book and you don't like your hyped book, then put it down and go get one that you do like.
Danikka: Yeah, exactly.
Erin: Because there are too many books to waste time on ones that are a drag.
Danikka: We have a limited number of books we can read in our life. We're not wasting them on ones we don't want to read.
Erin: Exactly. Like that's the takeaway from today's episode. You're welcome.
Danikka: That's our sermon for today.
Erin: That's it. We will now step down from our soapboxes and carry on with our day.
Danikka: And we'll exit without too many rambles.
Erin: Yeah, that was pretty succinct.
Danikka: Yeah.
Erin: As far as we've gone.
Danikka: Well, thanks so much for listening, everyone. And we'll see you in the next episode.
Erin: Bye.
Danikka: Thank you for listening to the Snailed It Podcast with Danikka and Erin, brought to you by Author's Own Publishing, the home of indie publishing. Don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts and follow us on Instagram at Author's Own Publishing.
Music brought to you by Mikel with more details in the show notes.
Episode Description
This week is all about hyped books. Can they ever live up to those expectations, or does going viral merely set a them up for a fall from their high pedestals? Join Danikka and Erin as they get into what creates a book’s hype, and whether or not they’re worth adding to your TBR or skipping altogether.
Brought to you by: Authors Own Publishing, Danikka Taylor, and Erin Thomson.
Danikka’s Details:
Website: www.authorsownpublishing.com
Instagram: @danikkataylor or @authorsownpublishing
Erin’s Details:
Website: www.erinthomsonauthor.com
Instagram: @authorerinthomson
Intro & Outro Music by Mikel & GameChops. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of Authors Own Publishing. Thanks for Listening!
