Literary
Hub recently ran a piece that highlighted the number of masterpieces that were
penned based on the birth state of an author. Such studies are interesting, but
really useless. Here’s why:
1.
If
the list is compiled based on birth state and not whether one lived there while
penning the book or even if he or she spent a significant amount of time then this is kind of meaningless.
2.
The
list was compiled only for fiction and poetry – not non-fiction. It’s incomplete.
3.
It
only tabulated how many authors won any of three prizes deemed ‘most
prestigious’ by the article’s writer:
the Pulitzer, National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle
Award. Is that really the most accurate
way to judge if something is a literary masterpiece?
4.
It
failed to take into consideration that each state’s population should be measured
into this ranking, though there were some surprises. For instance, Texas, now the second largest
state by population, only has seven awards, while a small state like Mississippi
garnered 11. New York, with the most at
71, more than doubled the nearest state, California, which has a population
twice that of New York.
The
state with the fewest award-winning masterpieces? Delaware, with just one! Wisconsin, West Virginia, Washington, Oregon,
Arkansas, and Nebraska were right behind with just two apiece. Just 10 states cracked double digits, and
mind you that some authors or books won more than one award, which means many states produced few great writers.
Since
I’m from New York, born and raised there, I will note some of the biggest names
to make the list from the Empire State:
Edith Wharton, Bernard Malamud, E.L. Doctorow, William Kennedy, Louise
Gluck, and Joyce Carol Oates.
These
awards only go back about a century so they don’t reflect older books. Some of our most revered writers were born
overseas – Dickens, Austen, Orwell, Shakespeare, etc.
I
would have been interested in seeing a study, if possible, of how many books take
place in a certain state or city. I
would also like to see how many books that achieved best-seller status and
placed high at a bigger slate of awards were written by those who lived in a
state at the time the book was written.
I
think few would argue that New York is the literary capital of the nation, no
matter how you measure things.
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
How authors get their book marketing
mojo – and avoid failure
Authors
cannot succeed without the right attitude
So what
is needed to be a champion book marketer?
Should
You Promote Your Book By Yourself?
The Book Marketing Strategies Of
Best-Sellers
How authors can sell more books
No. 1 Book Publicity Resource: 2019
Toolkit For Authors -- FREE
Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative
opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone
and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him
on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels
much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2019. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His
writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.
This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the
top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best
resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.