The Era of Celebrity Bookselling

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The Colbert Bump helped propel Edan Lepucki‘s California to the third spot on the New York Times bestseller list. Lena Dunham’s endorsement helped sell Adelle Waldman‘s The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. Celebrity and celebrity endorsements have long played a role in moving products. Jason Diamond, writing over at Flavorwire, explains that today’s endorsements go beyond Oprah’s Book Club:

Things are different these days. Celebrities (or their publicists or assistants) can knock out book suggestions and get them out to their countless fans with the click of a button. One perfect example, who we’ve talked about more than enough around these parts, is James Franco. You know James Franco: you know everything he does, everything he claims to do, and basically everything else about the James Franco Complete Package.

Ian MacAllen is the author of Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2022). His writing has appeared in Chicago Review of Books, Southern Review of Books, The Offing, 45th Parallel Magazine, Little Fiction, Vol 1. Brooklyn, and elsewhere. He tweets @IanMacAllen and is online at IanMacAllen.com. More from this author →