IAMTW Member Karen Traviss’ REVELATION, a STAR WARS tie-in, is number one on both the New York Times and the Publishers Weekly mass market paperback bestseller lists. Another tie-in, TOM CLANCY’S ENDWAR by David Michaels (a pseudonym for an IAMTW member) is number nine on the PW list and number ten on the NYT list. Congratulations to them both! This just goes to show that critics may scoff at TV and movie tie-ins, but the public loves them.
“This just goes to show that critics may scoff at TV and movie tie-ins, but the public loves them.
So what? Popularity doesn’t necessarily prove quality. Transformers made more money at the box office than Orson Welles’ entire filmic oevre. That doesn’t make Transformers a great film.
You are often quite incisive when analyzing vanity press schemes and the whole fan fiction morass. Too bad your critical instincts desert you here.
Lee didn’t say the tie-ins were great, Peter. He didn’t talk about the quality of the writing at all. Read his post again. What he said was that readers love them even if the critics don’t. Why else would they be on the bestseller list? I didn’t like “Transformers” but clearly a lot of people did, which is why it made over $100 million. Was it good? No. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is what the audience wants. They sure as hell wanted to see it more than “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” or “No Country for Old Men.” So, yes, Lee is right, readers love tie-ins. You’re wrong. Facts are facts. What I find interesting is what you read into Lee’s comments and what it reveals about you. Why do you think tie-ins are shit?