Sure there are common cases about authors and editors arguing over content which had been edited out, however the story I am about to tell is something completely different. We have all heard the cliche "Don't judge a book by it's cover", which is generally good advice. Some of the best books I have ever read have really boring and plain covers. Most avid readers would most likely agree. However very recently Barnes and Noble decided to go against this commonly shared philosophy.
Wendy Walker recently released her second novel "Social Lives", only to discover that Barnes and Noble was not going to carry the book as originally intended. It all started with a dispute over the cover art. The very original copy of the cover art was very simple, modest, and depicted a scene from within the book. However her editor felt that it was not interesting enough, so Wendy was presented with a new alternative to the cover. The new cover features a young woman dressed very provocatively with her lips seductively open as if she was about to orally service a man. When presented with this cover Ms. Walker being an advocate of woman's rights was deeply offended. She immediately demanded the cover be changed.
At this point in time Barnes and Noble already had agreed to order several thousand copies of the book for their stores based on her last novel, a description of the new book, and of course the cover. However when the cover was changed, they decided to cancel their order. Though the books does deal with scandalous topics within the lifestyles of suburban america, the point of the book is to deal with social issues and taboos within the scene. The book is not intended to be chicklit in anyway, and is actually quite dark in its content. The new cover which is only slightly less provocative must have made Barnes and Noble feel as if the title could not sell without a sexy title.
So this brings up the question... does Barnes and Noble support the degradation of women to help sell books? There has not been any official comment made by Barnes and Noble, however my guess is that once more stories and press are on this topic, that they will flat out deny such claims. After all it's bad for business to admit your company is sexist. Currently there are a few news sources writing articles about this story, and this blog is intended to keep up to date with the events as it unfolds.
"Social Lives" is available at Borders, Amazon.com, and at most local book retailers.
