People in Glass Houses...

The words might have more weight if they came from other than Faye Weldon, author of that notoriously commercial work, The Bulgari Connection.

A terrible sense of inconsequence hangs over publishing houses. From outside it seems as if they act on whim. The culture of the group prevails; individual decision is discouraged, committee rules apply. It can be thumbs down for some splendid book on an unfashionable theme -- babies were in last year, not now -- or if the author is not photogenic, or is too posh, or for a variety of reasons which weigh heavily with marketing people.

In a piece in the London Times that originally appeared in a slightly different form in the Royal Society of Literature Review, Weldon posits that wildly successful works of literature -- like those written by J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown -- are killing creativity.

“Bestseller” betokens artistic success. It is the publishers’ ultimate accolade. If enough others like it, the suggestion is, so will you.

Scott Pack, commercial director of the Friday Project replies:

A good book is a good book no matter what the genre or how many copies it sells. And a bad book remains bad, whatever the pedigree of the author or how many critics fall over each other to praise it. Quality is not always in inverse proportion to the number of copies sold.

Both pieces are here.