Book Adverts—Non-Fiction

For John, BLUF:  I complain about book advertisements.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

Yesterday I was reading The New York Times Book Review (a couple of interesting books) and on page 2 was an advertisement for Secrets From the Past, by Barbara Taylor Bradford.  As such advertisements go, it was better than most, but it was pretty sparse on giving us a sense of what the book is about.  Alternate hypothesis is that I just don't have a very good imagination.  From the Advertisement:

After the unexpected death of her father, American photojournalist Serena stone embarks on a quest to write his biography.  From war-torn Libya to the romantic ambience of Venice, Serena discovers a shocking family secret—and is drawn back into the life of the ony man she ever loved.

"War-torn Libya"?  Which war?  WWII?  Was he Italian?  War the war the recent overthrow of Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution, Muammar Gaddafi (I remember when Colonel Gaddafi overthrew King Idris)?

From Amazon we have this Book Description:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a powerful and emotional novel about one woman’s quest to uncover long-buried secrets about her family—secrets she will stop at nothing to uncover, no matter the consequences.  At thirty, American photojournalist Serena Stone has already made a name for herself with her unique and dramatic coverage of wars in the Middle East, following in her famous father’s footsteps.  But after his unexpected death in France, she ends her job at the renowned photo news agency, weary of years of danger.  Leaving the front lines behind, Serena returns to New York where she starts work on a biography of her celebrated father.  When Serena discovers that her former lover Zachary North is in trouble overseas, she's forced to leave the safety of her new life, and head back to a place she was trying to escape...and her life will never be the same again.  As she brings Zac back to health in Venice, she discovers a shocking secret in the archives of her late father’s work.  It is a secret that will propel her back to war-torn Libya, risking her life looking for clues that she hopes will piece together the mystery surrounding her parents’ marriage and the part of their life together that she never knew.

Well-kept secrets, passionate love, obsession, betrayal, redemption, and the power of the past to control the future propel Secrets from the Past, the explosive new novel from The New York Times bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford

For me that Amazon offering is a much better description and one more likely to draw me into the story.

Most adverts in publications like The New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books and The New Yorker tend to be puff pieces with references to this or that person or publication praising the new offering.  I am sure that book publishers have tested these approaches and find them to be the most productive available (Amazon excepted).  My alternate theory is that this is some sort of payola scheme that works for the book publishers and the magazine publishers.

What it doesn't do it work for me.

Regards  —  Cliff