Simon & Schuster is distributing an e-mail to journalists asking them to refrain from commenting on an anonymously written novel about President Obama. Michael Calderone, writing for Yahoo! blog "Cutline," actually writes, "It's not clear what prompted the publisher to ask journalists not to comment on a book they have nothing to do with."
Really? It's not clear at all, Michael? Is this the one blogger in the world -- screw it, the universe --whose dictionary lacks the word "publicity?"
I love reading and pay a fair amount of attention to the publishing world, and I had no idea this book existed until Calderone started straining his brain cells over why a publishing company would want to draw attention to one of its titles. So, score one for Simon & Schuster's marketing department. As for Calderone: might I suggest enlisting the aid of one Sherlock Holmes? He's at 221B Baker Street.
