DaCapo Embraces Metrosexuality

The Zeitgeist cycle spins ever faster. On June 22, 2003, the Style section of the New York Times ran an article about well-coifed and -moisturized straight men that memorably dubbed them "metrosexuals." Within weeks the word had entered the national vocabulary, appearing everywhere from the Washington Post to abcnews.com. In October, metrosexuality was the subject of a South Park episode on Comedy Central. And by the end of 2003, the Word Spy (www.wordspy.com) had named "metrosexual" the word of the year.

Meanwhile, the day after that fateful Times article appeared, Da Capo executive editor Marnie Cochran received a proposal for The Metrosexual Guide to Style: A Handbook for the Modern Man by Michael Flocker. She knew she had to act fast. Said Cochran, "We bought it Tuesday, met with the author on Wednesday and he delivered the manuscript the following Monday." By September 30, the $12.95 trade paperback had shipped to stores. As the book began to garner mentions in USA Today, Entertainment Weekly and People magazine, Da Capo distributed 200,000 coasters to bars in seven major cities, in a clever marketing campaign.

The results? The number of copies in print has just topped 100,000, and the title has hit the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and New York Times (How-To, Advice and Misc.) bestseller lists, among others. At the Golden Globe Awards ceremony on January 25, a copy will be included in each "goody bag."

"Metrosexual is the trendy idea of the moment," said K.C. Parker, assistant buyer for the 57-store Urban +Outfitters chain, which quickly sold through its original order of 3,300 copies and reordered more.

Trends cool, though, which is why Da Capo published the book so quickly. "You never know how long this word will be in vogue," said Cochran, noting that "crashing the book gave us a real leg up on the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy book [coming from Clarkson Potter in February]."

But Da Capo may have the Queer Eye cable show to thank, at least in part, for the success of The Metrosexual Guide, according to Barnes & Noble buyer Edward Ash-Milby. "Traditionally, books featuring men's fashion, style and grooming have done poorly, but with the attention paid to those things by Queer Eye, we're seeing some new sales in this category."

With its stylish blue cover, The Metrosexual Guide recalls The Hipster Handbook by Robert Lanham Lanham (Anchor, Feb. 2003). Though that title was launched with an equally impassioned marketing campaign—not to mention a considerably lower price at $9.95—it was a more modest success, with sales of 40,000 copies in nearly a year.

One reason may be that no true hipster would be caught dead buying even a tongue-in-cheek "handbook." But the larger success of The Metrosexual Guide may also have something to do with how booksellers categorized the two titles. In Borders stores and elsewhere, The Hipster Handbook was shelved under humor, while The Metrosexual Guide was classified as fashion/style.

Then again, it might be a mistake to underestimate the power of a bon mot. As Urban Outfitters' Parker explained, " 'Metrosexual' is just way more current than 'hipster.' "