Teen Fan Frenzy
Shannon Maughan -- 3/30/98
The ubiquitous Spice Girls aside, the entertainment world -- including book publishing -- is feeling the effects of Girl Power like never before. A baby-boom echo has produced unprecedented numbers of teen and preteen girls who have distinct tastes to express and, in light of a strong economy, money to spend. Girls are fueling box-office receipts -- witness the worldwide blockbuster Titanic, to which girls have been flocking for repeat viewings -- as well as sales of music, books and a new crop of magazines created just for them (Twist, Jump and Teen People among them). Their loyal fan support has been a major factor in the meteoric rise of film star Leonardo DiCaprio (of Romeo &Juliet and Titanic fame) and pop music groups like Hanson, the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls.
This kind of frenzy is not new. From Frank Sinatra to Elvis, from the Beatles to Shaun Cassidy and the New Kids on the Block, teenage girls have traditionally worshipped pop culture idols. But as today's executives and decision makers realize the potential buying power of this coveted young audience, the tastes of teenage girls have begun to strongly influence television programming, movie projects and retail merchandise.
The publishing world has been particularly responsive, releasing a slew of celebrity biographies that have sold a staggering number of copies: combined in-print figures for Dell's Leonardo DiCaprio: Modern-Day Romeo and Leonardo: A Scrapbook in Words and Pictures have topped 1.2 million copies, the latter reaching an in-print figure of 500,000 since its release February 2. Pocket Books has published five Archway paperbacks on the brothers Hanson since September 1997, including Hanson: MMMBop to the Top: An Unauthorized Biography and Taylor Hanson: Totally Taylor! Together the five books boast more than two million copies in print. Scholastic has also joined the fray with its Hanson: An Unauthorized Biography, with sales of 785,000 copies to date; Totally Taylor!: Hanson's Heartthrob, with 335,000 copies; and Zac Attack!: Hanson's Little Brother, with 125,000 copies. And Watson-Guptill has done very well with Hanson: The Official Book, which has 250,000 copies in print.
With such impressive performances, these books have been leaping onto bestseller lists around the country. Several publishers have similar books waiting in the wings, but how long can they ride the wave? And more importantly, how do publishers pick a hit?
Spotting the Trends
Nancy Pines, v-p and publisher of Pocket's Archway and Minstrel imprints, commented that she and her staff are particularly in-tune with teen trends. "We subscribe to a bazillion magazines, we surf the Net, we watch a lot of TV. And all those movies that girls are thronging to, we're there too, sitting behind them," she said.
Pines said that research is sometimes as simple as tallying the frequency of magazine coverage ("They wouldn't put Leo on so many covers if he didn't sell magazines," she pointed out), talking to kids and listening to staff input. "Some of our staff is quite young," Pines said. "People who are really interested in these kinds of things want to work here."
Beverly Horowitz, deputy publisher and editor-in-chief of BDD Books for Young Readers, ech s much of Pines's research philosophy. "Trend spotting is having your antennae up, your eyes open," she said. "You get a whiff of something and instinctively you follow it. Sometimes it's a dead end, sometimes it's a mistake and sometimes it's a bonanza."
Horowitz explained the decision to publish Modern-Day Romeo as part academic and part gut reaction. "We knew, obviously, that Romeo and Juliet was a play that many teens studied in school and that a modern interpretation would probably be welcome. And when the Romeo and Juliet film was scheduled for release in February 1997, Claire Danes [Juliet] was already hot and Leo [DiCaprio, as Romeo] was a young rising actor. There seemed to be something about him as a personality.
Both Pines and Horowitz were able to strike while the celebrity irons were hottest. MMMBop to the Top, which came out last August, was the first book on the Hanson brothers to appear on bookstore shelves. And because Modern-Day Romeo pubbed a good 10 months prior to the Titanic/DiCaprio hoopla, Horowitz said BDD could proudly claim, "You know that guy who's making a big splash? We already have a book out on him."
Scholastic was first out of the gate with a biography of pop-folk singer Jewel last month, while Pocket plans to follow with a Jewel book in September. And HarperActive, a new imprint at HarperCollins Children's Books, was earliest with its book on the Backstreet Boys. It appears that BDD and Archway will be running nearly neck-and-neck to release books on the hot new WB television series Dawson's Creek about four teens struggling with high school, puberty and relationships. The show first aired in January and is now the network's top show and a major draw for 12- to 17-year-old girls. Pocket Books is an official licensee for the show and will release The Beginning of Everything Else, a novelization with a special section on the actors, in early April. BDD's unauthorized biography, Meet the Stars of Dawson's Creek, hits stores May 4. Scholastic also has a Dawson's Creek book on the way.
But among these emerging personalities, DiCaprio still shines brightest. Archway's DiCaprio biography went on sale this month and has already hit the New York Times list. Lovin' Leo is the soon-to-be released DiCaprio bio from Scholastic; Andrews McMeel will launch Leonardo DiCaprio: Romantic Hero in April; and The Leonardo DiCaprio Album from British publisher Plexus, available through PGW, has just hit U.S. shores.
It's no surprise that booksellers are more than willing to get behind these popular titles. "They are flying out of the stores," said Bob Wietrack, v-p of merchandising for Barnes &Noble. "We feature them face-out and on endcaps. As soon as we put them out the girls buy them. Every single one of the Hanson and DiCaprio bios is in our top 20."
While the publicity generated by films and other media draws attention to the books, Pines noted that Archway and Pocket have taken part in radio station and movie theater giveaways. And both Pocket and BDD have succeeded with print ads in such teen publications as YM, Seventeen and Tiger Beat.
It's a Girl Thing
According to Pines, there is a definite gender difference that tends to make girls the more likely buyers of celebrity books. "Girls share information constantly," Pines said. "It's the nature of female interaction that is helping fuel this fire." Horowitz concurs. "Girls want to know more about a celebrity -- his likes, his dislikes. Readers and non-readers alike are buying these books. And in comparison to a movie ticket, a book is a good investment."
Publishers unanimously agree, however, that celebrity bios with female subjects never work out as well. As a case in point, Aladdin's book on the wildly popular Spice Girls, All About the Spice Girls and Me, which came out last November, has 65,000 copies in print -- a respectable figure, but one that pales in comparison to the titles on male subjects. Another reason publishers are reluctant to take on biographies of female celebrities is that while boys may harbor celebrity crushes just as intense as those of the girls, boys are less likely to discuss it or buy a book about it.
Parents have also been supportive of the book-buying wave. "Titanic was a love story, and that 'perfect boyfriend' idea sells. Parents like that kind of star," said B&N's Wietrack. The blond Hanson brothers have an equally wholesome, non-threatening image. In addition, today's teens are "children of a generation where parents give their kids more stuff -- and where there is more stuff to give," Pines commented.
What lessons can publishers glean from this whirlwind? Horowitz believes that teenage girls have always been around as a potential market; it's an audience that is now showing its preferences. Of the recent phenomenon, Horowitz noted, "This tells us, if we can catch kids' attention, they are there and are willing to be interested in book form. We're trying to apply that 'je ne sais quoi' to our books to create the kind of attention that other industries do. We know how to catch the trends; we have to learn how to start them."
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