Editing/Publicity Pshaw! Let’s Talk Crime Wave!

Justine, never one to shy away from the Big Questions in Life, asks:

If you could only choose one which would you choose: the publishing house with a wonderful editor who brings out the best in you, or the house with fabulous publicity, marketing and sales departments?

And then the opinions pour in. From editors, some of whom said “publicity,” having felt the sting of editing wonderful books that died on the vine; from writers who longed for that genius revision letter, and others.

Best quote in the discussion was from Doselle Young, who said:

If you want great publicity, just leave copies of your book at the scenes of violent crimes with your key passages of sex and violence underlined. That’ll pretty much always work.

As a conspiracy theorist by trade, I must say, I adore this idea. If only I weren’t so adverse to hanging out with serial killers (except for maybe Sylar. I don’t have special powers to entice him to eat my brains, and he’s so cute).

So, let’s play a game. Say you are going to leave a copy of Secret Society Girl at the scene of a crime. What kind of crime would you choose? What key passages would you underline as potential clues for the media to pounce upon?

I’m thinking a probably a museum heist of some sort. And probably the bit on page 133 about what kind of stuff Rose & Grave has hidden in their tombs.

Anyone else have an idea? Best entry wins a prize, TBD by Sailor Boy. Leave your comments here.