This FOXNEWS.com headline blames bad publicity around Madonna's adoption of a Malawian child for poor sales of her new book, The English Roses: Too Good To Be True. I think the bad publicity regarding the following passage said to come from the book might have had something to do with it:
"If you haven't heard of the English Roses by now then you are either: a) living under a rock, b) living on the moon, c) away with the fairies. If you fit the description of a, b, or c, then I am happy to clue you in to what the rest of the world already knows."
I'm not touching the baby fiasco, but I feel pretty comfortable saying that arrogance is unforgivable.
Wait. That was probably an arrogant thing to say.
Let's put it another way. Arrogance is a major turnoff, anyway, but particularly in a writer. Readers read to connect with writers. Not that many people want to bathe themselves in others' arrogance. An arrogant attitude doesn't make people want to run out and put down their cold, hard cash to buy your books. It doesn't even encourage curiousity, which is the big factor that celebrity authors have going for them.
Okay, the lines from Madonna's book may have been taken out of context. Maybe she meant something totally different and nonarrogant. But once they were lifted and quoted, some serious damage was done.
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