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Sticker shock

Author complains may be one of the few things less newsworthy than “Dog bites man,” but UK novelist Sarah Durant is fairly justified in grousing about the treatment of her latest novel, In the Company of the Courtesan, at the hands of some London bookstores. In the Guardian, Durant writes about going to sign copies of the book, only to find the cover defaced by large, bright sale stickers. And, as it turned out, signing the books only made things worse:

“It is only as I give the first book back to the woman at the counter that the whole appalling truth dawns on me. In her hands is a roll of hefty square blue stickers, with the words ‘Signed by the author.’ Another tried and true marketing device. But where exactly is it going to go? I watch in muted slow-motion horror as her hand comes down over the last half of the title. On the desk there is a book which now reads: ‘In the Company of the Co . . . Signed by the author: £12.99 RRP. £3.00 off.’ Of the courtesan word or image, there is no trace.”

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Read Sarah Durant’s whinging in the Guardian

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