Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | Diary: May 8
An interesting report about the way Penguin are targeting the paperback of Doing It by Melvin Burgess at young men in their twenties rather than teenagers, following feedback from focus groups that male readers "wouldn't have read it at 15, but now, at 24, there was an embarrassing recognition factor."
Doing It has received a big marketing makeover. The cover, which used to feature a condom bearing the words "Doing It", is now a sexy picture of a young girl slipping off her underwear. The advance copy promises a "major advertising campaign in lads' mags, on national radio and in clubs and bars across the country". [Publishing director, Tony] Lacey is pleased with advance response; the first print run is 28,000 copies, all destined for the adult sections of book stores. The book has acquired a subtitle: "Do you remember the first time?" - and Fine is quoted on the back: "Filth, whichever way you look at it."
Is it just me, or do the legs on this cover look either dangerously pre-teen or anorexic?
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