Hitmakers

Hitmakers (2004) Post 378

Hitmakers has ties with another of my books; The Ducktators. In this one, Flip Chase's sensible friend Berry and her hapless cousin Aidan try to untangle what they think is an advertising conspiracy. It starts when Cousin Tyla, whom Berry and Aidan are babysitting, asks a simple question and the pair find themselves realising it can't be answered. Berry begins making a list of questions. How can a book be a 'best seller' when it's only just released? How can anyone forecast Misty Ice's brand new single will be a top seller when it was released today? How can 'everyone' be wearing the new Pitchdark fashion range 'this autumn' when it's still summer? More and more questions offer themselves, and as Berry slowly puts together the truth, she makes a groundbreaking discovery about popularity and advertising. No one knows what's going on, and even if you tell them they don't... care.

I'm really fond of this book. It's one of just a few I've written over the years in a fit of annoyance or indignation or pure puzzlement. In this story, some of the things Berry and Aidan ask are things I wanted to know. Berry's experience with having her letter to the paper printed and so abridged the whole point was left out is based on something that happened to me. Thirteen years later, CDs may be out-dated and TV shows have moved on, but the questions remain... 

ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books, so the blog will continue for at least the next month or so.