[Cowboy Bob]

The article said that the book sold a wopping 1,500 copies and was a “hit.” To me 1,500 copies is a failure. Methinks that Rawlings came out with the announcement to help rescue this bomb.

[RobertClark]

The article said that the book sold a wopping 1,500 copies and was a “hit.” To me 1,500 copies is a failure. Methinks that Rawlings came out with the announcement to help rescue this bomb.

BINGO!!!

[irishjuggler]

The article said that the book sold a wopping 1,500 copies and was a “hit.” To me 1,500 copies is a failure. Methinks that Rawlings came out with the announcement to help rescue this bomb.

Bingo. I was thinking along the same lines. It may have played out like this... Rowling, out to prove that she's not coasting on her name, demands that her publisher put out the novel under a pen name. Rowling, for reasons of ego, convinces her publisher and herself that her writing is so great that it will sell itself on its own merits. The publisher humors her and agrees to the plan. The book has abysmal sales, and now it's time for Plan B.

[discostu]

They didn’t say it was a hit, they said it was low selling but highly praised. Now it’s a hit though, Amazon has it in their top 100.

[Drew68]

The article said that the book sold a wopping 1,500 copies and was a “hit.” To me 1,500 copies is a failure. Methinks that Rawlings came out with the announcement to help rescue this bomb.

Rowling has more money than the Queen of England. I don't think she's too concerned with lagging book sales. And it sounds like she had every intention of coming clean at some point in the future at which point sales would've skyrocketed.

I'm guessing she chose to write under a pseudonym because it sounds like this isn't a book geared towards kids and she didn't want a bunch of young readers snapping it up (or adults avoiding it) because her name was attached to it. And writing as a male isn't really unusual. Lots of writers swap genders when writing under a pseudonym.

[apocalypto]

I agree. This sudden “exposure” was to increase sales.

[Oztrich Boy]

The article said that the book sold a wopping 1,500 copies and was a “hit.” To me 1,500 copies is a failure

So you stick with reading "50 Shades of Grey" if that is your thing.