Author Spam from John Podhoretz: Can It Be Stopped?
We gets lots of author spam around here, usually from authors of self-published conspiracy-theory books. But we weren't cool enough to get spammed by John Podhoretz, whose new book on Hillary comes out tomorrow. Apparently Podhoretz is spamming prominent journalists and opinion leaders, here in D.C. and elsewhere -- to snickering from some of them, of the "FW: !!!" variety. (Some might call this mockery; but Random House calls it a "viral marketing campaign.")
Podhoretz's author spam includes this plug for his book:
I think it's full of surprising and unexpected observations and insights. I tried to make it a fun and fast read, and at least one early critic -- Matt Drudge at the Drudge Report -- described Can She Be Stopped? as "provocative" and "explosive" in a special report on the book last week.
Who needs a starred review from Publishers Weekly, once you've gotten a "flashing siren" review from Drudge?
After the jump, the full message from jPod, in all of its spammy glory.
Here's the email. We've omitted the links to the Random House web page, 'coz we don't know want to encourage author spam.
From: John Podhoretz
Sent: Mon 5/8/2006 16:33
To: [Name Deleted]
Subject: My new book
I hope you'll forgive the impersonal nature of this e-mail, but I wanted to let you and a bunch of other people know today that my new book, Can She Be Stopped?, is coming out tomorrow. I really hope you'll consider clicking on the link here or elsewhere in this e-mail and buy yourself a copy.
You've probably figured out from the title alone that the subject of the book is Hillary Clinton's presidential ambition. It's my contention that conservatives and Republicans are kidding themselves if they think Hillary can't win. Not only can she win in 2008, she will win--unless conservatives and Republicans get a hold of themselves and start thinking clearly about how to prevent it from happening. I describe her surprising strengths as a candidate, offer my analysis of the grave weaknesses besetting both parties, and then propose a 10-point plan for stopping the Hillary juggernaut in its tracks.
I think it's full of surprising and unexpected observations and insights. I tried to make it a fun and fast read, and at least one early critic--Matt Drudge at the Drudge Report--described Can She Be Stopped? as "provocative" and "explosive" in a special report on the book last week.
If I've done my job right, Can She Be Stopped? will scare you, enlighten you and inspire you. So why not give it a shot?
Thanks--
John