Prev | Current Page 142 | Next

Bok, Edward William, 1863-1930

"A Dutch Boy Fifty Years After"

His attitude was in such
sharp contrast to that of others who came almost daily into the office
to see what the papers said, often causing discomfiture to the young
advertising director by insisting upon taking the notices with them.
But Bok always countered this desire by reminding the author that, of
course, in that case he could not quote from these desirable notices in
his advertisements of the book. And, invariably, the notices were left
behind!
It now fell to the lot of the young advertiser to arouse the interest
of the public in what were to be some of the most widely read and
best-known books of the day: Robert Louis Stevenson's _Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde_; Frances Hodgson Burnett's _Little Lord Fauntleroy_; Andrew
Carnegie's _Triumphant Democracy_; Frank R. Stockton's _The Lady, or
the Tiger?_ and his _Rudder Grange_, and a succession of other books.
The advertising of these books keenly sharpened the publicity sense of
the developing advertising director. One book could best be advertised
by the conventional means of the display advertisement; another, like
_Triumphant Democracy_, was best served by sending out to the
newspapers a "broadside" of pungent extracts; public curiosity in a
story like _The Lady, or the Tiger?_ was, of course, whetted by the
publication of literary notes as to the real denouement the author had
in mind in writing the story.


Pages:
130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154