Hodder & Stoughton (a publisher that is part of Hachette UK) are offering a free workbook with pre-orders of The Third Perspective by Africa Brooke. I could find exactly nothing at all to say what would be in that workbook.
While you can preorder here (T&Cs apply) Hodder’s news feed fails to actually say what the book is about. A cursory Google suggests it might be Africa Brooke’s first book. A look at the picture, confirms it is her first. Sadly, I am otherwise unaware of Africa other than the continent of the same name.
Waterstones had a bit of a description which sounded like The Third Perspective is a fresh perspective on interpersonal relationships. This leads me to guess that the workbook is some sort of journaling prompt thing based on the book in question. One assumes that Africa Brooke is in some way authoritative on the subject but then again… Who knows. Not I. (Yet.)
One day publishers will give us enough information to write an interesting article about book releases. Come on Hodder, is a basic press kit too much to ask?
I googled Africa’s name and found out exactly why this first book was getting a wet Wednesday of a promotion (as opposed to the usual nothing at all). Africa Brooke has an Instagram account with over 279,000 followers.
Hodder smells fat payday. This is why platform building matters. Platforms close book deals.
- Is this book any good? I can’t tell you.
- Is Africa Brooke an expert on relationships? I’m not sure but she’s an influencer and that’s worth money.
- Could Hodder have done a better job? Yes, they could but they are already miles ahead of other publishers so there’s not exactly a lot of competition.
While I might not know Africa Brooke, those follower numbers prove that people value what she has to say. Social proof that The Third Perspective will most likely be a quality offering.
Even though I am not in the right orbit to hear about this book, Hodder’s headline put it in front of me just as I was looking for something to write about. The lesson here is that a half-arsed headline from a publisher is so rare that I am willing to make about as much effort as it took to write this. Were all publishers sending out top-quality headlines this would have been a miss. The publishing industry needs to do better. Fortunately, this may work to Africa Brooke’s advantage. When your publisher vaguely gets it and the others don’t that’s a win.
I wish Africa all the best with her book launch. That’s a mighty powerful platform which will sell more than a few books. If relationships and journaling are your bag, you might want to check the book offer out. 279,000 other people seem interested.
I will almost certainly report more news from the direction of Hodder as they know how to share headlines properly. I might even try to be less sarcastic. No promises on that front.
If you follow Africa Brooke or know of her, perhaps you can say something positive or interesting in the comments. I’d love to know more about the book and its author which is a weakness Hodder needs to work on but perhaps you can help me with?
TL;DR: An influencer has a book coming out; there is a pre-order bonus; get it while you can.
Bonus nerdy bit: If you want to chuckle at Hodder’s lack of SEO skills, this is the URL for the form from the feed: https://hachettebookgroup.formstack.com/forms/template_form_to_copy__newsletter_sign_up__copy_copy_1_copy_copy_1_copy_copy_copy_copy_copy_2_copy_2_copy – I don’t even know where to begin. The Google result on the right site looks better and has better SEO: https://www.hodder.co.uk/books/2024/03/01/pre-order-the-third-persepctive-and-receive-an-exclusive-companion-workbook/