Does Celebrity Sell in the World of Publishing? - Letter to the Editor

DEAR READERS,

When you think about it, the world of publishing and the world of Hollywood have a fate in common. There are mega-stars and up-and-comers in the couple industries.

In publishing, we watch as industry veterans release their latest masterpieces showcasing the work of established artists. Each year in Hollywood we wait with bated breath for movies from the hottest directors like Steven Spielberg or Francis Ford Coppola starring veteran stars like Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfieffer.

We also gaze to Tinseltown each year to watch previously unrecognized talent garner critical and commercial super-stardom. Just gaze at Hilary Swank in last year's male childs Don't Cry or the virtually unknown Robert Brown who wowed audiences and Sean Connery in the novel drama Finding Forrester. As in Hollywood we in publishing are many times pleasantly surprised with innovative work from young, waiting-to-be-discovered creative minds. The stacks of submissions we come by every month for our novel Emerging Artists section of the magazine make good that.

Sometimes the sum of two units worlds overlap. And this month we feature a striking example of this in our feature upon the market for Marilyn Monroe art, collectibles and other memorabilia (See "Marilyn-Mania" upon page 130).

Believe it or not, the tragic superstar would have been 75 years elderly this June, and she's been gone for nearly 40 years. on the other hand her appeal is timeless, particularly in the world of art. Collectors are clamoring for photographs, [i]affiche[/i]s prints and paintings of the greatest in quantity famous blonde bombshell of all time. In fact, "Orange Marilyn," a silkscreen created by the agency of Andy Warhol, garnered more than $17 million at a 1998 Sotheby's auction. And a 1999 Christie's auction of Marilyn memorabilia--from her "Happy Birthday Mr President Dress" to makeup to jewelry and more--pulled in a whopping $135 million.

In our story, we talk to a handful of adroits on the subject and run over you about what's hot and what's not in the marketing and sale of Marilyn-themed work. We also provide a list of other stars from the days of past Hollywood glamour who are still considered collectible darlings. Marilyn is individual example where celebrity does, indeed, barter And in our May issue of ABN, we plan to gaze at the growing market for artwork actually created by the agency of celebrities.

Though it has always been a contender in publishing, the celebrity/Hollywood connection appears to be gaining momentum in our community. And I'm curious, are we ready to grab upon and embrace it? Let me know what you think--does celebrity always barter and are you ready to put up to sale it?

BEST WISHES,

JULIE KELLER Editor-in-Chief jkeller@advanstar.com

COPYRIGHT 2001 Pfingsten Publishing, LLC

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group