A tip for C. Max Magee of The Millions led us to a post from a Philadelphia blogger named Season Evans, who’s found what looks an awful lot to her like market research disguised as adult education, in the form of a course at Temple University’s Center City campus called “A Sneak Peek at Next Year’s Bestsellers.” According to the course description, students will read “special advance copies” of “five forthcoming novels from major publishers,” then “critique each book and predict what readers and critics will say when the books are actually published.” For pre-release access to these galleys, students pay $95—which is admittedly less than you’d pay for five hardcover novels in most bookstores.
I contacted course instructor Lynn Rosen, an author who has also worked as an editor, a literary agent, and a Barnes & Noble community relations manager, for more information. “The idea for the class came out of my experience as a twenty-plus year book publishing industry professional,” Rosen explained, adding that the course description I’d seen online was for a second go-round—she actually broke the concept in earlier this summer with novels by Ann Packer, Dalia Sofer, Andrea Barrett, David Leavitt, and Andromeda Romano-Lax: “I realized that the opportunity to see galleys would be something special for everyday readers, a chance for an exciting preview akin to a film festival.” Because the books are being read for a non-credit continuing education course, Rosen isn’t actually assigning any papers or handing out grades, but she says that students are invited to fill out optional questionnaires. “I plan to share these with the publishers as a courtesy,” she says. “I have told the students this, [and] they seem pleased at the opportunity to pass their comments along.” The class has proven so popular, in fact, that she’s now thinking about branching out with another version devoted exclusively to memoirs.