No Joy For Stephen King Fans Who Confuse Book Titles

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And our last word in Business today is a thriller.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Or is it a coming-of-age novel?

INSKEEP: Well actually, it's a case of mistaken identity. "Joyland" is the title of bestseller Stephen King's new book.

MONTAGNE: "Joyland" is also the title of the debut coming-of-age novel by Emily Schultz published back in 2006.

INSKEEP: Aw. Some readers thought they were ordering the newest Stephen King book from Amazon and instead they got confused.

MONTAGNE: I have always loved Stephen King novels, writes Marcia in her two-star Amazon review. However, this one was a rambling stream of consciousness mess.

INSKEEP: Another review reads, not up to Stephen King's standards - boring and boring. No suspense.

MONTAGNE: Emily Schultz, who's a writer in Brooklyn, was saddened by the bad reviews.

INSKEEP: But then royalty checks start to roll in so she started a website called Spending the Stephen King Money.

MONTAGNE: She posts about IKEA trips, a haircut and a nice dinner out.

INSKEEP: And for his part, Stephen King told ew.com, I'm delighted for her and I'm going to order her book.

MONTAGNE: And that's the Business News on MORNING EDITION from NPR News or as we like to call it, "Joyland." I'm Renee Montagne.

INSKEEP: And I'm Steve Inskeep. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.