What do the authors and publishers do in order to get a book on the shelf and have millions of copies sold in a short amount of time? What specific roles do they play in grabbing the attention of potential buyers of the book?

Peritext, as mentioned by Whitlock is the outer layer/cover of a book. It has three main functions, which are to protect, to decorate, and to promote. However, the third component of the peritext has the most attention and focused. According to Genette, this aspect has “brand positioning” in marketing the books.

Continuing with the thought-provoking discussion we had in class, the role of peritext in What is the What by Dave Eggers has little emphasis in Valentino Achack Deng, the storyteller of his autobiography, rather there is a heavier emphasis on the author’s name, Dave Eggers. Even though there is a huge portrait of Valentino, one of the Lost Sudanese Boys in the front cover, the audiences are not clear who that person is due to the vagueness and anonymity of the image. As for me, when I first saw the book by its cover, I had no idea that this story was about the Sudanese Lost Boys until I read the introduction.

Therefore, the third aspect of the peritext, “to promote” can be clearly seen in What is the What. The western publishing house thought rather than having the name of the Lost Sudanese Boy bolded on the front cover, bolding the western author’s name on the novel’s front cover would create a better brand-promoting factor, for potential readers to purchase the book.

In contrast, I am also going to look at Malala Yousafzai’s I am Malala: The Girl who stood up for education and what shot by the Taliban. Interestingly, the peritext in Malala’s book contains different features than that of What is the What. There is a clear photography portrait of Malala looking straight into the eyes of the readers. The veil creates an exotic image and the Western audiences are expecting stories beneath her veil. The font size of her name is larger, clear and visibly labeled as the author of her autobiographical book. Unlike the peritext technique used in What is the What, much focus on the Western author’s name, in I am Malala, there is less emphasis of the name of the western co-author, Christina Lamb.

Both are autobiographic novels, but one storyteller is has less status in the front cover and the other a larger emphasis. Now, you may think Malala Yousafazai has done something extraordinary that no ordinary fifteen-year-old can do. But, what about Valentino Achack Deng, one of the Lost Boys, he also has done something exceptional of sharing his traumatic past to the public.

The western publishing culture has used techniques that would best sell in the bookstore, using marketing strategies to “promote” and create “brand-imaging” for consumers to buy books to make novels successful.

As we are emerged into the social media culture, various new social media sites are coming into our hands, Pinterest being one of them. According to an American news channel, “Pinterest is a relatively new social sharing website that is sweeping the nation”. In May 2011, there were 418,000 Pinterst users and by December, users rose to 7.5 million.

When I heard about Pinterest during our ASTU class, it caught my attention instantly. I was caught by the fact that I am able to create my own personal pin board where I can select and collect things that interest me as a unique individual. The pinned down things range from health to fashion.

So this triggered me to look at other people’s pinterest site. Everything is in that one page, the layout in Pinterest is every effective and efficient. This helps for Pinterest audience not to be distracted because everything can be viewed at once. The structure of the Pinterst contains a mini-personal biography of the user and below the biography there are categorically organized themes that contain various photos relating to that particular theme. Everything in one single page, for example, themes include, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Crafts, Parties and Events and many more that interests the individual and are personal to their lives.

Just by looking at these websites created by unique individuals, I already feel addicted to Pinterest as I am inspired by some of the photos and also gain new ideas, for example, from Laura’s Pinterest page, there is section on “Christmas gifts to make”, I was wondering what I could purchase for my friends and family for their Christmas gifts, but looking at the photos from her Pinterest page, I am able to think creatively by making gifts by hand.

So the question is, Is Pinterest the new Facebook? From the American news channel, I linked above, an interviewee thinks Pinterest is the new Facebook because she’s grown tired of Facebook and that Pinterest has taken over. And I would have to agree with her because Pinterest shares photos, which are quick, easy and visually effective that can instantly grab attention instead of reading comments in Facebook. The power of photos makes us respond quickly and dynamically and this is what Pinterest does to us.

For some, Pinterest can be an online recipe book as people’s passions are increasingly growing on food and for other Pinterest could be a motivation to their lives.

Pinterest seems to be a contemporary personal diary that reflects who we are as I get to select what we like and what we prefer. Moreover, it is easily accessible wherever there is Internet via smartphone or computer. Therefore, it serves as an efficient way of collecting things of an individual’s interest and viewing them whenever we want to.

It is also efficient in ways that when we are able to “pin” things down at any moment of the day because technology are at the tip of our fingers. I also feel that if I make Pinterest, I would get the opportunity to look back or perhaps remember things I might have forgotten and by looking at the Pinterest board, a purpose served by an autobiography. It serves the purpose of a social action because we are representing ourselves not only through social interaction but having something personal and to our selves that we can rely on anytime and anywhere.