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The Four Winds: A Lesson in Book Marketing

Kristin Hannah’s newest novel, The Four Winds, utilized several strategies -- book subscription status, social media campaigns, and reviews in major magazines -- to keep it on bestseller lists throughout February 2021. 

Hannah’s popularity in the literary world has been boosted by three of her novels’ appearances in Book-of-the-Month club subscriptions. The release of The Nightingale (2015) brought Kristin Hannah’s work critical acclaim and broadened her readership. The Nightingale follows the journeys of two sisters -- Vianne and Isabelle -- during WWII in German-occupied France. Both sisters endeavor to survive, reconnect with lost loves, and rekindle their own estranged relationship with each other and their father. 

The Nightingale was released the same year as the revival of the Book-of-the-Month service. The subscription service began in 1926 and allowed subscribers to choose one book to read between five new, hardcover novels each month. The Book-of-the-Month’s revival in 2015 continued offering this service while still featuring debut and up-and-coming authors such as Kristin Hannah. 

It’s important to note all three of Hannah’s featured novels -- The Nightingale (2015), The Great Alone (2017), and The Four Winds (2021) -- focus on female protagonists, relationships, and narratives. Since millennial women are the service’s main subscribers today, Kristin Hannah’s work is a viable choice for many Book-of-the-Month subscribers. The Four Winds placement in the February 2021 subscription package also coincides with the release of other Kristin Hannah-inspired work. 

Netflix adapted one of Hannah’s earlier novels -- Firefly Lane (2008) -- which boosts Kristin Hannah’s popularity as an author and, by extension, sales for The Four Winds. Netflix’s adaptation of Firefly Lane was released February 3, 2021 while The Four Winds went on sale February 2, 2021. Coincidence? I think not. 

Netflix subscribers unfamiliar with Hannah’s work had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with it by watching Katherine Hiegl and Sarah Chalke bring to life Tully and Kate’s lifelong friendship that began in the 1970′s and continues into their adult lives. The series ended on a cliffhanger, and a second season has already been green lit by Netflix. By ending the first season at the novel’s halfway point, viewers who couldn’t wait to find out how Firefly Lane ends could buy the novel. Fans who purchase Firefly Lane on Amazon can find The Four Winds suggested to customers in the “frequently bought together” category beneath the picture of the cover page. 

Although The Four Winds centers a mother-daughter relationship rather than female best friends, readers can find similar themes of inner and outward beauty, personal growth through hardship, and strength in female relationships in Hannah’s newest novel. Fan promotion of Netflix’s Firefly Lane on social media, especially on Twitter, encouraged people to tag Kristin Hannah in posts in hopes of the author retweeting or recognizing their praise. When people tagged Hannah in posts, they would also come across other posts where the author was tagged; a majority of these posts during that time centered around reviews for The Four Winds. 

Authors and major book reviewers commended Hannah’s newest novel on social media, thus verbally and visually marketing The Four Winds to prospective social media scrollers. If you search #KristinHannah on Twitter, you will see fan posts gushing about Firefly Lane sandwiched between pictures of The Four Winds’ cover and its placement on The New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists, among others. Author Cheryl King tweeted, “@KristinHannah is my new favorite author, and how am I just now discovering her books? #WritingCommunity #wasquerying.” Loreth Anne White, another author, tweeted about The Four Winds and tagged Jane Rotrosen which is a publishing agency that partially specializes in publishing fiction by women; the post featured The Four Winds’ cover with a list of where it appeared as a bestseller in its first week of publication: The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Indie, and Globe and Mail. Posts featuring The Four Winds’ cover also linked to an Amazon page where the book could be bought for $17.39. Barnes and Noble locations across the US also posted pictures of The Four Winds on display stands, next to coffee cups, and encouraged readers to pick up their own copy so they could join in on the many conversations being had about Hannah’s novel. The positive social media attention and response The Four Winds received from fans, the literary community, and book reviewers and sellers continues to keep it on bestseller lists. 

Articles were published about The Four Winds prior to its release; these articles described the book and its story in relatable terms, comparing and contrasting the trials protagonists Elsa and Loreda Martinelli faced in the Great Depression and Dust Bowl to the hellscape that was 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic. On January 29, 2021, four days before The Four Winds was released, The New York Times published a piece about Kristin Hannah, her rise to popularity in the literary world, and The Four Winds. In the article, writer Elisabeth Egan claims, “...The Four Winds, which comes out Tuesday, seems eerily prescient in 2021, with its Depression-era tale of blighted land, xenophobia, fear of contagion -- and determination to join forces and rebuild. Its message is galvanizing and hopeful: We are a nation of scrappy survivors” (The New York Times). 

By paralleling the narrative of The Four Winds with the ecological disasters, political protests, and disease of 2020, The New York Times markets Hannah’s book as relatable, hopeful, and deeply American. It promises to speak to contemporary US readers in ways that will allow them to reconcile the present with the past and find meaning as they process the events of 2020. 

The Four Winds leveraged its book club subscription status, social media, and major magazine coverage to attract new and older readers to Kristin Hannah’s latest novel. 

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To Be or Not to Be a Consumer or a Reader of Young Adult Literature: The Problem with Marissa Meyer’s Supernova

*SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t read Supernova by Marissa Meyer -- for shame -- you should stop reading this post. As in RIGHT now. As in why are you STILL reading this post and NOT reading Supernova? Priorities, people. 

First and foremost: I love Marissa Meyer’s work. The Lunar Chronicles is BY FAR one of my favorite YA series; I fell in love with Meyer’s adaptation of Wonderland in Heartless; and her Renegades series has me questioning morality within superhero worlds. 

However, rather than question the morality of superhero worlds, I’m questioning the resolution of Supernova, the third and final book in the Renegades series. Apparently, Nova Artino’s little sister, Edie (who was supposedly murdered as a baby), is alive. A-L-I-V-E! You ain’t got no alibi, you’re ALIVE. 

Since she goes by Magpie (her Renegade alias), though, Nova is none the wiser. In fact, her and Magpie can’t stand each other because Magpie keeps trying to steal Nova’s bracelet, the last gift her father ever gave Nova. Usually a classic reason for a sisterly slap fight, Magpie’s attraction to the bracelet becomes tragic because she deems it valuable. Valuable because it’s the last object her and Nova’s father made before he was murdered. (While Meyer doesn’t state this directly, I like to take dramatic liberties). 

This reveal doesn’t feel earned. It isn’t until the final book we focus on Magpie, her origin, and how she got her power. Apparently, Edie stopped the bullet that should have killed her as a baby. She was discovered by the Renegade Council, placed in an orphanage, and works for the Renegades as part of the cleanup crew. 

Cool, but why now? Why doesn’t Nova get to discover this? Why is only ten pages of the series told from Magpie’s perspective? Why is the ending given to a character who doesn’t seem to matter until we’re told she matters? 

While I love YA literature, I don’t love reveals that serve no purpose. It seems as if Meyer wanted to end the series on a “dun-dun-dun” note rather than truly resolve the trilogy. Since the three books tracked Nova and Adrian’s character arcs, I don’t feel satisfied with this ending. Especially since the epilogue was written almost as the beginning of a spin-off series or standalone novel based on the mysterious, controversial perspective Magpie offers. 

Yes, it’s common for YA book series to build off an original series nowadays. There are short stories, comic books, and whole series dedicated to secondary characters who captivate readers’ fascination. 

Do I own some of these books? Of course! Do I want authors to write books with this in mind, though? NO. I DON’T. 

This ending doesn’t allow Nova, a character I cared about from the beginning, to confront this conflict and dangles a potential unresolved plot point in front of the reader’s nose. Characters should be presented with multiple conflicts, including a long-lost sister, during their trilogy so THEY can resolve this issue. Meyer is doing Nova, and her readers, a disservice by not allowing her to discover this conflict. It’s also problematic because Meyer tells readers why Magpie is important rather than showing us. 

While I loved the Renegades series, I didn’t love the ending because it made me think about consumerism rather than the epic story I spent three years invested in.