Evidently, Diet is a Bad, Bad Word and Someone's Getting a Lot of Undeserved Free PR

http://healthland.time.com/2011/08/25/will-fat-kids-become-popular-if-they-go-on-a-diet-maggie-goes-on-a-diet-makes-the-case/

Oh boy. Where to start? Well, I think those of you who read this blog regularly know that I have legitimate concerns about childhood obesity, because it is becoming rampant and it's one of the many reasons our entire healthcare system is going to eventually implode.

That said, in concept, there's nothing wrong with this book, yet everyone is completely up-in-arms about it - threatening to boycott anyone who sells it and insisting that the word diet is inappropriate for kids, that this book is going to make kids self-conscious and possibly trigger anorexia in kids who don't need to lose weight etc., etc. Oh please people. Get real. There are far too many fat kids in this country to ignore. It is an epidemic and it is a huge problem. We are not just talking 10 - 15 pounds overweight either. The numbers of children who are now classified as obese or morbidly obese is staggering. TONS OF KIDS IN THIS COUNTRY DO IN FACT NEED TO GO ON DIETS. Okay, okay, so the word diet has become inflammatory because we're all a bunch of pussies... so maybe the title of this book was not the smartest move on the writer's part, but that's not where I take issue.

I take issue that this book is getting so much free PR - and that it SUCKS.

Here's an excerpt:


Losing the weight was not only good for Maggie's health.

Maggie was so much happier and was also very proud of herself.

More and more people were beginning to know Maggie by name.

Playing soccer gave Maggie popularity and fame.



The rhyming is just atrocious! For those of you who aren't aware, I've written numerous rhymed children's books - and managed to get one published a while back, so I am incredibly nitpicky when it comes to others' rhymed works, especially children's fare, and especially because no publishers or agents will touch anything in rhyme with a ten foot pole, unless it's written by a celebrity. So, my books sit around collecting dust. I'm seriously contemplating sharing them here at some point or another. But I digress.

The author, Paul Kramer self-published this book. I believe it's his first. Not surprised that it's self-published - but I am surprised at how much free PR it's already getting before it's even out! How did this guy pull that off? I'm a publicist and I can't figure that one out. In the meantime I'm giving him more free PR. Can someone please explain to me where I've gone wrong in life? Please?!? And, can anyone reading this that's a parent explain to me why the publishing world won't consider well-written books in rhyme anymore? Wouldn't you read them to your kids, if the stories were good - and the rhyming was decent and maybe there was even an educational aspect to them? Or am I utterly and completely delusional as a non-parent?