Posted by Vee | March 31, 2009, 5:19 (EST) | 13 Comments
Category: Books, L.J. Smith, TV Series
Looks like an official Vampire Diaries website has launched, with information on the books and characters, impending info on the TV series, a promise of future giveaways, and a blog. Also check out the book trailer: “Before Bella…” And you can also fan the series on Facebook.
WARNING TO THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ THE BOOKS: There are MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS on The Books page of the site, right at the top. If you don’t want to know, avoid that page at all costs. (A note to HarperTeen/Alloy: big spoilers for the books in the series synopsis? Really, guys?)
EDIT: We are pleased to discover that the people behind the website have been paying attention to fan comments, and have edited the site to remove the major spoilers. Thanks, Harper/Alloy!
You can also get a clear glimpse of the Damon who will appear on a future edition of The Return trilogy. (“Princess of Darkness” is the new “Queen of Shadows”!)
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5:26 am on March 31st, 2009
Wow. I wouldn’t care if it were another fan site, but I expect better out of professionals. The synopses of the books aren’t really correct or comprehensive, the spoilers are incredibly, stupidly huge, and the characters are made to look far more shallow than they really are (which, I suppose, is a nice segue into their comparatively shallower TV versions as well).
Elena’s biggest problem is to figure out which vampire brother she should date? REALLY? I never liked Elena that much, but I’m feeling sort of offended on her behalf. She has slightly bigger, and far less shallow, problems than that in the books.
Yuck. Please try again, guys. I know you’re aiming for a teen girl demographic, but contrary to popular belief, I like to think that teen girls are smarter than that, so actual effort SHOULD be put into building the site. Are you smarter than that site, teen girls? I think you are. Tell me you are. Incanto(Quote)
5:38 am on March 31st, 2009
Yeah, I’m a bit surprised by the ‘deepest desire’ parts of the biographies. They are rather bland for all of the characters. The rather unique part of the LJS books (especially compared to Twilight et al) is that while Elena is superficial at the start of the series, is that it isn’t all about finding out which brother she loves (not to mention that the books don’t play out like the Lost love triangle).
The marketing of the books is just appalling. Have they been taking advice from the TV creators? Adia(Quote)
6:18 am on March 31st, 2009
To be fair, it doesn’t look like the site is finished. (At least I hope it’s not.) But I’m waaaaay unhappy about giving away a major plot point right on the main Books page. Leave the revelations for the readers to discover, guys!
At least there’s one positive: emphasizing that Damon and Stefan are Italian. Vee(Quote)
4:53 pm on March 31st, 2009
It’s the massive spoilers that bother me, too. It essentially removes all of the questions and suspense of the first three books. No mystery, no guessing. Not the best way to market a book to people who want to enjoy being surprised by the story. Otherwise, I’m intrigued by the idea of a shop (will I finally be able to by the “It’s ‘Stefan’, not ‘Stephan’” t-shirt I have desired for the past decade? ;)), and any official source of news is always good. Red(Quote)
3:12 am on April 1st, 2009
Before Bella? Really? Why is it necessary to compare every single YA book with Twilight? I don’t get it, that book is overrated. Maybe they just wanna have those fangirls interested in TVD just because ‘there are cute vampires on it’, but in my opinion books are better than that.
And I agree with the spoilers thing, they need to fix that, along with the whole thing of making Elena look like being in a love triangle, which is not the case. Ann(Quote)
4:56 am on April 1st, 2009
More to the point, “Before Bella” is just going to annoy most Twilight fans, who are very protective of their fandom (as we are of ours). All that video is going to do is alienate many Twilight fans; the very people they want to be marketing the books at. Red(Quote)
2:30 pm on April 1st, 2009
*ouch* at spoilers! It seems that they have been looking at The Vampire Diaries page on Wikipedia as reference for the website. Lily(Quote)
8:58 pm on April 1st, 2009
They went back and rewrote some of the summaries after I left them a message about spoilers yesterday. It’s still far from perfect, but at least we know that they’re listening and responding. Tara(Quote)
1:53 am on April 2nd, 2009
Thanks for that, Tara. I thought about doing that myself but wasn’t sure they’d pay any attention. Color me pleasantly surprised – though I see what you mean about “far from perfect.” Vee(Quote)
2:08 am on April 2nd, 2009
UGH. Katherine stuff still right at the top, though. Vee(Quote)
7:10 am on April 2nd, 2009
I am so unimpressed=( I have to wonder if the creators are actual fans or in to make a buck. Elena has much deeper problems then OMG! Stefan/Damon! Sarah(Quote)
12:03 am on April 3rd, 2009
Oh, they’re in it to make a buck. If they ARE fans, it’s entirely coincidental, but I doubt they are. They’re employed by Harper/Alloy and they want to make money. Red(Quote)
1:40 am on April 3rd, 2009
Pretty much what I figured. It is so disheartening. I’ve been a fan since I was in 7th grade and this is how they go about getting people involved? I hayte sounding like one of those people who are all “OMG! I liked it first and anyone else who claims to like it will NEVER be as big a fan as I am!” This just feels insulting somehow. I wonder how LJS feels about it…. Sarah(Quote)