Hello Warwick,

You write, ‘Oh I see...so when and if an Egyptologist employs it (I knew about the need to study German as part of one's Egyptology degree, but the Psychology 101 is new to me), its for less than admirable reasons, but when a populist publisher and or author uses it, it is reasonable??’

No, you patently do not ‘see’, Warwick.


You write, ‘How bout.."The Great Pyramid of Giza:Fact or Fancy"’

William Kingsland came up with a much better title and used it for his two-volume work (which draws heavily on Petrie) on the GP. He entitled it The Great Pyramid. In Fact and In Theory.


You write, ‘that appeals to scholarly and the sensational alike, WITHOUT being completely misleading as to it's content.’

Do you judge a book only by its cover?
Do you judge a book only by its title?
I know I don’t.
Have I ever chosen a book by its cover and or its title? Certainly; I do it every two weeks or so at my local lending library
But judge a book only by its cover and or its title? Definitely not.
The title of Tompkins’ book is, IMO, inappropriate, but by no stretch of the imagination could I describe it as “completely misleading as to its content”.


You ask, ‘Why is it whenever we have a discussion about Publishing you conveniently choose to forget that I worked in the industry as a Literary Agent?’

I don’t choose to forget it, Warwick; I simply don’t remember it in the first place - but that's only because I have no idea what a Literary Agent does.


You write, ‘I have sat in boardrooms when Titles are selected.’

I hope you enjoyed the experience.
An interesting tale about the choosing of a title for a book can be found in Jack Webster’s biography of Alistair MacLean (specifically, for what became Ice Station Zebra). There’s also some interesting pieces on the psychology involved in the process – the kind of psychology that I was referring to earlier but appears to have gone straight over your "Literary Agent's" head…


You ask, ‘How many copies of Tompkins' book are in print???’

I haven’t the foggiest idea. Perhaps you could enlighten me.


You ask, ‘How many copies of Edwards'?’

Presuming you mean I. E. S. Edwards' classic The Pyramid's of Egypt, see above.


You write, ‘Tompkins was not aiming at a scholarly audience’

I am well aware of that, Warwick.
So, too, I imagine, is anybody else who has read it.

Regards,

MJ