From a 2001 New York Times article Authors Go Directly to Reader with Marketing, we learn how Ms. Cross's hands-on book promotion led to its eventual success. Pope Joan was initially published in
hardcover (1996) with little buzz from the publishers; its sales were modest & the book quickly went out of print. Author Cross vowed
that her US paperback edition would not meet the same fate. In 2001, Pope Joan was on its 9th printing (most recent reprinting is in
2009).
How did Donna W. Cross get her book (that she worked so hard
on and cared about) into the hands of readers? She targeted
book clubs! Initially the author devoted 4 or 5
evenings a week speaking to book groups via speaker phone. In 2001, the author had placed calls to more than 350 book groups, answering questions on speaker phone connection. A current check of her website, doesn't show any book group involvement since 2013.
Ms. Cross also spent more than $5,000 for banner ads on sites aimed at women and book clubs, & emails were sent to female clergy organizations. According to Donna Woolfolk Cross, "Writing about Joan helped me. She was a strong, bold woman. I had to become a great deal bolder to fight for this book."
Ms. Cross also concentrated on book lectures rather than bookstore signings. After a speech in Lansing,
Michigan (2001), she sold more than 250 copies in less than an hour. Thus far, the author has not followed up with a second novel.
bestseller, translated into 36 different languages.
In Germany, this novel was the #1 bestseller for three years plus. There is even a bottle of wine, named She-Pope (Die Paepstin), the label features the Pope Joan book cover. In Germany, there is the musical She-Pope, based on the novel. The movie Pope Joan, premiered in 2010 in Germany, and Ms. Cross was involved with writing the script. (I tried to find the inter-library loan DVD but atlas, no luck!)
This 2010 movie, Pope Joan suffered through 4 production companies, 5 different directors and 7 different scripts (Ms. Cross wrote 2 of them). No filming was allowed in the ancient sites because of political problems. Did you know that a 400 page novel translates into a 6 hour movie! No wonder
the book is always richer than the movie.
Earlier, in 2004 there was another film adaptation of the book staring Liv Ullmann, Olivia de Haviland, & Lesley-Anne Down. Out of 400 lending libraries, only MSU has a copy of this. I've requested it, and if it looks promising, perhaps we can enjoy another movie discussion following the book discussion.