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How Emily Schultz’s Joyland became victim of mistaken literary identity

Joyland is the name of Emily Schultz’s 2006 debut novel and the online literary magazine of which she is co-publisher. It also happens to be the name of a Stephen King novel that was released this summer.

According to a post on Joyland Magazine’s Tumblr, there has been a recent spike in Schultz’s ebook sales on Amazon, most likely from King fans eager to get their hands on a digital version of the print-only book. However, the increase has also been accompanied by some negative reviews from readers confused by Schultz’s 1980s coming-of-age story.

Keeping a sense of humour about the situation, Joyland Magazine posted commentary about some of their favourite reviews, which are available here, but they’re also hoping to clear up the misunderstanding before Schultz’s latest novel, The Blondes, is released in the U.S. next fall.

While this is clearly a case of mistaken literary identity, the same can’t be said for the ingenious scam artist who was selling his review of King’s book on Kindle for $2.99, until it was removed from the online store.