Official Solution:
A major film studio announced the release date of a movie based on a novel that was a bestseller when it was first published but that has been out of print for nearly fifteen years. Hoping to capitalize on the anticipated success of the movie, the publisher who owns the copyright on the novel plans to print a new edition that will be released the same week the film premieres.
Each of the following, if true, supports the soundness of the publisher’s plan to capitalize on the success of the film EXCEPT:
A. Books with the words "now a major motion picture" printed on the cover generally sell better than books without those words printed on the cover.
B. Twenty years ago, the publisher created a limited edition of the novel, consisting of 5,000 copies each personally signed by the now-deceased author, and all 5,000 copies were sold in less than 6 months after the books were printed.
C. Multiple novels by the same author experienced a brief spike in sales after major film studios released movies based on those novels.
D. Existing copies of the novel are hard to find and are often sold for prices up to 10 times higher than the price at which the publisher plans to sell copies of the new edition.
E. Many of the trailer advertisements for the new movie will state the name and author of the bestselling novel on which the movie is based.
Currently, the book is out of print, so there are no novels to sell. The publisher believes that, if the movie is successful, people will want to buy the novel on which it is based. Thus, the publisher hopes to capitalize on the anticipated success of the movie by printing a new edition of the novel
We are looking for an answer choice that does NOT support the soundness of the publisher's plan, so we should cross out anything that DOES support the soundness of the plan
(A) Books with the words "now a major motion picture" printed on the cover generally sell better than books without those words printed on the cover
The publisher hopes that the success of the movie will boost sales of the novel. This statement suggests that the new novel will likely sell better than other books without those words printed on the cover. This evidence supports the soundness of the publisher's plan, so (A) can be eliminated
(B) Twenty years ago, the publisher created a limited edition of the novel, consisting of 5,000 copies each personally signed by the now-deceased author, and all 5,000 copies were sold in less than 6 months after the books were printed
This statement suggests that sales of the novel could be boosted by creating a limited-edition version signed by the author. Since the author is deceased, this is no longer possible. This statement does not provide any evidence to support that the release of a successful movie will boost sales of the novel on which it is based. Although it does not suggest that the publisher's plan will fail, this statement does not support the soundness of the plan. (B) looks good
"(C) Multiple novels by the same author experienced a brief spike in sales after major film studios released movies based on those novels.
This statement suggests that the release of a movie will boost sales of a novel on which the movie is based. This supports the soundness of the publisher's plan, so eliminate (C)
(D) Existing copies of the novel are hard to find and are often sold for prices up to 10 times higher than the price at which the publisher plans to sell copies of the new edition
If, despite the success of the movie, nobody wants to buy the book, the publisher's plan will fail. This statement suggests that there is demand for the novel. This, in turn, suggests that people will want to buy new editions of the novel, contributing to the success of the publisher's plan. Eliminate (D)
(E) Many of the trailer advertisements for the new movie will state the name and author of the bestselling novel on which the movie is based
If nobody knows about the novel, the success of the movie will not boost sales of the novel. This statement tells us that the novel WILL be publicized, supporting the publisher's plan. Eliminate (E)
Choice (B) is the best because it is the only choice that does NOT support the soundness of the publisher’s plan to capitalize on the success of the film
Answer: B