JK Rowling Finally Found Good Reviews for Her Adult Novel

JK Rowling was finally outed as the author of The Cuckoo's Calling. It was written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Her first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, released previously under her own name, received lukewarm reviews, in spite of the massive hype brought on by her fame. Writing under the guise of a first time author, she finally got the critical praise she had been looking for as a writer for adults, although the book did not sell well. The book was also rejected by several publishers, her second book to be rejected after The Sorcerer's Stone.

It looks to me that critics may have unconscious biases against popular authors while publishers and readers are easily swayed by the author's name recognition (see Stephen King for another example). Negative reviews started popping up on the book's Amazon page soon after people learned she was the author, although the book immediately topped Amazon's bestseller charts afterwards. The success of products are decided like this everyday. Keep this in mind if you're thinking of writing a book, making an indie movie, developing a game, inventing some contraption, etc.