Gee willikers, publishing has changed!

According to this report in USA Today, publishers have started to use profanity. And not just in their day-to-day business dealings, either. Read on, dear reader:

Publishing used to be a gentleman’s profession. But the trend of using profanity in titles — already common in pop songs and even on Broadway — has now spread to books.

In the past year there have been three songs on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart with the f-word in the title. Chris Rock starred in the Broadway play The Mother—— With the Hat. And now publishing is awash with best sellers whose unprintable titles are, for the most part, being coyly disguised by asterisks and other symbols over select vowels on the jackets.

The report then goes on to list those fig-leaved titles:

•S— My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. Originally a Twitter feed, the book became a CBS series that was canceled in May. It peaked at No. 9 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list.

•A——- Finish First by Tucker Max. Peaked at No. 14.

•Go the —- to Sleep by Adam Mansbach, illustrated by Ricardo Cortes, a parody of a children’s book directed at adults. Peaked at No. 6.

•Out this week: If You Give a Kid a Cookie, Will He Shut the —- Up? ($14.99) by Marcy Roznick, a parody, aimed at adults, of the 1985 children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie ….

And it’s only going to get worse, says Stefanie Kiper, a bookseller at Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, N.H, who told USA Today,“They sell with absolutely no help from us. It’s totally word of mouth and media attention….I think it’s a trend that’s only just beginning.”

Yes, the high sales indicate that we have a long list of copy-cat titles to look forward to, as evidenced by the publication of If You Give a Kid a Cookie, Will He Shut the —- Up?, which was “inspired by” Go the —- to Sleep, according to USA Today. Well, “inspired” by the sales of  Go the —- to Sleep, to be more exact.

Safe to say, when the novelty wears off sales will drop. But for now, it’s just another fucking fad.