cwgranny said:
Surprisingly enough, publishers seemed to find the money to publish new writers just fine BEFORE writing a children's book became the "hip" thing for a celeb to do to show off his commitment to children/family. In fact, I've heard plenty of professional people in children's book publishing say that celebrity authors do NOTHING...ZERO...BUPKISS to help book publishers bring in more money for new authors.
Celebrity books are blindingly expensive to produce and they suck up incredible amounts in promotional budgets. Some make it back and put some money in the publisher's pocket (though not nearly as much as you would think)...some don't. Considering new writers only cost a tiny fraction as much, they earn out much quicker...but, they offer less chance of striking rich on author name alone. Naturally, publishers chase what seems like a better bet...but, please, don't try to feed us the "it's good for everyone" line because it flatly isn't.
This just isn't true. Not in any way. Celebrity writers do get a healthy chunk of promotional money, but not nearly as much as you seem to believe. Something like 99% of the promotion a celebrity book receives is free. Every talk show in the country, morning, afternoon, and late night, wants that celebrity on to talk about the book. Magazines and newspapers run articles about the book and the celebrity, free of charge. And what a publisher puts out in promotional dollars comes back five fold in advertising dollars they don't have to spend.
All these things cost a ton of money for non-celebrity writers, but they come free when talk shows of all sorts want you and when magazines and newspapers will run articles about you, just because of your name.
I don;t know who the professionals you talked to were, but I'll wager none of them were publishers who have released a celebrity book. Next rime, ask to see the accounting books. I have seen them, and I've yet to see a case where celebrity writers didn't, in one way or another, make the publisher a LOT of money.
It is good for everyone, like it or not. And, NO, publishers did NOT seem to find a way of publishing very many new writers before celebrity books came along. I don't know why in the world people think this.
It wasn't so many years ago that a new writer breaking into commercial publishing was far, far rarer than it is today. There's never been a time when so many new writers could have a first novel published by a large publisher, and a major reason for this change is money available for new writers.
Earning out quickly for most new writers means squat. So the new writer earns out quickly and the publisher makes a profit of $2,000. Big deal, especially when four of of five new writers never earn out.
New writers very rarely earn the publisher any worthwhile money. The hope is that new writers will earn the publisher worthwhile money down the road, and sometimes they do. More often than not, they don't.
And celebrity books do not have to earn out to turn a huge profit for a publisher. Earning out is a good thing, but it's only one slice in a very large pie. The bigger your name, the bigger the pie, and the more ways there are for you to earn a profit for teh publisher.
Publishers are in business to make money, and when something doesn't turn a profit, they stop doing it quickly, celebrity writer or not. Celebrity books are good for everyone, for all writers, and especially for new writers. That's just how it is.
Celebrity writers get published for one reason, and one reason only, they make money, and making money is what publishing is all about.
