Celebrities becoming authors....

The only thing I'm not fond of is when a celebrity doesn't even write their own book and claim how they're also an "author" on top of being an actress or singer, etc. But of course people with more social status and money will get more advantages, which just makes it way more sweet when one of us non-celebs gets a deal through talent and hard work.

ETA: Celebrities have the right to write books, too.

SuzyB said:

Is that fair?

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No, it's not fair, but then, neither is life. There's no use getting upset because someone has an easier time of something than you do. I'm not saying I never get jealous; I'm the queen of jealousy. But, there really is no use in it (says rational me). You're one of those who will have to fight harder than others for what you want. So am I. All we can do about that is try harder.

How do you think they became celebrities in the first place? Do you think that perhaps represented quite a lot of work?

I don't agree with you on this. Many celebrities write books because there's a fan base that wants to know more. Look at Eric Clapton's recent book . . . it was a huge success, not because he dabbled in writing, but because he wrote a book about his 40-year career in music.

I would wager that a celebrity like Clapton has invested quite a lot more work in his career than most, and I would not begrudge him writing a book about it. As to dealing with rejection . . . publishers want to publish what will sell. It self evident that a Clapton book will sell, so they won't reject it.

SuzyB said:

They are a CELEBRITY. People who are paid to make appearances, sign autographs, anything possible! But is it truly fair for them to write a book and OF COURSE, they will be published? They don't have to deal with rejection letters, do they?

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So big deal if they don't get rejection letters and they get published because of who they know. That's only the first step. Everyone still has to read their book, and if it sucks, it's not going to go anywhere other than the bargain tables at the big bookstores.

I don't begrudge anyone either, for trying their hand at writing. Maybe I'm naive, but I prefer to give the benefit of the doubt to people, including celebrities. If they are merely writing for the sake of more money in their pocket, then oh well. It's no skin off my back. I don't have to buy their book. But many are writing because they want to write and sincerely believe they have something to say; a story to tell. I say good for them.

JMHO.

Hey, I forget which publisher it was, but one of the big houses actually sued Joan Collins for turning in a manuscript they'd bought that they described as "unpublishable." Not for scandalous reasons -- just because it was that bad.

It doesn't bother me. It's no different than some actress getting to cut an album when there are millions of unknown singers more talented than she, or a singer getting a part in a movie when there are millions of actresses who could perform better.

Or when some celebrity's untalented sibling gets record deals, tv shows, etc. because of the family connection.

As someone else already said, there is no "fair." When we stop expecting life to be fair, it becomes much easier to be happy.

Yeah, I'd say most celebrity authors have already taken their licks. Good for them.

Nicole

ClaudiaGray said:

Hey, I forget which publisher it was, but one of the big houses actually sued Joan Collins for turning in a manuscript they'd bought that they described as "unpublishable." Not for scandalous reasons -- just because it was that bad.

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See now, if I were the publisher for a brandname writer like Collins and she forked over some crappy manuscript, I'd be tempted to publish it as-is just to embarrass her.

ETA ... wait. Did I just confuse the author Jackie Collins with her actress sister?

I look at it this way - some folks are born rich and some have to work for their money. Sure, if I'd been born rich maybe Mummy and Daddy could've supported me while I wrote my little heart out.

Seriously, everyone before me touched on what I feel about it, and to be honest, I never really gave it a thought because the only 'celebrity' book I ever bought was by Elton John, because he is my all time ever super duper most awesomely favorite musician. I don't tend to read their stuff anyway so it just doesn't matter (thanks, Bill ), to me anyway.

Let's face it, there's always someone who gets there quicker, whether by working the system, working period (i.e. the Clapton example), just plain luck, an accident of birth, right place at the right time. For the rest of us it's a little harder, and for me personally it will be a little more rewarding because I did it on my own, albeit with help from folks here at AW like JJ Cooper, Ce Ce, dancre, preyer, Danger Jane, wyntersmoon, brer and numerous others who have helped me more than I can say.

It reminds me of a customer who frequented my diner and was on welfare. I worked my tail off in that place, lucky to have a few hours off every couple of weeks, and this person sat on the counter one day boasting of the vacation she was going to take with her next welfare check. Her friend commented that "pumping out those kids is good for something", a quote ingrained in my memory. I couldn't afford to take a vacation much less pay people to replace me while I was gone, yet my tax dollars were paying for this woman to take a vacation. Fair? I think not, but that's life sometimes. Not a perfect analogy I know but just throwing that out there as an example of what I meant by shortcuts, albeit a 'bad behavior' type of one. Although some might say that Paris is famous because of her bad behavior....

Just my two cents.

ETA: Jamie Lee Curtis has a series of children's books that gets good reviews. I don't know if she has a ghost writer, (I don't think so because I've seen her discuss them), and I am willing to bet that her 'connections' got her first book out. However, I am sure that if the first one had bombed there wouldn't have been more.

Julie Andrews publishes her children's books under her married name, to avoid the suggestion that she's trading on her celebrity.

But really, don't worry about this. Celebrities are playing a different game than we are. Celebrity books are only a small part of total book market, but they draw people into bookstores where they can see our books. Good on 'em.

SuzyB said:

Is that fair?

Because it isn't fair. Sure, anyone can be a writer but it takes a lot effort, creativity, and time to write a book, something you love doing. For celebrities, I think some do it just to either get more money, or have their name AGAIN sprawled all over newspapers and in the media another way.

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On the other hand, if things were fair, I'd be moldering in the ground in Southeast Asia and one of the youngsters I knew at the time, who never made it to 20, would be living in my house today and enjoying life. I try not to worry about the folks who've gotten an unfair advantage, because I figure, somewhere along the line, I have too.

SuzyB said:

They are a CELEBRITY. People who are paid to make appearances, sign autographs, anything possible! But is it truly fair for them to write a book and OF COURSE, they will be published? They don't have to deal with rejection letters, do they?

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I can't say I've ever gnashed my teeth at the unfairness of it all. Maybe that's because I always assume celebrity books have been written by non-celebrities, i.e. ghostwriters, who have been paid a nice fee for their efforts. I also assume that in most cases of celebrity books, the idea probably originated with some packager as opposed to the A-list actor-type whose name is being capitalized on. Celebrity books aren't on my list of things to raise my blood pressure over.

SuzyB said:

I've had this topic on my mind before and I have gone over and over with it in my head about all these celebrities writing books, in the works of writing one, or have some already published. And as I think about this, I have to ask....

Is that fair?

They are a CELEBRITY. People who are paid to make appearances, sign autographs, anything possible! But is it truly fair for them to write a book and OF COURSE, they will be published? They don't have to deal with rejection letters, do they?

Because it isn't fair. Sure, anyone can be a writer but it takes a lot effort, creativity, and time to write a book, something you love doing. For celebrities, I think some do it just to either get more money, or have their name AGAIN sprawled all over newspapers and in the media another way.

Is it just my constant jealousy toward celebrities that they are able to get anything they ever want when the rest of us "people" have to strive for it?

With some exceptions like a few celebrities who actually care about the stories they put out and aren't doing it just for the publicity. They want to see their readers happy...others don't.

PLEASE, if I am thinking all wrong about this LET ME KNOW! I will feel soooo much better!

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I agree with you, and it upsets me too. Would it be wrong to assume that the celebrity may not have even written it? Maybe it was their idea, but did they sit down month after month laboring over it as we do? No, I don't think so. I just don't buy it myself.

There do seem to be a shocking number of celebrities who write children's books, particularly picture books. Not quite sure why being famous qualifies you to tell a story to my kids, but hey, what do I know?

(for the record, the jamie lee curtis kid books are actually quite good.)

And, as someone else said, celebs writing about themselves and their famous friends (or their famous diets or their famous workout routines) doesn't really bother me. If they don't do it, someone else will.

But since this is the Writing Novels board, I have a question. Are there that many celebrities writing novels? People who got a book deal for a novel just because they were famous?

I can't think of that many. Ethan Hawke. Steve Martin. Stephen Fry. (Although the Steves are both quite good writers -- sorry, Mr. Hawke).

Anyway, can others provide examples of unworthy-celebs-turned-novelists? Give me a reason to be outraged. I like working up a good lather when provoked.

If I worked my butt off to become an actor or singer or whatever, and that allowed me to branch out into other areas, heck yeah I'd do it. The example I think of is Steve Martin, who is a heck of an actor/comedian... and then wrote a little book called Shopgirl, which I found to be quite enjoyable and certainly as good as anything on the market. Do I think it's unfair? Not at all. He's obviously worked hard for the influence he has, and he deserves to reap the rewards of those connections.

I mean, turn it around. Do we criticize JK Rowling because she doesn't actually know how to make the capes, jelly beans, and countless other Harry Potter spinoff items? No, we think of it as a natural result of her fame. Of course she's allowed to capitalize on her own product. Celebrity is just as much a product as a book is.

And then of course there are the celebrities who write their children's books and whatnot (ie Madonna), to which I say, who cares?

Then there are others who have their biographies ghost-written or whatever. I have no problem with that. Some people can't write worth beans, and some people don't want to take the time to write their life stories. But their celebrity is such that there is a demand for such a product; so it is produced. I would be willing to guess that the money made from those big-name biographies keeps a lot of lesser authors afloat. I suspect they make this business a lot less cutthroat than it would otherwise be.

I guess the only thing that would really irritate me is if a celebrity wrote a really crappy adult fiction novel and got it published simply because they were famous. But honestly, I can't think of any examples. Nobody who actually reads regularly cares who writes the book, as long as it's a good tale.

Chapter 4: Reflections

so like i wuz talking to my best frend britney about how much is sux that my dad sed it wuz bad 2 sex w/ strangrs and snort cokane and she like tottly agreed w/ me lol

A goodly percentage of the "celebrity" authors are, in no particular order:

Stand-up comedians
Actors
Musicians
Artists
Hyphenates (they're successful in more than one field)
Athletes
Politicians

All of these people have worked hard to be successful in their original fields. Almost all of these fields require artistic or oratory prowess, and many of them require some form of writing skills. Not such a total shocker that they might branch out into writing a book -- if you've written a screenplay, uh, really, why NOT?

I don't mind if someone's ghost writing -- I'll take that well-paying gig! (I guess I have no pride, but I honestly think penning a tome with Pamela Anderson could be a hoot and a half.)

The point is -- the celeb authors get in based on a name they worked hard to create. I can't begrudge them this, because I want the same possibilities open to me and mine.

Time spent in envy is time not spent writing. For me, 'nuff said.

Doesn't bother me. The smart ones worked hard for their fame and influence, and the dumb ones.......well really, what do they matter? Does it really affect my ability to write a fantastic story if Paris Hilton has a book out?

The truly intelligent and talented and dedicated pull through, whereas the simply lucky don't have staying power. Pamela Anderson's (auto)biography didn't hurt the sales of really good books, did it? Because those who bought it bought it expecting crap. There's always an audience for laughable crap. But there's always a (much bigger) audience for intelligent non-crap.

SuzyB said:

I never said they didn't work hard enough to write a book. Anyone can write a book if they truly want to.

But what about Lynn Spears? She's only "famous" because of her daughter. And Paris Hilton? I don't EVEN want to know what her book will be about. Who really wants to know more about her?

And believe me, I don't envy these celebrities.

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I believe I covered Hilton in my previous post.

But if celebrities want to write books, more power to 'em.

Helps the economy and all.

I won't begrudge anyone. I'll just ask 'why'.