Leroy unmasked

Ya know, I think it's really a shame... why can't people leave well enough alone? They're novels - fiction. And the mysterious identity of their author was part of their popularity. Kids LOVE Lemony Snicket - and part of the reason is he's such a mysterious character.

Hey, it got the job done, right? It's not like she called them 'memoirs'.

I tend to agree. There's a difference between fiction and non-fiction. My identify as a fiction author should not be an issue. If a novelist can use a pen name, then he or she should be able to assume a pen "identity." And seriously, who cares, as long as it sells books?

Now, non-fiction (especially memoirs) is another matter...

What exactly does this say about the mentality of the publishing industry, agent to bookseller?

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Um. Nothing? She felt she had to do it, she wasn't actually compelled to. The fact that this is news pretty much says that it's on the rare side.

I think it speaks more about HER mental state than the state of publishing. TOO MANY writers don't have to disguise themselves to be "recognized." Some even use their own unpronouncable names, and they sell tons of books.

If she had just been sending out her work under the assumed name and identity, I wouldn't care, but she wrote to and called several well known authors who helped her extensively with her work (according to today's New York Times) and put her in touch with agents, apparently because these authors wanted to help an HIV-positive former drug-addicted male prostitute. I doubt if she would have gotten the same level of help without the false identity.

tx for posting the update!

Actually, this story broke some time ago.

She wasn't just using a pen name and remaining anonymus; she was posing as the writer as someone she wasn't.

As for what it says about the publishing industry. . .that's books by celebrities sell; that books that are controversial sell; that books that make news sell; that books that are touted by Oprah sell; that books that promise easy weight loss in only two weeks sell. . . .

What we need is a tell-all diet book written by Heidi Fleiss that is cathartic (to use Oprah’s favorite term) and controversial because it claims she had an affair with Hillary Clinton while she First Lady. Now that one would sell.




ac

Lots of women use either initials or even male names (Andre Norton) to disguise their gender and appeal to a male audience.

This one just took it a step further.

It is, after all, fiction. Who was harmed byt the charade?

I mean, does this reach the level of Milli-Vanilli?

Does anyone want/i] to reach the level of Milli-Vanilli? (snicker)

I've written under male pen names several times, when it was more appropriate for a man to have written the story. So long as the check was made out to me, I was good to go. However, I didn't adopt that persona as a writer, in touch with other authors, editors, agents or publishers, only with readers.

Maryn, who's pretty sure she's a woman

Do some more research. This isn't anything new. And it goes both ways. I think somewhere on Joe Konrath's website he talks about going with J.A. Konrath on his books because people predisposed to female authors would assume J.A. was a female name.

scribbler1382 said:

Do some more research. This isn't anything new. And it goes both ways. I think somewhere on Joe Konrath's website he talks about going with J.A. Konrath on his books because people predisposed to female authors would assume J.A. was a female name.

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But he isn't asking a relative to put on a disguise and pretent to actually be the pen name he has chosen - and he didn't make up a sob story bio and ask people for help because he had worked so hard to overcome his dysfunctional life.

I don't understand why everyone is quick to forgive JT LeRoy and not James Frey. LeRoy's stories were not marketed as "memoir," but they were marketed as autobiographical, and that was a lie. Memoir is not historical document, anyway. It's a writer recording his/her memories of an experience.

As Tish pointed out, "JT LeRoy" went around putting on a "poor me" act, and manipulating people with connections into helping "him." How can you say that people were not hurt by this? It hurt the people who were tricked. In the future, these people he manipulated will probably be less likely to help anyone, even those who are sincere and deserve it.

Again, Lemony Snicket does the same. The author shows up to talk to kids, but doesn't say "hey, I'm LS" - he gives some elaborate tale of why the real Lemony Snicket couldn't be there.

And no matter how "poor me" JT LeRoy made herself out to be, if the work wasn't good, it don't get published. Lots of people have tried it... lots more didn't get published.
So she must have had something there to begin with.

I'm sure JT's agent knew who she was. And that's the sad thing - no one told her or Frey that what they did was a 'bad idea'.

There was a fella who came to my door three times within the last year and asked for five dollars. Evreytime he said "My mom just died and I need to get down to -somecity- to get my dad but I don't have the gas money."

First time...I gave him nothing.
Second time(about 3months later)...I rolled my eyes and I gave him nothing.
Third time...I gave him five bucks. I figured he must have a mental problem so I felt sorry for him.
I don't think I'll buy his book if he writes one.

I agree with B. Although on some level you have to admire the scam. Almost every writer, midlist and below, tries to avoid the slushpile in one way or another. What's the best way? To get recommended to an agent or a publisher by Michael Chabon or some other famous writer. And how are you going to do that? Make yourself up as if you were your own novel. Pretty creative. And what's the down side? If you don't do it, what celebrity writer or agent is going to give you the time of day?

Recently, I found out an old college teacher of mine had published six novels and was on the Pulitzer Prize committee. So I managed to get him an email through the college I attended years (and years) ago. I'm sure he didn't remember me, but he was nice enough to respond to my email. But when it came time to ask if he would look at my novel, he disappeared. Too bad I didn't have the foresight to pack my life story since college with the kind of lies that spell publicity, awards, dollar signs.

Christine N. said:

And no matter how "poor me" JT LeRoy made herself out to be, if the work wasn't good, it don't get published. Lots of people have tried it... lots more didn't get published.
So she must have had something there to begin with.

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I didn't say that's the only reason she got the work published. I said she treated people like crap, and that is wrong. This is what Susie Bright had to say about him:

http://susiebright.blogs.com/susie_brights_journal_/2006/01/my_name_is_susi.html

For those of you who don't feel like clicking on the link and reading the damn thing, she says, "if you’re an author, an editor, a publisher— or worse, a friend— to someone who ******** you up one side and down the other, it’s not cute. It’s not irrelevant. It’s a cruel con, straight up, and the whole writers’ community suffered for it...I’m embarrassed to tell you all the nutty things I did. Every time he was mean, or screwed up, I always told myself to stay steady and kind. Why did I make the effort? I’m no saint. But from listening to him, I believed the childhood he described surviving would have killed anyone else. The very least I could do was show compassion...Just to let you know how far gone I was, when I first read Beachy’s expose, my first thought was, “If this is true, JT might kill himself.” My suicide alert bells went off. Truth be told, a lot of us who got conned by JT have been trained since childhood to respond to these kind of distress calls."

So again, I don't get why James Frey is a horrible person, and JT is not. As long as you say, "autobiographical" instead of "memoir," is anything else you lie about, or do to other people, acceptable?

Pulling a stunt like this can go either way. Some people may take pity on you and help you out (and they're naive), or some people will totally ignore you (and they're cynical). Leroy must be doing something right to get as far as she did.

I'm not advocating pulling scams to get places. And I'm not saying "Leroy" is right to have done what she did. What I am saying, though, is that it's premature to say she did it because that's how publishing works. I think it's more of her problems than the publishing business. Plenty of writers get published without any scams. And the fact that her story made headlines means that she is a rare case (we hope).

There is a big difference between Frey and Leroy, though. When you're writing fiction, the rules really are different. Fiction is about entertainment, and sometimes the "artist" would do anything he or she needs to get noticed. The work, however, is still fiction, whether it's marketed as autobiographical or not. People who buy fiction would care less who the author is, or pretends to be. That's why authors can use a different name/identity when publishing novels. I can call myself "Patricia Inglewood" if I like, and it won't make a difference, because I write fiction. It's a persona. When I go to a bookstore and pick up that novel, I am not going to ask "Is this based on the author's true life story?" All I'd ask is, "Is this a good, well-written story?"

Memoirs and other non-fiction are different, IMHO, because the author's credibility is important. Frey's credibility is shot because he didn't just fudge fuzzy memories, he deliberately made things up.

Both Leroy and Frey are scam artists. But the difference lies in the final products. Leroy's is a work of fiction, made-believe -- so we know things are made up, no matter how "autobiographical" they claim to be -- while Frey's is lauded as a true, personal triumph that is going to inspire millions. Personally, I wouldn't buy either book. But I would be at least curious about how good Leroy's made-up story is -- or is it complete crap.

Tish Davidson said:

these authors wanted to help an HIV-positive former drug-addicted male prostitute.

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If she did tell people she was HIV positive, I can't imagine anybody thinking this is "okay".

SC Harrison said:

If she did tell people she was HIV positive, I can't imagine anybody thinking this is "okay".

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And it went much further than that - LeRoy claimed to have been abandoned, abused multiple times by relatives and others, forced into child prostitution, living on the streets... The entire career was based on the cult of personality surrounding the author and their horrific life; it had nothing to do with the work. And as to the thought that 'if it wasn't good, it wouldn't matter what the scam was', the quality of the work is only occasionally the arbiter of success. In this case it wasn't (can anyone even name one LeRoy book without looking it up?). Nor was it in the case of James Frey (good lord, but MLP was one crappy book). In both cases, it was the hype about the authors that made the career. The publishers found stories that they could tell that would draw people to the product - the books themselves were secondary.

willietheshakes said:

And it went much further than that - LeRoy claimed to have been abandoned, abused multiple times by relatives and others, forced into child prostitution, living on the streets... The entire career was based on the cult of personality surrounding the author and their horrific life; it had nothing to do with the work.

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Yes, that's the whole thing. LeRoy's work was marketed as "autobiographical fiction," yet "he" claimed it was all true. Labeling it "autobiographical fiction" instead of "memoir" doesn't really make it any less of a lie, when you claim it's a true story about a real person, when it isn't.

willietheshakes said:

quality of the work is only occasionally the arbiter of success. In this case it wasn't (can anyone even name one LeRoy book without looking it up?).

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Sarah. And The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things. But that just proves the level of success, not the quality of the work.