Fame and fortune

maestrowork · Feb 27, 2010

What if you are as rich and (in)famous as JK Rowling, Stephen King, Stephanie Meyer, Dan Brown, or James Patterson? What if you have just as many fans as detractors?

Would you like it? Would you run? Would you just ignore all that and mind your own business and just write? Can you truly get away unscathed in this world of celebrity worship?

BrooklynLee · Feb 27, 2010

Well, I'm not much of a daydreamer on these kinds of things...I don't spend a lot of time thinking about winning the lottery either.

But really, the nice thing about being a writer is that even the most famous writer in the world can still usually go to the grocery store in peace. Whereas it seems like even a C-list movie actor can't come home from the gym in a ratty t-shirt without a picture showing up on some gossip Web site the next day.

I mean, I couldn't pick Dan Brown out of a lineup. And I like to think I'm actually paying attention to the writing world, unlike 90% of my fellow Americans.

So it's probably easier to ignore the trappings (both positive and negative) of celebrity as a writer than as another kind of celebrity. How an individual handles it is probably based on his or her own temperament, though, like anything else.

seun · Feb 27, 2010

I'm not fussed about gaining any fame from writing. Getting paid to do it would be very nice but that's as far as I'd like to go. If I did have any success with it, I'd expect detractors. No writer (or celebrity for that matter) is universally loved. Just as long as nobody said my name in the same sentence as Dan Brown's, I'd be happy.

thethinker42 · Feb 27, 2010

Seun doesn't like Dan Brown.

seun said:
Just as long as nobody said my name in the same sentence as Dan Brown's, I'd be happy.

Oh...crap...sorry Seun.

seun · Feb 27, 2010

Touche.

Toothpaste · Feb 27, 2010

I've thought a lot about it, and have decided. I'd be fine with it. I do think there would be the obvious negatives, but the good thing with even being a super famous author is that while you might, yes, get recognised on the street, it still wouldn't be to the same degree as an actor and to me that's the biggest negative to fame. I like to go out and do stuff.

But dealing with detractors, obnoxious people etc, well that would be made much easier by having so many people love your work and a nice pile of money to sleep on. Would also like critical success though, and awards given by peers, so I'm more interested in JK Rowling's fame than Meyer's.

Libbie · Feb 27, 2010

maestrowork said:
What if you are as rich and (in)famous as JK Rowling, Stephen King, Stephanie Meyer, Dan Brown, or James Patterson? What if you have just as many fans as detractors?

Would you like it? Would you run? Would you just ignore all that and mind your own business and just write? Can you truly get away unscathed in this world of celebrity worship?

I would so dig it. I thrive on outside validation. I think most of us do, but few of us are willing to admit it.

That being said, I'd probably just smile to myself and keep on working. I write because it's fun and therapeutic, and being famous wouldn't change the fact that writing is my main creative outlet.

maestrowork · Feb 27, 2010

I'm not asking if you want fame/fortune. I'm saying if you do have fame and fortune, how would you cope?

For me, for a long while I resisted even entertaining the notion that I might become famous - I dreaded it. Even though I acted and wrote and did those things, in the back of my mind, the last thing I wanted was to become "famous," (even without the paparazzi), to be recognized by strangers.

But over the years, I've eased into the idea and I actually embrace it. Not that I want to be famous, but that I wouldn't resist it. I think there's a good side of being famous. Like when George Clooney came out and helped raise $59 million for Haiti -- that's a good thing, as long as they're not doing it for their own egos. You can help raise so much awareness when people, like it or not, listen to what you have to say. And trust me, we writers have tons to say. And like Libbie said, many of us need outside validation whether we want to admit or not. It really is nice when a lot of people like your work; that makes what we love to do even more worthwhile.

Saskatoonistan · Feb 27, 2010

I want grills.

Maxinquaye · Feb 27, 2010

I'm quite a private person, so I think the fame would bother me. For a guy that gets the stutters when talking in front of a big crowd, that would bother me quite a bit I think.

I don't write for fame and fortune, after all. It is a miniscule risk with the job. If it came, I don't really know what to do. Maybe I would handle it like Salinger or Garbo did. I don't know, and I think it is hard to know unless you're actually in that situation.

It is like asking a washing lady in Smolensk what she would do if she was a CEO in a Wall Street bank.

charlotte49ers · Feb 27, 2010

Though those authors are super famous, they don't get mobbed usually, so it would be easier to handle than say, being Brad Pitt, or something.

I think I would handle it fine, plus I live in a town I've been in practically my whole life, so I don't think anyone would be super excited to see me at Outback or church on Sunday.

aruna · Feb 27, 2010

I'm a very private person so if I did get fame and fortune from writing I'd grab the money and run!

I don't need outside validation -- truly not. So I'd shun the celebritiy route. But I'd still be happy that millions of people to love my books because I want to change the world! (Can't help it -- I was born into such a family!)

But -- if I had Rowling's fame-- I would retire to a place where nobody could find me. I would not be availaible for interviews. I would not do readings or events. I'd donate most of my money to charity -- in fact, start a few charities of my own. I don't need much myself -- just enough to retire to my secret hideout and live in peace for the rest of my life! I'd still like to travel, probably. But privately, incognito, not as Ms Famous Author.

Sevvy · Feb 27, 2010

There is a part of me that hopes that I will be so famous editors will fight over the chance to publish my personal journals after I die. Seriously, I want to be the stuff of biography wars.

Thankfully that is a small part of me, and my more rational self will be overjoyed if I manage to be even moderately successful someday. Heck, if someday I was successful enough to actually make a living doing this...that would be amazing.

Claudia Gray · Feb 27, 2010

If I had it, I'd have to hire people to deal more with the mail/internet sides of things, and I'd avoid reviews even more than I do. Nor would I be able to continue at Absolute Write, since -- no matter what i wrote or how I wrote it -- there would be endless threads explaining how I was doing it wrong. Other than that, I can't really see a downside. It would be great to have no financial worries at all.

scarletpeaches · Feb 27, 2010

maestrowork said:
I'm not asking if you want fame/fortune. I'm saying if you do have fame and fortune, how would you cope?

I'd get laid a lot more than I do now. Yeah, I'd cope.

maestrowork · Feb 27, 2010

I'd definitely have help -- free me from all the mundane stuff, please. And I would control the interviews, public appearances, etc. (kind of the way JD Salinger or Harper Lee did it). But I wouldn't reject the fame; I just protect my privacy with a vengeance.

backslashbaby · Feb 27, 2010

I would hate it. Seriously, the balance of energy in the world would be entirely out of whack if people paid that kind of attention to me.

I wouldn't mind an appearance here and there about the work. That makes sense. But anything more than that and I'd get very rude and too eccentric real quick

It's just too bizarre for me.

willietheshakes · Feb 27, 2010

maestrowork said:
I'm not asking if you want fame/fortune. I'm saying if you do have fame and fortune, how would you cope?

Co-eds and blow.

maestrowork · Feb 27, 2010

scarletpeaches said:
I'd get laid a lot more than I do now. Yeah, I'd cope.

Groupies, you mean? Who wouldn't want to have sex with a famous author. Just ask all the Neil Gaiman fans (ahem... I know a few; you all shall remain nameless).

kuwisdelu · Feb 27, 2010

maestrowork said:
Groupies, you mean? Who wouldn't want to have sex with a famous author. Just ask all the Neil Gaiman fans (ahem... I know a few; you all shall remain nameless).

I've always written for the groupies. That's why I started writing.

maestrowork · Feb 27, 2010

I've yet to... wait, nevermind :e2brows:

gothicangel · Feb 27, 2010

I would love to never have to worry about never having money, or paying the bills. The flip side I couldn't leave academia no matter how famous I got.

I would make damn sure I put something back: charity work or setting up a scholarship.

I was thinking about this today [while serving the usual drunks and druggies]; I work this hard, so my children don't have to do this.

Ken · Feb 27, 2010

... would wear a diguise and change my name to Ben. Don't think I'll ever have to worry about the downsides to fame, though, or upsides either. At this rate it'll be half a miracle if I ever manage to get a book on the shelves, at all, that sells a copy or two and nets me a buck fifty in royalties during its two-day run.

HConn · Feb 27, 2010

I'd create a second account here on AW, start a thread slamming "that hack HConn," then loiter at the computer all day hoping you guys would jump in to defend me.

C.M.C. · Feb 27, 2010

I'd pull a Salinger. Actually, I want to anyway, but it would give me an excuse.

Fame and fortune

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