Background check on Authors

Why would they even want to do that unless someone was applying for a position within the company itself?

They'd check somoene's past books sales history if they've been previously published by another reputable house but beyond that I seriously doubt it---or have I been out of the NY loop so long I missed something?

A credit check or background check seems entirely inappropriate unless, as BarbaraSheridan pointed out, you're actually being hired for a position in the company. You're not applying for a loan, you're selling the right to publish your work and profit from it.

What made you think to ask? Did a publisher tell you that they'd be running a background check on you? I'm shuddering just thinking about it.

Kristen

background

sportscribe said:

Just curious as to whether publishers conduct background check on potential authors; ie, credit checks, criminal history. And is there any scope of investigation a publisher conducts before pulling the trigger with an offer?

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If they did, many a novel never would have been published. Writers are supposed to have bad credit, and a criminal background just means you can probably tell a better story.

Books

sportscribe said:

Well, besides a manuscript and biographical credits, just figured publishers might want more information on a writer creating their product before investing monies in them.

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Publishers invest in books, not writers. Most writers are sorry slobs with bad credit, one addiction or another, and often a checkered past. As long as the book sells, no one cares in the least who wrote it. There's one world famous mystery writer who, as a teen, murdered her mom. Jack Abbot was in prison for murder when he co-wrote "In the Belly of the Beast" with Norman Mailer. After being paroled, Abbott got in an argument with a restaurant employee and stabbed him to death. He went back to prison for life, and committed suicide in 2002.

Many, many famous writers have been alcoholics or drug addicts, have committed crimes, have been in jail, etc.

As long as you write a book teh publisher thinks the reading public will buy, they don't care who you are, or what you've done. A checkered past might even help the writing and improve sales.

Jamesaritchie said:

Publishers invest in books, not writers. Most writers are sorry slobs with bad credit, one addiction or another, and often a checkered past. As long as the book sells, no one cares in the least who wrote it. ... As long as you write a book [the] publisher thinks the reading public will buy, they don't care who you are, or what you've done. A checkered past might even help the writing and improve sales.

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I'll second that. By and large, they don't give a rat's you-know-what who you are. If you're talking about a small religious press, depending on the subject matter of your book they may ask you some background-oriented questions, but that's the only possible exception I can think of.

Kristen

Jamesaritchie said:

Publishers invest in books, not writers. Most writers are sorry slobs with bad credit, one addiction or another, and often a checkered past. As long as the book sells, no one cares in the least who wrote it. There's one world famous mystery writer who, as a teen, murdered her mom. Jack Abbot was in prison for murder when he co-wrote "In the Belly of the Beast" with Norman Mailer. After being paroled, Abbott got in an argument with a restaurant employee and stabbed him to death. He went back to prison for life, and committed suicide in 2002.

Many, many famous writers have been alcoholics or drug addicts, have committed crimes, have been in jail, etc.

As long as you write a book teh publisher thinks the reading public will buy, they don't care who you are, or what you've done. A checkered past might even help the writing and improve sales.

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All this is true... and one of the writers who works for me served 20 years of a life sentence; he's an immensely popular interview. Bad behavior and a checkered past can be a big plus in a marketing campaign.

But I'm the VP of Story Development for a medium-sized prodco and these days, in the aftermath of the Frey Affair, we do verify all the facts in stories which are presented to us as true... Usually we change things anyway so that a screen story is "based on a true incident" but we really want to know what's"true" up front. We inform of the writer of this background check and, yes, we do use a private detective... one of the investigative agencies that now works to verify non-fiction as being exactly that. There's a potential revenue loss, particularly in the book world (or so my agent tells me), so now writers who lie about their education, their background, or the facts of their "true" story are found out prior to publication.

It's a brave new world.

Anne Perry, if that's who you're talking about, did not murder HER mother when she was in her teens; she went along with her friend when the girl murdered HER OWN mother...

PerditaDrury said:

...these days, in the aftermath of the Frey Affair, we do verify all the facts in stories which are presented to us as true... Usually we change things anyway so that a screen story is "based on a true incident" but we really want to know what's"true" up front. We inform of the writer of this background check and, yes, we do use a private detective... one of the investigative agencies that now works to verify non-fiction as being exactly that. There's a potential revenue loss, particularly in the book world (or so my agent tells me), so now writers who lie about their education, their background, or the facts of their "true" story are found out prior to publication. ...

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In my opinion, this falls into the category of fact checking. Although the facts are indeed events in the writer's background, it's not a background check in the traditional sense, simply a verification of the facts of the story.

Kristen

Jamesaritchie said:

There's one world famous mystery writer who, as a teen, murdered her mom.

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If it's the one I'm thinking of, it was actually her friend's mom.

Peter Jackson made a brilliant movie of it.

PattiTheWicked said:

If it's the one I'm thinking of, it was actually her friend's mom.

Peter Jackson made a brilliant movie of it.

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Oops, yep, you're right. I watched the movie, too. A very, very good movie.

PerditaDrury said:

All this is true... and one of the writers who works for me served 20 years of a life sentence; he's an immensely popular interview. Bad behavior and a checkered past can be a big plus in a marketing campaign.

But I'm the VP of Story Development for a medium-sized prodco and these days, in the aftermath of the Frey Affair, we do verify all the facts in stories which are presented to us as true... Usually we change things anyway so that a screen story is "based on a true incident" but we really want to know what's"true" up front. We inform of the writer of this background check and, yes, we do use a private detective... one of the investigative agencies that now works to verify non-fiction as being exactly that. There's a potential revenue loss, particularly in the book world (or so my agent tells me), so now writers who lie about their education, their background, or the facts of their "true" story are found out prior to publication.

It's a brave new world.

Anne Perry, if that's who you're talking about, did not murder HER mother when she was in her teens; she went along with her friend when the girl murdered HER OWN mother...

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Yep, anything presented as true is subject to fact checking. And wisely so.

And, yeah, I knew it wasn't Anne Perry's mother. As I said in another post, I've watched the movie, and read numerous articles about it. Pure brain fart time.

I can just imagine, historically, what would have been lost to us...

Mr De Quincey, loved your novel "Confessions of an English Opium Eater"... however, we'd like the drug references taken out.

Lord Byron, nice poems, but rehab is a condition of acceptance...

My Burroughs, you're a junkie, you shot your wife... no way.

And if a bad credit rating was a problem, I suspect that most libraries would fit inside a small suitcase.

Hi sportscribe,
No, publishers generally don't run a credit check on their authors, but if an author sends me a proposal that includes statements such as, "I am a best-selling author," I always check to see what interpretation of "best-selling" they are using. I often do a little background check on authors I hire, just so I know what I'm getting into. I've been burned a couple of times by writers who present themselves as more professional or experienced (or just plain better writers) than they actually are.

Your credit report? Nah, we don't care. Don't check mine, either, okay?

Nomad said:

Hi sportscribe,
No, publishers generally don't run a credit check on their authors, but if an author sends me a proposal that includes statements such as, "I am a best-selling author," I always check to see what interpretation of "best-selling" they are using. I often do a little background check on authors I hire, just so I know what I'm getting into. I've been burned a couple of times by writers who present themselves as more professional or experienced (or just plain better writers) than they actually are.

Your credit report? Nah, we don't care. Don't check mine, either, okay?

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I've done much the same thing as a magazine editor. It's amazing how many writers claim publishing credits they don't have, probably thinking I won't take the time to check.

I have had editors and publishers ask me to verify that a writer did or did not plagiarize submitted work.

Mike Coombes said:

I can just imagine, historically, what would have been lost to us...

Mr De Quincey, loved your novel "Confessions of an English Opium Eater"... however, we'd like the drug references taken out.

Lord Byron, nice poems, but rehab is a condition of acceptance...

My Burroughs, you're a junkie, you shot your wife... no way.

And if a bad credit rating was a problem, I suspect that most libraries would fit inside a small suitcase.

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Nah, Mike, I think you missed the point... In this discussion, nothing would have been lost to us. We're not trying to censor drunks, drug addicts or murderers... we're just saying that if that's how they present themselves, they better be able to prove that they have the addictions or rap sheets they're claiming.

The true story of a drug-addled killer on the run had better not be the product of some small town minister's imagination... unless it's fiction.

DeQuincey would need to prove that he was English and did, in fact, eat opium if he were presenting his "confession" as fact today. We don't want to sanitize, we want to verify.

Byron can be a drunk, and he can be mad, bad and dangerous to know, but we will want proof that he did, in fact, sleep with his sister Augusta and torment Dr. Polidori with a horse whip as he claims before we publish/or film his autobiography.

If something is non-fiction, it needs to be true and verifiable as such these days. If something is fiction, then, hey, any "confession" goes.

Medievalist said:

I have had editors and publishers ask me to verify that a writer did or did not plagiarize submitted work.

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That's interesting, Med... would they have something for you to compare it to or would it be a general inquiry? What would red-flag it as a possible plagiarism?

Mike Coombes said:

Mr De Quincey, loved your novel "Confessions of an English Opium Eater"... however, we'd like the drug references taken out.

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LOL! That would be a short read.

I think in that case the publisher would be more interested in the integrity and credibility of your sources. For example, if you say you're going to write an expose of the PGA, you'd better be prepared to show the amazing connections you have that will show a publisher you'll be able to get the inside story, not just read the wire reports or the junk that syndicates put out. So if I were looking at a proposal and considering it in that light, I would definitely ask for and check out the sources you list in your proposal.

To me, fact checking (for non-fiction anyway) is different than background checking on authors. You want to make sure that your non-fiction books are based on facts. You want to make sure that James Frey did spend 18 months in jail. Whether James Frey had sex with a three-headed bulldog or if he is $3 million in debt is irrelevant unless he wrote about it or his non-fic has something to do with it.

Fiction, on the other hand, is entirely different. Nobody gives a crap who the author is as long as he write a good book.

Just veering slightly off-topic here: Was there not a law either proposed or passed in the US wherein convicted felons are not permitted to sell their story for profit? How does that affect a biography or memoir?