How far would you go?

I wouldn't do anything sleazy.

My definition of sleazy, however, is a whole nother matter.

I think writers like that are scumbags, no better than any other con artist.

If you can't make it based on your own honest to goodness skills as a writer and your ability to weave an excellent story, than you simply aren't deserving of success.

Success is earned, not stolen or acquired through fraudulent means.

I believe that success is earned with hard work and ability. If I had to con my way to success, I wouldn't get much satisfaction out of it. Mostly I'd just become paranoid that my next "great work" wouldn't live up to the first and the con would be exposed. My success may be slight, but at least I know it is my own.

However, I know a lot of other people must not feel that way. When I was researching my book on competition (that just came out from Scholastic - Yea! Ask your kid's school library to buy a copy: Facing Competition by Tish Davidson.) I found this (to me) totally amazing statistic:

When 200 Olympic-caliber athletes were asked if they would take a drug that would allow them to win a gold metal and would be totally undetectable, but that would KILL them in 5 years, more that HALF said they would do it.

There is nothing that makes me thing writers are any less hungry for fame and fortune than athletes.

Tish, that is nuts about the athletes! (And congrats on your book release! Woot!!) Wonder how many of them would actually go through with it?

I'm not sure what I would do. I'd probably stick to my principles, but I don't have many of them left (working in marketing does that sometimes ). I used to think I would "stay true to my artistic vision."

Now, though, I am more interested in writing stuff that people will (hopefully) want to read. I can't see myself trying to be someone else - I do have a couple of pseudonyms, but they aren't famous either and they're all me.

"Whatever it takes" is a difficult thing to apply to publishing. Murdering famous authors or holding editors at gunpoint until they publish your book probably wouldn't work too well, because everything takes so damned long.

Maybe the creation of a whole new identity is just taking the 'making stuff up' that we do to a whole other level.

After all, we tell lies for a living...don't we?

Prostituting my art, dear boy.

Selling out

maestrowork said:

A related question: What is your definition of "selling out" as a writer?

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Lying. As long as a writer is honest in what he says and what he writes, I don't believe there is such a thing as "selling out." It's usually a phrase I hear from wannabe writers who can't make any money, and about writers who have made money.

scarletpeaches said:

After all, we tell lies for a living...don't we?

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I'm telling stories. Lies are something else altogether. When I write fiction, people know it's fiction, I'm not trying to convince them that it ever really happened. I'm not deceiving them. I'm telling stories.

maestrowork said:

A related question: What is your definition of "selling out" as a writer?

Click to expand...

I don't have a definition for "sell out." To me that's more a music thing. Besides, I don't write for my "art." I write to get paid. I've intended to be a commercial genre writer from the beginning, so I've never "sold out." In fact, being a sell out is my goal. I hope to sell out every bookstore that has my book.

scarletpeaches said:

After all, we tell lies for a living...don't we?

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Yes, but if we're doing the job we're supposed to do, the lies we tell will always reveal the truth.

Jamesaritchie said:

Lying. As long as a writer is honest in what he says and what he writes, I don't believe there is such a thing as "selling out." It's usually a phrase I hear from wannabe writers who can't make any money, and about writers who have made money.

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I would have to agree with this. I try to be honest in my work and in the way I perform it. If I can't do my work without being dishonest about it, I would rather not do it.

Even though honesty can hurt severely sometimes, I think I have to be honest in the way I do my work or it's just not worth it anymore.

Jamesaritchie said:

Yes, but if we're doing the job we're supposed to do, the lies we tell will always reveal the truth.

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To quote BTB, "A novel is a monumental lie that must have the absolute ring of truth."

I think the whole push of publishers in selling books based on the author's personal platform rather than their professional platform as a teller of a good stories lends itself to people re-inventing themselves as whatever flavor of the week will sell the book, be it a racial or ethnic minority, an abused child, a religiously-converted criminal or whatever background they need to grab the attention of the entertainment media and get on the talk shows and sell the book When this happens any truth starts looking like a a slice of Swiss cheese.

Jamesaritchie said:

Lying. As long as a writer is honest in what he says and what he writes, I don't believe there is such a thing as "selling out."

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Amen to that.