Young Writers Dazzle Publisher (Mom and Dad)

Libbie · Apr 3, 2012

JayMan said:
Add me to the list of people who just Googled Miss Tesch's story and were horrified. I sort of get a perverse pleasure out of reading about things like this, but it's very sad for the girl and very irresponsible of her parents. She does however lose some sympathy from me because, if my math is correct, she's now almost 18 and ought to be more aware of how ridiculous her whole Maradonia non-fame is.

Also found it has its own TVTropes page :
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/MaradoniaSaga?from=Main.MaradoniaSaga

Yeah, at this point she needs to quietly bury as much of this as she can from off the face of the Interwebs. But I feel badly for her still, because her parents' over-encouragement and lack of reality checks are the reason why she can't see how poor her writing is/was. This is precisely what the video HoneyBadger posted warns against! YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!!! (Just not very well.)

HoneyBadger · Apr 3, 2012

I JUGGLED!

Cyia · Apr 3, 2012

Either GT believes her own hype, or she doesn't know how to stop its momentum. She still makes mention of movies and the theme park, etc. It's sad, because even if she ones her skills and becomes a wonderful writer, this thing will always be in her background.

If she's serious about writing, I think the best thing she could do would be to practice, of course, but also rewrite the books, back in their normal trilogy (those 800+ page books were something like 60,000 words stretched to a ridiculous type point) form and re-release them if she ever makes it as a writer. It would make a great cautionary tale with a good ending, and she might actually make some money off of them.

Libbie · Apr 3, 2012

Good idea, Cyia.

This is what pen names were made for.

SomethingOrOther · Apr 3, 2012

LOL

Cyia said:
If she's serious about writing, I think the best thing she could do would be to practice, of course, but also rewrite the books, back in their normal trilogy (those 800+ page books were something like 60,000 words stretched to a ridiculous type point) form and re-release them if she ever makes it as a writer. It would make a great cautionary tale with a good ending, and she might actually make some money off of them.

Unfortunately her parents have no doubt spoiled her like meat left out in the open on a steaming summer day, so she probably has zero tolerance whatsoever for anything she has to work for. The best ending conceivable, for her, is becoming elite at financial planning by the time she reaches her mid-twenties and not squandering her allowance / inheritance / trust fund windfall.

CrastersBabies · Apr 3, 2012

I don't know what planet some of these parents are from if they think their child will actually get them a "load of cash" in the writing business.

That said, I'd like to say that the kid can only go so far with mom/dad, that the writing has to be good or they'll fall to the wayside. But, this is the era of the Twilight series. How can I complain about some kid's crappy writing when Twilight makes most people want to vomit up their intestines?

Bubastes · Apr 3, 2012

Is she another Robert Stanek? http://conjugalfelicity.com/a-trip-inside-the-mind-of-team-tesch/

Nope, no sympathy from me.

The Lonely One · Apr 3, 2012

I could see using this as essentially "binding" a son/daughter's work for them to remember their accomplishment. Giving it to relatives and such? Fine. Selling it if it isn't publishable to begin with? That's slightly ridiculous.

MJNL · Apr 3, 2012

This reminds me of this incident we had on here a while back: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207333

Where the girl begged her parents to publish the book, then was completely baffled by the criticism she received. She had no concept of the business or what constituted good writing, but she wanted to be a writer. I don't think her parents giving in to her pleas to publish helped her at all. And she was 17 and should have been mature enough to understand.

Hopefully she learned from the experience. I'd hate for someone to get turned off of writing because they weren't ready for the realities of publishing.

aruna · Apr 3, 2012

Maradonia= :Jaw:

Here's a video on Gloria Tesch by SwankiVY that doesn't critique the book itself, but the horrific marketing tactics the author and her parents use to "create" a best-seller. It seems the only way this "author" will learn is through the school of very hard knocks and failure. What a shame.

Cyia · Apr 3, 2012

When I was in high school, we had to do these current event presentations based on the newspaper. One of the stories I had was about a set of brothers (little kids, not teens) who wanted to go to Disney World, but their parents couldn't afford it. So, they wrote a book, hoping to make enough to pay for the trip.

It made the news because they'd made in the $15-25,000 range, and I remember feeling so sorry for them because their parents "weren't sure" if they were using the money to go to Florida.

(Granted, there are perfectly legitimate reasons a family might need that kind of cash, especially if medical bills or nearing foreclosure is involved, but from a kids' perspective it's a huge let down.)

Phaeal · Apr 3, 2012

Re Maradonia: Now, now, now. Everyone was put on this earth for a purpose. Tesh's purpose is to make Christopher Paolini look like a FREAKIN' GENIUS -- WHO COULD EVER DISPARAGE HIS WORK WHEN THIS HORROR EXISTS???

Mission well and truly accomplished, Gloria.

Cyia · Apr 3, 2012

Don't be too hard on the kid (she really was a KID when this started, like 11 years old). She's not the one that bred and fed the hype monster, and when she was that young she wouldn't have known to question mom and dad's assessment of her work.

Writing can be improved, but the part of this that fits with the article in the OP isn't about a child's writing ability. It's about the danger of over-coddling parents stifling that ability in the name of faux-accomplishment and fabricated self-esteem. Whatever talent these kids, Tesch and Paolini included, possess is cut off because they're inundated with the idea that they've already reached the pinnacle. What's left to strive for?

kaitie · Apr 3, 2012

I wonder if here parents didn't really think that they had a little genius talent on their hands that would no doubt be famous in a few years for writing just amazingly brilliant work so far beyond her years when she was ten, and thus published and hyped it, etc.

It doesn't make it much better, and it's frustrating to see the consequences, but it's possible that it wasn't so much about thinking they'd make a fortune as being so biased that they didn't recognize the flaws themselves.

skylark · Apr 3, 2012

What I don't get is the mental step from "my kid writes so well for a ten year old, I'm so proud of them!" to "other people will want to pay money for a ten year old who writes at the level of a slightly older child."

When my son was all excited about writing a proper story, we "published" his, too. It's on our website. It has links and everything! You can even find it if you Google!

He was chuffed to bits. No need for ISBNs and Amazon listings (and public humiliation).

MysteryRiter · Apr 3, 2012

Ah, the Maradonia thing.

I remember reading about that right after I wrote my first novel (at 12-13) and was determined to have it published and become the world's youngest author. I know, I know, reading it back, I cannot believe I even thought it was good. Anyway, because of the false marketing, a google search to see who the current "youngest novelist" was revealed that author. I read an excerpt out of curiosity and thought, "wow, publishing is easy. My writing is better than hers and she's published."

Of course, when the agents started linking me to places where my writing could be improved (AW being one of them), I realized that the novel must really suck. (And it did.)

I just read the sample again.

I have no words.

Actually, yes, I do. I really feel bad for the author. I don't think she understands what she's getting herself into and her parents certainly aren't helping, either. I hope soon she'll come to her senses and unpublish the novels. Then if she writes a publishable one in the future, write it under a pen name.

elindsen · Apr 3, 2012

It does piss me off that they kept calling it self publishing. As Uncle Jim said, vanity.

With regards to paying, why not pay for your kids to go to creative writing classes? Everyone can improve. I checked out the look inside feature of one of the books. It was okay, but I don't think it would have been picked up. First, a few problems with commas and such. Common placement classes LEARNING how to get better would have taught them. I am all for supporting my kids, but handing over a check so my kid can have a self-esteem boost is wrong. They need to learn that hard work pays, not the bank account. The hard work drives the passion harder and gives the love of what you do.

Would you trust a doctor or lawyer who read and anatomy or law book and paid for the certificate on the wall to do your services? Of course not. They need to be schooled first. Writing a manuscript is hard. Learning the industry and how to be an author instead of a writer is harder, and that includes rejection.

The Lonely One · Apr 3, 2012

Squinkies said:
They need to learn that hard work pays, not the bank account.

Unfortunately that's getting harder and harder to believe these days.

elindsen · Apr 3, 2012

The Lonely One said:
Unfortunately that's getting harder and harder to believe these days.

True, but we should be at least telling our kids that

BenPanced · Apr 3, 2012

Cyia said:
Writing can be improved, but the part of this that fits with the article in the OP isn't about a child's writing ability. It's about the danger of over-coddling parents stifling that ability in the name of faux-accomplishment and fabricated self-esteem. Whatever talent these kids, Tesch and Paolini included, possess is cut off because they're inundated with the idea that they've already reached the pinnacle. What's left to strive for?

Self-publishing their own fanfic with the serial numbers filed off?

SomethingOrOther · Apr 3, 2012

Cyia said:
Don't be too hard on the kid (she really was a KID when this started, like 11 years old). She's not the one that bred and fed the hype monster, and when she was that young she wouldn't have known to question mom and dad's assessment of her work.

This x 100. Parents' missteps can screw kids up in certain ways. Unfortunately, I know that firsthand.

Phaeal · Apr 4, 2012

I guess I was lucky then to have parents who didn't pay any attention to my writing.

Seriously, though, we kids didn't expect this kind of adulation and hovering back in ancient times. In fact, we felt sorry for the one kid whose mother was always fluttering around her. She got more stuff; the rest of us got to run the streets from dawn to (after) dusk, creating our own adventures.

JSSchley · Apr 4, 2012

I like the analogy to music lessons. If you think your kid might be a virtuoso pianist, you pay for lessons and enter him/her in contests and have other people judge. Nearly all parents, no matter how much they support their children, would clearly see the difference between charging people to listen to their child play the piano right away and having the child take lessons.

I think it all comes back to the fact that many, many people don't understand that writing is a craft which takes practice and time spent honing the skill. Many assume that if you can hold forth for 70,000 words and mostly spell everything correctly, that's really all that authors do.

Terie · Apr 4, 2012

JSSchley said:
Many assume that if you can hold forth for 70,000 words and mostly spell everything correctly, that's really all that authors do.

You...you...you mean it's NOT??? :e2faint:

Cyia · Apr 4, 2012

JSSchley said:
I Nearly all parents, no matter how much they support their children, would clearly see the difference between charging people to listen to their child play the piano right away and having the child take lessons.

You've obviously never been forced to endure someone's little prodigy performing at a birthday party (before the cake and ice cream, of course) or family functions. Or met the person who will volunteer her child as "the music" for every event that pops up.

Young Writers Dazzle Publisher (Mom and Dad)

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

terribly loud, emotionally distant

Rewriting My Destiny

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

-

Burninator!

bananaed

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

A Little Lost

On a wing and a prayer

Rewriting My Destiny

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Rewriting My Destiny

With great power comes

Murder isn't so bad...

Zombie lovin'

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

Zombie lovin'

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)

-

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Have Harp Will Travel

Writer is as Writer does

Rewriting My Destiny