Would you rather be Amanda Hocking or Harper Lee?

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anthonysunderland

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I read an article recently that lamented the fact Amanda Hocking has sold so many different titles against Lee's one spectacular success. The author made their disdain of Hocking's writing ability clear, saying it didn't compare to the way Lee crafted her work.

It got me thinking which one I'd rather be. Hocking with lots of titles and a seeming ability to keep creating new work or Lee with sales of about 20 million at the last count.

To me writing is about story telling; exciting and involving people in the problems and exploits of your characters. Taking people into a whole new world of adventure.

I pay a great editor to not only correct my grammar but also to check the plot, look at things from the reader's view, and spot the things that I'm too involved to see. I don't want to win the Pullitzer but I make sure my work's well presented.

I get the impression that Lee isn't entirely comfortable with her legacy and maybe a second or third book, even if not so well received, would have given her more contentment.

Who would you rather be?
 

fireluxlou

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Amanda Hocking. I just love to tell stories like her. So I'd love to have a catalogue like her one day. Plus she's one of my favourite writers :D.

I don't like it when authors are pitted against each other like this. Everyone writes and publishes how much and writes whatever they want to write. Whether it just be one story or a hundred.
 
Erin Latimer

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I love what Amanda Hocking writes. The ideas behind her stories. I've only read Switched, so I can't fully judge all of her writing, but I'll agree that the writing in that particular book needed more editing. A lot of it was sort of weak. However, the girl is still young, and there is undeniable talent there. She'll only get better as she continues, and at the rate she pumps stories out, she'll get better fast.
 

Pinguicha

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Well, I cried when I read To Kill a Mockingbird. For that reason only,I'd rather be Harper Lee.

Also, Amanda Hocking's latest books haven't been very good. I read Hollowland and Hollowmen and, well... they were fun, I won't lie, but they were also derivative at best.
 
leahzero

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Harper Lee's work has been read, praised, and loved by generations of readers. It is taught widely in schools and remains an indisputable masterpiece of American letters. It explores some of the most important and divisive issues the US has faced in its blemished past. Its popularity endures because it touches on aspects of the human condition that are experienced universally, yet also illuminates a time and place in history that we can't allow ourselves to forget.

Hocking's work is...extremely unlikely to achieve any of these heights.

I'd rather be myself, but if I had to choose one type of success, Lee's for sure.
 
Amadan

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I have nothing against Amanda Hocking as a person, nor do I begrudge her her success. Her books, however, have no lasting value, and even post-editing, her writing is less than mediocre. For some authors, that's not a concern. They want to tell stories, they want to be read, they want to make money writing. I'm largely in that camp myself.

I have more respect for writers who genuinely hone their craft and want to produce something of merit.

But I also have respect for writers who keep writing.

I have always wondered why someone like Harper Lee would quit after one book.

I'd rather be like Amanda Hocking in that I hope I have more than one book in me. I'd rather write one really good book than a dozen crappy derivative ones, though.
 
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