What is your opinion of celebrity authors? Those like Katie Price (a.k.a. the model, Jordan), and another model, Naomi Campbell who ‘wrote’ the easily forgettable novel Swan, are easy to disparage. Their relationship with pen and paper is similar to Dolly Parton’s relationship with her hairdresser: when asked how long it took her hairdresser to concoct such a mass of curls Dolly allegedly replied ‘I don’t know, I’m never there.’ But at least she was open about the contrivance, unlike Price and Campbell whose creations were brought into this world by faceless ghost writers.
It’s not so easy to dismiss the work of some of the other people who became famous for something other than writing before succumbing to the urge to pen their memoirs or take a foray into fiction. Stephen Fry was an intellectual who first came to our attention as a comic actor and was well capable of writing a novel about the holocaust, Making History, and many others. Around half a century earlier, Dirk Bogarde wrote six well received novels as well as being a film star.
Today we have TV personality Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series, which appears to have struck a chord with the general public and I, for one, certainly enjoy reading his books. And there’s rumour of a pending novel from Taylor Swift, which I may pass on.
There’s no doubt that celebrities get an easy ride when it comes to finding a publisher, as the publisher knows the name alone will guarantee sales. Often, enough sales to make it worth their while to give them a generous advance (think Prince Harry and Spare). But a famous name doesn’t guarantee sales. The actress Celia Imrie was promised a contract for a novel she was thinking about writing – a novel she did in fact complete, but it didn’t exactly fly off the shelves.
Those of us who write without the luxury of fame, struggle to get an agent’s or publisher’s attention. After 20 or so rejections, it is easy to feel a bit aggrieved that one’s hidden masterpiece is destined to remain just that – hidden. But the commentator Charlie Connolly has pointed out that publishers who take on celebrity authors and go on to sell thousands of copies of their work(s) keep those publishing houses solvent. They are therefore in a position to offer contracts to a few unknowns too, who may or may not bring in a return on their investment. There would, he argues, be fewer publishers if there was a ban on celebrity publishing (which would be impossible to enforce anyway).
Major celebrities who want to see their words in print are snatched up by the big-name publishers, but there are plenty of other publishers that an unknown would-be author can try. Reputable ones don’t charge to publish, but they will expect you to do all the leg-work in regard to marketing and promotion, and buy your own copies to sell at launches etc. Alternatively, some authors choose to pay an often quite hefty fee to a publisher to get their book out – and still find they have to do their own marketing, with the promised support evaporating after their last payment.
It’s not surprising therefore that writers turn to self-publishing. Some of the more enterprising ones set up their own publishing business for their own books and maybe a few friends who write in the same genre. There are some famous precedents: Virginia Woolf couldn’t get a publisher, so her husband set up a publishing house for her, Hogarth Press, that is still going strong – as are her books.
Galling as it may be that the works of the celebrities make a seemingly effortless rise to the top of the pile of manuscripts by a publisher’s desk – and then sell in numbers that often far outweigh their true worth – it is unlikely that they really are the reason why it is so hard for most of us to get published. And yes, that is a green-eyed monster perched on my left shoulder.
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