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Dakota
Newbie Poster
Username: Dakota
Post Number: 18
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 03:05 pm: | 
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Well, the fallout from the Kaavya Viswanathan fiasco continues. For those of you who haven't heard, Kaavya received a 500,000 advance when she was 17 years old for her book, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life. According to an article in the New York Times, Kaavya used a "book packaging" service for her Opal book. She actually shares the copyright with the company, Alloy Entertainment. Alloy packages proposals and then sends them to writers for completion. The Times states that the relationship between Alloy and publishers are so intertwined that both McCafferty (author of Sloppy Firsts) and Kaavya thanked a former Alloy editor in the acknowledgement pages of their books. Alloy is behind some of the most popular YA series today, including the Gossip Girl Series and even The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The most surprising thing to me is that under standard Alloy contracts, these authors only receive 15% of the advances and royalties (which is smart, I guess, if they aren't even writing the books).
To me, book packaging sounds a bit like ghostwriting, a popular tool many people use to get their works in print. If a person has a great idea, but doesn't have a lick of writing skills, then they hire a ghostwriter to seal the deal. I know a lot of books out there written by ghostwriters, including more bestselling books than I care to admit. Most of the time, you'll see a ghostwriter's name on the acknowledgements page. One popular ghostwriter told me that she has cautioned her clients not to use her name on those pages because of the same thing that's happening with McCafferty and Kaavya. I mean, how can McCafferty get mad and sue if she didn't even write the book? Because I know you can't copyright ideas.
And for our readers, will they feel duped knowing that more and more of their favorite authors aren't even writing their books? And what about writers such as myself, with series and books I've written on my own. Will we have to carry the burden left by these "book packaging" factories? Believe me, I don't want to keep answering the question, "So, did you really write this book, or did someone write it for you?"
Personally, I don't have a problem with ghostwriting. Like I mentioned, some people have great ideas but they don't know how to write. Or, faced with the pressure of producing one book a year (or more), some people don't have the time to write. There's nothing wrong with hiring someone to do the job if you can't. And ghostwriting is hard. True professionals have to capture their clients' voices and make them sound authentic on written pages. But let's face it, our readers automatically think that the person whose name in on the cover is the person who wrote the book. If they feel cheated, then they don't buy books. And for an author, that's the worst thing that could happen.
The following questions popped into my head. Is ghostwriting bad? Would you buy a book if you knew that it was written by a ghostwriter and not the "author?" Will the Kaavya incident change the way people look at the ghostwriting industry as a whole?
IMO, this is just the tip of the iceburg. |
Emanuel
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 182
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 04:19 pm: |
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Dakota,
Regarding ghostwriting, I've always wondered if a book written by a non-writer celebrity was ghostwritten, and that was way before I became an author myself. For other writers, I don't really think about it.
Regarding Kaava, there's a post on my blog about the subject along with other writing topics at http://emanuelcarpenter.blogspot.com/.
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Dakota
Newbie Poster
Username: Dakota
Post Number: 19
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 05:27 pm: |
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Emanuel,
In your opinion, is there a difference between a non-writer celebrity and just someone who doesn't know how to write or doesn't have the time to write?
I've commented on your blog before. Make sure to check mine out too at:
http://dakotaknight.blogspot.com
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 4353
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 08:00 pm: |
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This young woman claims she may have read the book parts she was suppposed to have copied, and subconsciously "internalized" them. Yeah, right. The writing profession has really gotten bogus. I can see an autobiography or a memoir being written in collaboration with a ghost writer, but fiction?? No way. The noble profession of writing is being bastardized in the name of the almighty dollar. Sheeze. A few weeks ago, another East Indian woman was stripped of her credentials on a college campus because numerous passages of her published doctorate thesis was plaigerized from somebody's else work, and this was brought to the school's attention by a student. I know this reference is vague but I just remember reading about this incident. Anyway, to me, all of this is a sign of the times. Nowadays when computers and calculators and other gadgets do all of the tasks for everyone, why would people have qualms about letting somebody else do their work when it comes to creative endeavors that require originality and talent. I just recently read another article about how narcissitic and self-absorbed today's "Me" generation is. In order to boost their self esteem its members have been told all of their lives that they should believe that they can be ANYTHING they want to be. Unfortunately what most of them want to be are members of high profile professions that will bring them fame and fortune, such as doctors, lawyers and actors and athletes and entertainers and sucessful authors. When these kids get out into the real world and find out that it takes more than desire to bring their dreams into fruitition, they become disillusione upon realizing their abilitites are not commensurate with their aspirations. And because they have been weaned on instant gratification, they also expect immediate success in whatever field they do go into. Children should, of course, be encouraged to do their best, but they'd be better served to simply be told to be all that they can be. After all, for every winner there are a multitude of also-rans. Negativity? No. Reality? Yes. Nobody asked me, but does that matter? Hecky no. LOL. |
Emanuel
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 184
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 08:36 pm: |
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Dakota,
I think there is a big difference between the non-celebrity writer who hires a ghostwriter and the celebrity writer who hires one. The celebrity writer wants to capitalize on his or her already established fame. The non-celebrity usually has a personal story to tell or may want money or even fame but just doesn't have the skill to write.
BTW, I left a comment on your blog.
Cynique,
I call that I can do anything mentality the Michael Jordan Complex. 'I'm a natural athlete and professional basketball player. Of course I can be a pro baseball player or a pro golfer if I want.' This mentality is especially true of entertainers. It's not enough to be a Grammy-winning artist. Now you have to be an actor, have a clothing line, write a book (probably with a ghostwriter) and direct a movie. Of course the error in this mentality is that we can't all be what we want to be. Somebody is going to have to be a nurse, a janitor and garbage truck driver, or a salesperson even though they may not have grown up thinking they will become one. All of these are needed and there is only so many entertainers and athletes that are good enough to be professionals at it. |
Dakota
Newbie Poster
Username: Dakota
Post Number: 20
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 08:43 pm: |
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Update:
Little, Brown has recalled all remaining copies of Kaavya's book, so if you want a copy, you better hurry up and get it! All I have to say is that now they'll probably bring in big bucks on Ebay. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 4358
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 28, 2006 - 02:00 pm: |
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I hear ya, Emanuel. Once the ego gets a taste of success, it "rises to its level of incompetence". LOL |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 2131
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 28, 2006 - 02:22 pm: |
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Well as a writer I am torn--
I feel like you shouldn't fake the funk, that using a ghost if you are a writer (as opposed to a celebrity writer) is dishonest--
On the other hand I understand how somebody can dry up and still need to make payments on that mercedes or that boat or that mistress, and how the practice at least goes back to Alexandre Dumas Pere for sure--as I have stated before, and maybe before.
If people like what they have read, who am I to complain? Besides anybody who buys a book for who wrote it rather than what they wrote is frontin' and deserves what they get.
I knew it was all over when they did that special about the painter who just signs his name to work painted by others (also not a new practice) and how the rubes buy it and pay big prices knowing that all they are paying for is the signature.
This is 21st Century America, people. Reality is out. We make our own reality. |
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