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Mad Publishers

edited September 2010 in Writing
Did you notice that Wayne Rooney's wealth included a five book deal worth £3.5m? Now I know he 'wrote' his first autobiography when he was only 21 (wow) and I believe he could actually write his name. Possibly he can now do joined up writing, but suggesting he can WRITE five books (let alone one) is stretching the imagination too far.
So we REAL writers plod on, and with luck might even get a publishing deal.....for peanuts.Of course we must not forget the obscene deal Blair obtained.

Comments

  • what we have to do is ensure our names get as big as his and we too will get five book deals ... I'm working on it. By the time I have my 60th book out (when I am about 90) I will be as big a name as he ... and by then he will have been long forgotten and his books not even wanted in charity shops ...

    think on it like that. And be encouraged to keep right on writing. I am.
  • "Ee, errrrm" as Rooney says in that articulate manner.
  • Wayne Rooney's books probably will be written by a 'real' writer. Think of him as Tesco, he doesn't grow the fruit or bake the biscuits but that doesn't mean he can't sell them and make lots of money.

    Why worry? It's not as though his getting the deal lessens your chances. I doubt that the people who will buy his book would have bought yours (or mine or Dorothy's) instead if he hadn't got that advance. Not because his will be better, but because they'll be a different genre and mostly bought buy people who have chosen them solely for the name on the cover.

    Some 'real' writers make lots of money too. Stephen King isn't poor, nor is JK Rowling for example. As Dorothy says, we just need to take a bit longer to build up our own names.
  • And hope for a bit of luck that the book is in the right place at the right time when it happens...
  • In my own silly way I didn't think people would stoop to buying the Blaire book but hey, who am I to judge? If the reading public will buy novels by Katie Price et al well then anything goes. I would not touch any of the books written by Kate Moss until someone told me she's not the model!
  • that would be Kate Mosse, then, with the added 'e' so she was different from the model.
    I am surprised people are buying Blair's book. What on earth does he have to say that is not a justification for all he did without apology?
  • Moss, Smoss!

    Agree with you on TB (that's not talk back mind)
  • Perhaps his recent antics are merely fodder for his books. Just think of all those loyal fans who are going to read them. (Don't get me started).....
  • I remember reading an theory not so long ago - I think it was in one of our threads - claiming that the Wayne Rooney or Kate Moss books might well be bought AND READ by punters who would not otherwise have dreamt of buying a book, and that these folks who are new to reading might like the experience and go on to buy a second book one day. The authors are reaching a wider public and drawing them into the bookshops where our books (hopefully) will be waiting for them. As PM says above, it doesn't make sense to grumble against the success of such 'writers'; they're not competitors any more than JKRowling or Stephen King are our competitors, and in fact they are encouraging people to read. Bully for them.
  • Quasi curiosity will make them buy it and try to read it. Most of them - his 'target' audience, will never buy another book again.
  • There is a theory that if publishers make lots of money from Celebrity 'authors' such as Rooney, they'll then be able to gamble on an unknown author. Maybe the celebrity sales will be what stop them going bankrupt and having to stop all publishing.
  • Trouble is that they pay big advances to celebrities that they often don't earn back in book sales- same with politicians biogs.
  • did you see Tony Blair needs to sell 200,000 copies for them to break even?????????????????????

    Seriously, unless you are Keith Richards, who really does have a story to tell, no celebrity book is going to boost the profits of a company to the point they will think they can take on newbies. It's ridiculous, these people don't need the advances! With all the money Rooney has, does he need it? Royalties would have been enough!
  • So who will confess to having bought Tony Blair's book?
  • Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole!
    But if someone wants to buy it for themselves that is okay. :)
  • I wiil buy a copy when I see one in the charity shops, take it home and use pages from book in by bathroom as 'you know what'.
  • You have a bathroom? We don't!
  • Celebrities and politicians etc will always 'write' books and publishers (who want to make money - usually lots of it) will always publish them. Don't wory about it. There will also always be real writers who persevere and find some publishing success. Just concentrate on being one of those writers ;)
  • [quote=Stan2]So who will confess to having bought Tony Blair's book? [/quote]
    No way Jose! I'd like to be there throwing the eggs though. It was mentioned in the reviews that he describes shall we say his more intimate moments with Cherie. Let's hope it doesn't inspire Gordon Brown to write in a similar vein...God help us all.
  • When TB arrived for book-signing in Dublin he was pelted with eggs, tomatoes, and onions. Whilst TB made a quick getaway his chauffeur made a Spanish omlette.
  • he he...:)
  • It's not a book I would buy, and I'm certainly no fan, but at least TB is giving the advance and all royalties from his book to the British Legion.
  • And gaining a nice tax advantage at the same time...;)
  • Well it certainly seems like there are a lot of people willing to buy the book:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/08/tony-blair-a-journey-sales-records

    That's a staggeringly large number for a political autobiography.
  • Maybe people are buying their Xmas gifts early?
  • Ooooo they really don't like them then...;)
  • YOu wouldn't stand in a queue for goodness knows how long for a book you don't want.
  • Some people would if they thought they'd get in the paper or on TV and some people will join in just because they think everyone else is and don't want to be left out.

    Anyway, they're not queing for the book, they can get that in the supermarket.
  • Reduced price..
  • Don't you just love these politicians! The get elected on the back of a manifesto that bears no resemblence to the policies they implement, they sidle up to big business to feather their nests, then when the economy collapses they blame everyone else, even us for spending too much, they start 'illegal' wars and get people killed, then step down, become -get this- 'peace envoys' in the bloody area they started the wars in the first place. Then they write a book and try to tell us how f***ing wonderful they've been. And like fools, we buy the bloody thing!!!

    Makes you want to run away and hide in a dark hole until the second, nay the 11th coming of wotsisname?
  • I've always wondered why they think we'd want to know all the details of their life when they've been out of office for some time...;)
  • I've been out of my office now for 8 weeks and nobody wants to know the details of my life!

    (for a heafty advance I will tell them)
  • Maybe the two girls with whom he had a threesome will buy Wayne's book, put it on their coffee tables and hope for more custom! His ghostwriters will be busy.
  • What, did Tony Blair have a threesome?
  • No Dora, Wayne Rooney.
  • Cheri, Wayne and (Silent)Tony? :)
  • Cheri Tony and Tony's ego (?)
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