£400,000 for a party book

by Tony Williams
4th December 2011

Pippa Middleton gets a £400,000 advance to write a book on how to throw a party, whilst a plethora of first time authors with original works cannot get published. Is everyone else okay with this? Surely the model would be served better if they invested that money in 4000 new writers? Is this realistic or should I accept the fact that we live in a celebrity world and readers collect authors?

Replies

Money makes the world go 'round, and if I wanted to pay for a big name to write, to make money from it, then why not? Why should I say no, and then switch to 4,000 newcomers who may make me nothing? It's called risk and reward, do don't let's be too idealistic here.

Don't find it disheartening at all. What would be so is if I became a big name, then didn't receive the big offers!

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peter
hall
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peter hall
05/12/2011

I totally agree with what you are saying, it seems that so-called celebraties pick up a book deal with obscene advances, over something so trivial it's mind-numbing. When there are new authors who would die for that chance.

But then I can't blame them, they want to invest their money in something that is safe, a name known to the public, not risk it on first-timers.

Yes it is disheartening, but I can't allow it to bother me. I have to put my trust in the notion that one day, when my book is finished, I will find someone who will take that leap of faith with me, and have belief in the manuscript I have written as much as I have.

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Sarah
Neeve
330 points
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Sarah Neeve
05/12/2011