tilly_felds Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 yet another celebrity has been fast tracked to the book shelves: http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/latest/2008/03/18/wag-coleen-mcloughlin-i-won-t-be-mrs-rooney-89520-20354692/ 'The WAG who was previously only famous for her shopping sprees has also signed a deal with Harper-Collins to write two nonfiction books, plus a series of children's tales.' i know they'll be ghost written by a pro (as so many celeb books are) but i just wish real writers got the credit and the chance they deserve. i'd much rather read a childrens story by jill murphy than coleen any day.even fergie had more credibility with budgie- at least she actually did write those herself. it drives me mad when i walk into waterstones and see the likes of jordan and kerry andnow coleen grinning back at me simply because they were already famous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 I see she says she won't change her name after she's married because she's a woman in her own right (true enough) and has her own career. Hmm. Maybe NOW she does, but going right back to the beginning, to the base of it all, she only got started because of who she was (then) dating and is now engaged to. She might do her own thing now, but getting her leg over Wayne Rooney certainly also gave her a leg up. Having said all that, publishing isn't a zero-sum game. There's room for us all. However, I can understand those who get riled at celebrities 'jumping the queue' so to speak. The only advice I can give is to walk past those shelves in the bookstore and go for the authors you really admire. It's hard, it's infuriating but there's nothing to be done except don't give them your money. (Including borrowing their books from the library as they get a PLR cheque each year). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 I wish Julie Walters had got a ghostwriter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 I wish Julie Walters had got a ghostwriter Let it go, ~V~ - let it go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Let it go, ~V~ - let it go! I can't. It still haunts me. Read it yourself Miss Speedyread and see what you think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 I can't. It still haunts me. Read it yourself Miss Speedyread and see what you think I may well do if there's any year left at the end of my chunky ones. (Be careful though - the wind will change and your face will stick like that). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 That must be so galling for struggling authors. It certainly doesn't seem fair. I am so totally uninterested in the "celebrity" culture in this country. I dont even buy a newspaper anymore because of all the **** in them about these spoilt, pretentious idiots. I did wonder who this Coleen person was and how come her face seems to be plastered all over everything hmm now I know. Pretty enough girl and she seems to have her head screwed on, but what on earth does she see in potato face? Must be the lure of pound notes eh? Still its not fair and I wont be buying any of the books because I just dont care ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mia Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 It makes me very angry to be honest when I see another talentless "celebrity" has got a publishing deal. And then, to add insult to injury, someone else writes it for them!! It's disgraceful when someone who has sweated blood and tears to produce their novel can't get it accepted by anyone (even though it's good) because they're not famous. (And no, I'm not ranting from experience! ) Personally, I don't understand the fascination with celebs and their lifestyles. I really don't care at all, yet other people in the office buy all the glossy gossip mags and are absolutely fascinated by it all. I just don't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Personally, I don't understand the fascination with celebs and their lifestyles. I really don't care at all, yet other people in the office buy all the glossy gossip mags and are absolutely fascinated by it all. I just don't get it. Me neither but I have a friend who devours magazines like Heat and Hello! Each to their own, I guess. I've never read a book written by a celebrity but I know Katie Price's books are popular - does she write them herself? I mean her fiction, not her autobiography. It's not fair on serious authors but until people stop buying them, there will always be a market for them, I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 ...I know Katie Price's books are popular - does she write them herself? I mean her fiction, not her autobiography... She doesn't write anything herself; even her 'auto'biographies; they're all ghostwritten - the writer is credited on the copyright pages of 'her' books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icecream Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 I haven't seen any of these books. I certainly don't agree with the books being ghostwritten. It is good to know about the author of a book, and often gives the book more depth and interest, plus the true authors should be acknowleged and credited. Ghostwriting also makes more fame for these celebs for what? Not doing anything? If celebrities write their own books, then that is a good thing and they deserve the publicity. I was also just thinking that maybe we should just be grateful that more fiction is coming into the world, especially since people seem to be reading less. Maybe this is a good way of getting people to read. They see their fave celeb on the cover, buy the book, and start reading other books. However, I still don't agree with it as part of the selfish consummerist society we seem to be living in. Celebs shouldn't get publicity just because they exist. It looks like I am divided on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 She doesn't write anything herself; even her 'auto'biographies; they're all ghostwritten - the writer is credited on the copyright pages of 'her' books. I thought she dictated her books (i.e. not writing them as such but at least having basic input) That's what she said on Jonathon Ross anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Well, put it this way, she comes up with the ideas, calls her ghostwriter, and the ghostwriter does all the work. She has the most basic of basic inputs. But she definitely doesn't dictate them word for word. I mean, some of them are multi-syllabic for goodness' sake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 This article is quite interesting: celebrity novels are like celebrity perfumes, more about branding than anything else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Don't get me started on celebrity perfumes!! Anyway.. this does annoy me - I'm sure alot of the public don't realise that ghostwriters are involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 As an author myself, I have to say (and most other authors agree) that the whole celebrity book thing really gets on my nerves. Okay Coleen might have a brain, and I have to admit that I do have a grudging respect for her, but the likes of Jordon and Jade Goody writing books - I mean come off it, does anyone seriously think that either of these two can write, I mean apart from anything else, where would they find the time in between TV presenting, having plastic surgery and bikini waxes ? ! It seems a really sad indictment of our society when a ghost written novel by a glamour model sells more copies than the winner of the Booker prize for literature. It seems ironic to me that self publishing is seen as vanity press, by pandering to their clients egos, when commercial publishers are the real culprits here. Commercial publishers that offer vast sums to celebrities in order to publish their works or more accurately ideas, are the ones who really do the pandering. This sets up a three way symbiotic relationship that feeds the ego of the celebrity keeping them in the public eye, at the same time offering publicity to the publisher who makes even more money. This also in turn feeds the illusion that celebrity status is desirable as it gives fame and fortune thus making the public, especially young women, feel that their own lives and aspirations are inadequate. I believe that books at their best should enlighten and educate, making us think about the issues that really matter, whether through fiction or non fiction. Books such as these celebrity titles do nothing to either educate or enlighten, but have the opposite effect. They contribute to the general dumbing down of society by feeding the public with an endless supply of meaningless drivel that keeps their minds in overdrive and acts as a distraction that ultimately keeps both them and the so-called celebrities in chains as they have to work ever harder in order to maintain the illusion. In its own way, the rise in self publishing can be seen as a by product of the so-called celebrity culture, since it leads people to a false sense of their own superiority, believing that if these celebrities, most of whom have no obvious talent apart from courting publicity, can do it, then so too can they. It is then partly the industry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Don't get me started on celebrity perfumes!! ... Don't you want to smell like Jordan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sedgewick Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I think it okay for people to put their books out there but its not the people what is writes them but the ppl what goes and buys them is the ones making us think they them silly. Peoples is free to do their books but we shold make peples know they are not sincere!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Sorry, but not sure what you mean here ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I think a loose translation would be, "It's not the celebs that are the daft ones, but the people who buy 'their' books, and those of us in the know should publicise the fact they're all ghosted anyway." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Don't you want to smell like Jordan? Id rather stick pins in my eyes She may well be a very clever young lady, but I cannot stand her or her dopey husband. I for one will not be reading her "stories" The celebrity culture in this country is just so sad, I dont know anybody who actually gives a toss about these people yet they are forced on us at every turn, TV, books, adverts everywhere, open any newspaper and one of the gormless idiots is in there. I just do not care about these people and am not interested in their lives, and it galls me that every where I look they are being shoved at me. An awful lot of them are highly talentless and that really does not help matters. So my question is Who decides they are celebrities? as I said no one I know is bothered, so who is??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 This to me says it all - couldn't believe it when I read this story http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=542032&in_page_id=1773 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 *headdesk* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 You're telling me ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nox Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 That's briliant! I can't wait for Michael Jackson's Child care books, Paris Hiltons "This many fingers" advanced math guidebook and Britney Spreas' "How to make right decisions with a bald head". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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