No such thing as bad publicity?

[Legendary Sidekick]

"No struggling but relatively ambitious writer can possibly be anything other than envious."

So I'm supposed to be envious because J.K. Rowling made it? Should I also be jealous that there are two famous authors from my hometown, a member of this forum on several top 100 lists, and many thousands of people who write for a living? Should I be bitter because the writing profession exists?

I'll admit to the occasional moment of weakness ("Why is s/he a writer and I'm not?"), but I wouldn't take that weak moment and put an article out there with my name on it.

 

[Ghost]

Man, I just made a long response then came back to reread the OP. I'd spent two thirds of my post taking the article apart, but that isn't even relevant to this thread.

The author of the article probably didn’t have ill-will toward anybody. I do think the snobbery, the self-importance, and the whining tone don’t help her, which is why I don’t see it as the good type of “bad publicity.” It doesn’t tell potential readers to expect greatness of mind from her work. It doesn’t improve her image or make people curious. From what I've seen in comments elsewhere, many commenters took a dim view of Lynn as a person. I think she would’ve done herself a favor by ignoring her Rowling complex, doing some research, and engaging others for discussion on whether phenomenal successes hinder the mid-list and debut authors. Less self-pity and unsolicited career advice, more community engagement. I personally think it’d be more effective to aim for thought provoking posts rather than provocative reproaches.

I really don’t see how there’s a fair comparison between authors trying to cash in on negativity and reality TV stars doing the same. Part of the draw of reality TV is the over-the-top drama. Reality stars make spectacles of themselves or act provocatively because viewers will watch that. Networks know that and edit the shows to highlight or fuel the drama.

I doubt it works as well when the public persona isn't closely intertwined with the product. With reality celebrities, the persona is the product. The personality is meant to be part of the package. There's a type of rapper can badmouth other rappers—same metal bands dissing other metal bands—but that's because aggression is part of the image. Controversy and being irreverent is kind of the point in those cases. Same with shock jocks. The farther you get from public performance and showmanship, the less viable negative publicity seems to me. Because writers are working in text, it's harder to connect the persona with the product. Some authors are known by their images and personalities, sure, but at some point the readers have to read the actual book. It's less direct, I think.

Buzz can help generate interest in your career. Backlash can kill it. If what you've written is in itself controversial, I think it would be interesting to flirt with that aspect and stir up a dialogue about the issues covered in the novel. However, the author mentioned in the OP probably didn't write a controversial crime novel about a struggling author's relationship to fame, or whatever. So the whole thing seems superfluous to me.

What happened with this Lynn person was more like a little-known actor saying Will Smith should retire so other actors can get roles. The flaw there is that even if Will Smith doesn’t get the role, it’ll go to Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, or Brad Pitt. That little-known actor isn’t even in the running. That’s not how Hollywood works. To bring it back to books, even if J.K. Rowling wasn’t the phenomenon she is, it’d be Stieg Larsson or Dan Brown who fills up the store displays. You need to do knock more than one person out of the running to finally see a ray of spotlight. It’ll take a long time to force all those best-selling authors into retirement...

I not only see Lynn's plea as sour grapes, but also a misdirected complaint. I’d expect an author to be better educated on the actual industry of publishing. Most of her complaints were about things beyond Rowling’s control. Still, I find it disgusting that people are tracking down her work just to give it one-star reviews. Why be like the author of the blog post? It's a disservice to other readers/consumers.

Hope that wasn't too scattered or irrelevant.

 

[Devor]

This idea that someone bought this so they didn't buy that works in some way I believe. Wal-Mart has crippled small businesses in many towns. People are in fact giving their dollar to Wal-Mart and not to the smaller guys. Does this work the same way for books? Probably not.

What Lynn was talking about is an economic phenomenon called the "crowding out effect," which is a little different than "they bought this instead of that." The idea is that one product becomes so ubiquitous that it completely drowns out the competition, hindering their chance to compete all together. It's not happening with Rowling - as people have said, the opposite is true, people are coming to books because they read Harry Potter. But to illustrate the concept, if I had to point to an example where it might arguably be happening in fantasy, it would be the large line of D&D novels. I'm not saying they're good or bad, but for a while at least, for some people, you could argue that they had come to characterize the genre and crowd out other works.

I'll admit to the occasional moment of weakness ("Why is s/he a writer and I'm not?"), but I wouldn't take that weak moment and put an article out there with my name on it.

I'll second the sentiment. It's human to think "Man, I wish I was doing better. How is that guy doing so well? I don't see it." And maybe groan for a moment. But you don't give in to that. There are many good things in my life. Why be bitter?

The author of the article probably didn’t have ill-will toward anybody. I do think the snobbery, the self-importance, and the whining tone don’t help her, which is why I don’t see it as the good type of “bad publicity.” It doesn’t tell potential readers to expect greatness of mind from her work. It doesn’t improve her image or make people curious. From what I've seen in comments elsewhere, many commenters took a dim view of Lynn as a person.

I really do think the reaction is surprisingly and unfairly strong, insomuch as it was just one badly conceived blog post that may not even reflect much beyond that one post. People write truly stupid things all the time and don't get this kind of reaction.

I doubt it works as well when the public persona isn't closely intertwined with the product. With reality celebrities, the persona is the product. The personality is meant to be part of the package.

It's about the brand. There are definitely things a rapper or TV show host or Brittany Spears can do that would kill their careers. Drugs? Streaking naked through the street yelling stupid things as part of a protest? That's part of the brand. But screw up a night hosting SNL, and it has repercussions.

An author's brand is different. We're allowed to do and say stupid things, sure, but they have to fit with that collective image we have of an author. Our dumbass opinions have to come with big words and complicated nuance to sound smart.

 

[BWFoster78]

Our dumbass opinions have to come with big words and complicated nuance to sound smart.

This is my new life motto!

Oh, wait. It's actually been my life motto for a long time now...

 

[Caged Maiden]

I agree with Devor. I'd think that if Britney Spears or Omarosa, or whatever "star" publicly known pop culture icon put out say, a book... I'd be very skeptical about its value unless it sounded right. For instance... would I read Omarosa's family Christmas recipes? Probably not. Would I read her biography about how the Apprentice launched her career? Maybe if that sort of thing interested me. Would I read Britney Spears' parenting manual? I don't think so. I"m not sure she could put out a book I'd actually read at all.

My point is, if we begin as authors, before say, we get known enough to be recognized even by a few people, our image isn't as a wild teenage rock star who is probably likely to spend time in court for drunk driving and fighting with her boyfriend/ sister/ manager in a Beverly Hills mall. Our image must be one of a professional right from the get-go. I mean, let's be real... "stars" can play stupid and still be popular. I've never watched television shows that give sneak peeks into stars' lives, but I can only imagine how they're edited to make the stars look stupid and their lives dramatic. But would you want the same from your author?

While I'm not saying that all readers are extremely intelligent, I'm inclined to believe the same people who love Game of Thrones and hang on GRRM's every word and lap it up like it's going extinct, aren't the same people diving into Snookie tweets every afternoon.

While there is of course some overlap in everyone's lives--of those things cerebral and those things mostly mindless enjoyment, I can't imagine avid readers would want their authors to go around acting a fool. That's a little akin to your favorite biology teacher throwing in his towel and bowing out to the class clown. We expect more from those we respect and we laugh at those we don't.

Now back to the "bad publicity" angle, I don't think being controversial is necessarily a bad thing. My books are controversial. I cover a lot of elements I predict huge amounts of people would find tasteless. However, I'm not writing those elements to please those most moral-high-horse people. If asked to defend my work, I would simply say that I write fantasy and the elements I choose to include in my stories (things like incest rape, abortion, drug addiction, and you know, shit tons more...) were all present in the ancient world and I am neither inventing those things, nor condoning them. I enjoy writing about raw things, those things which I feel most make us human. However, the things I choose to blog about are mostly informative, helpful, positive things. If I instead blogged about negative, incendiary, inflammatory, things, I'd expect backlash. I'd like a reputation for bravely forging ahead into the realm of the controversial, as an artist. Not as a person.

How about banned books? I think that might be a prime example of "bad publicity" turned into positive results. If your work is controversial and gets attention for pushing boundaries, I think it's a fast track to notoriety. Maybe even the kind that I'd feel was really successful. After all, I DO like to make people think. But a whiny, ill-thought-out blog post? How mortifying. I've been known to open my mouth at the wrong time and while I'm certain I'll do it again many more times in my life, that's the danger of speaking. One NEVER NEEDS to have the same problem with a blog (unless one has a habit of blogging at 3am after an all-night alcohol binge, in which case... mistakes WILL happen). There is a point when you have to decide whether to delete it or post it and in this case... deleting her venomous personal feelings would have been the right thing to do.

Let your work be controversial, as an artist. Make people really think, if you feel inclined to do so. But for me, I'll always remember to appear intelligent, humble, and respectful in public. And for the purposes of this post... blogging is public. If I wouldn't feel comfortable shouting my unbridled opinion from a street corner, it doesn't belong on my blog.

 

[BWFoster78]

I agree with Devor. I'd think that if Britney Spears or Omarosa, or whatever "star" publicly known pop culture icon put out say, a book... I'd be very skeptical about its value unless it sounded right. For instance... would I read Omarosa's family Christmas recipes? Probably not. Would I read her biography about how the Apprentice launched her career? Maybe if that sort of thing interested me. Would I read Britney Spears' parenting manual? I don't think so. I"m not sure she could put out a book I'd actually read at all.

You may not be interested in those books, but I pretty much guarantee that any of those books would outsell my debut novel (at least until I build up an audience). People buy stuff with celebrity names on it. Celebrities have access to media that we can only dream about, and that access gets their book in front of a lot of people. It's all a numbers game. If you put a book in front of enough people, someone is going to buy it.