Can I please discourage anyone from buying any book that is supposedly written by, or is about a celebrity.
As a debut novelist I am sick of the prejudice shown against us as we can only get published by small publishers. Bookshops have now been 'taken over' by these so-called 'celebrities' who know they will get on the shelves if they put pen to paper - or get someone else to do it for them. Whether it be a biography of someone who hasn't yet had much of a life, or someone who thinks that it's easy to write a novel. Mainstream publishers seem to blindly accept manuscripts from 'celebrities', and agents who 'are not taking on at present'. Due to this 'blindness' talent is going to waste. Very little these days seems to be taken on merit, you need a name, or 'know' somebody. Nobody disputes that everyone is there to make a profit, but at what cost. Who says that these 'one-day wonder celebrities' will continue to sell books. It is possible that many writers who could be future 'best-sellers' are disheartened by the attitude of publishers and agents who are being swayed by a name rather than a talent.

I sympathise with your situation, although some celebrities are talented and interesting. However, I cannot undertand why anyone would want to read ghost written novels or autobiographies by celebrities whose inane, vacuous monologues include fascinating information such as how often they shave.
b

I've never bought a book just because it was written by a celebrity, so I don't think my boycott would be very effective. But what about a celeb who has a genuinely interesting story and is able to write, e.g. Kate Adie or Steven Fry? Should we avoid a potentially interesting read just because it is written by someone well known?

[Deleted by the author on 12 Nov 2009 14:25 GMT]

I think that it's a bit unfair to boycott a book because it's written by a celebrity but then I also appreciate how hard it is for unknown writers as well. Why can't we have both? I would never buy a book just because it was written by a celebrity. If it appealed I would buy it. As simple as that. I have bought books by a relatively unknown author and thoroughly enjoyed them. I think we have to accept in these media driven days that yes, Cheryl Cole may not have been around very long but people love her so her book will sell.
I really do sympathise with authors who don't get their books on the shelves and it is unfair and yes you are prejudiced against but boycotting isn't the answer.

I do agree with Fiona, that there are a few celebrities out there who do have interesting lives, but biographies should be for those who have finished there lives. Surely, an autobiography is money making narcissism. Many of the people I know have had very interesting lives, but because they are not famous nobody would want to know, and anyway, what decent person wants to wash their dirtly, or even clean laundry, publically.

I have never bought a book just because the author is famous i usually go by the blurb not the author if the blurb can hold my attention then its all good,but my neice gave me a book written by 50cent I looked at her an laughed like yeah right 50cent wrote a book whatever! i had it for a few weeks before i opened it up and it held my attention took me all of a day to read it.
But i will stick to my principles and buy books where the synopsis grabs me its not always about the auther

Thanks for C. Madden's support, and so pleased you appreciate new authors. Could you suggest what else can be done to rid ourselves, or even minimize this terrible talent disabling culture.

I have never bought a book just because the author is famous i usually go by the blurb not the author if the blurb can hold my attention then its all good,but my neice gave me a book written by 50cent I looked at her an laughed like yeah right 50cent wrote a book whatever! i had it for a few weeks before i opened it up and it held my attention took me all of a day to read it.
But i will stick to my principles and buy books where the synopsis grabs me its not always about the auther

I really don't know! I've not got an iota of a business brain in me so have no clue how these bookshops work etc! I guess all of you unknown writers have to keep doing what you enjoy and believe in and hope that one day you will get the break you need.

Thanks for that. I don't think a business brain helps. It appears that Waterstones and especially WH Smith's, are at the mercy of Gardners, but apart from that it is very difficult to find out how they work. Olympia Publishers seem to be doing all the right things, but when you go into a larger shop, you are told that it will take longer to get the book from Gardners because it is from a small publisher, even when you can see from their website that they have them in stock, but if it was from a mainstream publisher, delivery would be quicker. It's like banging your head against a brick wall.

I agree about celeb books - largely. If someone is distinguished through their knowledge or charisma - Stephen Fry was mentioned, and he would qualify as far as I'm concerned - then that's fair enough. Some vapid faceful of arrogance flogging tat written by a cynical hack is right out.

That said, Jordan is a breathtaking novelist whose narrative flair is truly sumptuous. Heh.

As a writer myself, with two books out, I really do sympathise with your situation. Seeing some lumpen showbiz fodder padded out to 300 large type pages with a picture of some low brow mutant on the cover appalls me.

Sherlock Holmes and the Underpants of Death

A writer with talent and a story to tell is one to be welcomed. Steven Fry and Clive James make the grade; the likes of Colleen and Jordan (yech) don't. No amount of hype or naff TV ads are going to tell me otherwise!

Ryan, they might not tell you otherwise because you are an intellegent and discerning person, but booksellers know that these names sell, goodness knows who buys them, though.

The publication of novels guaranteed to sell mean the the publishers are able to take a risk on unknowns which may or may not be profitable. Profit has to be made somewhere. As for bookshops (I work in an independent) not stocking unknowns from small publishers, first the discount offered can be as little at 10-20% and secondly they are almost always firm sales, in other words if no-one buys the book then the shop is stuck with it and ends up making a loss. Debut novels from the main stream publishers are usually proofed so that booksellers can try before they buy. The only way of trying with small publishers and print on demand is to buy a copy. If a new author wants to get their book into shops they are going to have to give copies away.

Believe me, the publishers do not 'blindly' accept these novels, but like anything else it is a business and a business that is suffering the same as everyone else during the current economic climate. I have made this comment in previous discussions but even if a debut author is published by Harper, Penguin, Macmillan or Random House they can still be incredibly difficult to sell as the reading public generally go for the authors they know. A case in point is Jane Davis's (a regular contributor to these discussions) novel Half Truths and White Lies, published by a mainstream publisher, it won the Daily Mail first novel award and yet she still has struggled to get it 'out there'. That is just one example, there are many more.

The fact is that 'boycotting would be counter productive' if people did not buy the celebrity books and fast sellers like Dan Brown then the cash would not be there to publish unknowns. All the moaning in the world will not change the situation you have to learn to live with it. The same goes for book shops, stocking sure sellers means that -some of us - are able to take chances with debut novels. A lot of people buy and enjoy celebrity books and I think it smacks of elitism to condemn them for it. As to problems with getting published In many cases we only have the word of one person, ie the author, that their book is better.

How can Katie Price's autobiography sell? Individuals who idolise her are incapable of pronouncing words with more than 2 syllables and therefore would never buy a book. So who in their right mind buys the stuff?

T Allan - I ask myself the same question all the time, especially since she seems to bring out a new one every year. Her books are bought by females (or embarrassed partners), from around 14 to mid twenties. Believe me, if I had my way they would be wiped off the face of the planet but a lot of people do want to read them and should be allowed to, she will keep publishing as long as that readership exists. However I have noticed a slow down, particularly with regard to her 'novels'. It really scares me that young girls idolise her though, I can think of far better role models.

I think most authors realise that money has to be made and that their books are not necessarily going to be a best-seller, but it would be nice after the initial letter to a publisher that they would do a little more than tell you to get an agent. Admittedly, you only have to watch the talent shows on TV to realise that some people think they are God's gift, but the majority of writers just want some honesty, someone to look at their work and say whether it is worthy of publication or not. I know mainstream publishers complain about their slush piles, but I now wonder how big these are, and what they are full of, because they certainly are not full of debut novelists. I can understand unsolicited work clogging up the system, by those who think they have talent, but for the more serious writers it is insulting at the speed these publishers return their 'get an agent' letters in the author's enclosed SAE's.
I think we are entitled to have a moan about this and I do think that things could change. Obviously, there are some celebs that are worth reading, but I would like to know the proportion of celebrity manuscripts that are rejected by mainstream publishers.

I loathe and despise Saturday night television competitions but I don't watch them and certainly wouldn't waste my time trying to stop people watching them and demand that they watch a DVD that I have shot.
I might just expect my friends neighbours and family to take an interest but I wouldn't be astonished if the rest of the world wasn't beating a path to my door.
Shops of any sort have to make money to survive, they do not have a moral responsibility to provide an outlet for everyone who produces an item for sale be it a novel or cheese.
To blame the failure of one's novel on the success of others (no matter how undeserving) is small-minded.

I agree with Readalot.
"A lot of people buy and enjoy celebrity books and I think it smacks of elitism to condemn them for it."
I would substitute snobbery for elitism! As in _ "my taste and judgement are obviously better than yours".
It is very unwise to elevate personal taste to the level of aesthetic and moral judgement.

Gerry Humphries' novel "Blood on their Petticoats" is available on Amazon by the way and there's a nice picture of her on the publisher's website.http://www.olympiapublishers.com/

But I don't feel guilty about not wanting to read her historical romance set in the military hospitals of the Crimean War and I suspect I am not her target audience.
But then her potential audience is probably not reading celebrity novels either.

G Humphries - I can understand your frustration but in fact most of the slush pile is made up of debut novelists, it builds up when instead of just sending a synopsis and sample chapter or 2 a beginner sends the whole novel. Unfortunately there are not enough people to read all the manuscripts that are sent and everyone who sends a manuscript considers themselves to be a serious writer. There are a lot of debut authors being published, at the moment I have about 10 proof copies to read and if they are any good they will be recommended. I am in a position which means that I can see a bigger picture. There are loads of these debuts that most people never even get to hear about which leads to the belief that not many are being published. Unfortunately the 'agent' thing is standard nowadays as it is easier for a publisher to deal with one person as intermediary than with individuals. An agent will read your manuscript and be honest as to whether it is worth pursuing with. I think it can be said that celebrity books are not unsolicited.

thanks I.R. for a healthy dose of reality here - sad facts perhaps but facts nonetheless. I find it harder and harder to find anything i fancy reading in bookshops - Amazon makes things a lot easier, and these discussions are really useful, and i amazingly can get books cheaper that way than ordering and buying them locally. love browsing 2nd Hand Shops - sorry, all u writers won't want to hear that either, but at least i'm still an avid reader

Stephen, thanks for the advert and the 'nice' picture - ugh!!! As you say my 'audience' if there is one, probably wouldn't even look at the blurb on the back.
I do not think anything 'smacks of elitism', its all about getting a fair chance, which does not happen when someone like Katie Price 'writes' another book and we know that she is going to sell hundreds at one signing, but I do think there is a limit to the amount of this type of work that should be on the bookshelves. Also, these slush piles should not include unsolicited stuff. It is up to the writer to do their homework, as there are very few publishers who do not state (over the web and in writer's handbooks) that they will not take unsolicited manuscripts, and these should be either sent straight back to the author if there is an SAE enclosed, or destroyed. I, and many other writers of my aquaintance, spend time composing short, concise and polite enquiries as to whether they would be interested in a submission, only to have an immediate (return of post) rejection.

[Deleted by the author on 13 Nov 2009 16:29 GMT]

Saying, 'I don't like this, and here are the reasons why I don't like it' is expressing an opinion; making sweeping assumptions about people based on what they read is book snobbery. The careful do not muddle the two.

There's a good point to be made here about people who read "that" type of book - a lot of very intelligent people read fluff (pap, nonsense, popcorn, comfort reading or whatever term you favour) as a way of relaxing.

One of the most intelligent and well read people I've ever met used to eagerly look forward to sitting on a beach with some books she knew were gibberish, but enjoyable nonsense. In my own way I like nothing better than occasionally curling up with some real tat, and it's a mistake to assume everyone who reads celeb fodder is an idiot. Most probably are, but not all.