Whenever a celebrity book deal is announced, it’s generally greeted with disgusted outcries from aspiring writers of all walks of life. Recently, the target has been Tom Hanks and his forthcoming short story collection. Regardless of what the ever-growing community of online writers thinks about Hanks as an actor, it’s collectively pissed off about the book deal.
This is yet another case of “He only got that book deal because he’s famous.” File it under James Franco, BJ Novak, and many other actors-turned-fiction-writers. In most cases, the celebrity book is judged long before it’s released. Without reading a word, writers everywhere know that “Celebrity X sucks at writing.”
Well, guess what? The celebrity’s book is going to sell copies whether it sucks or not. Why wouldn’t the publishers offer the book deal?
The aspiring writers respond with the universal complaint: “Because it takes away a spot from a real talent!”
This argument carries with it two major implications:
1. So-and-so celebrity isn’t a real talent
2. The number of book deals is finite
For the most part, we should ignore this first implication. We don’t need to debate the merits of so-and-so celebrity, or any other writer for that matter. Chances are, the celebrity book won’t be a masterpiece. Then again, neither are the vast majority of published books. Is it fair that a celebrity gets a book deal while writers with incredible talent don’t even make it out of the slush pile? Maybe not, but it’s not any less fair than Gone Girl selling an absurd amount of copies while many books of equal or greater merit go wholly unnoticed.
So let’s take a look at the second implication. Did Tom Hanks’s book deal really take a spot away from someone else? Are there actually a finite number of slots available?
The answer is not as simple as you may think.
Yes, the number of books that can be published is finite. This is clearly true. After all, there are a finite number of publishers to release them, a finite number of editors to proofread them, a finite number of trees from which to produce the pages, and a finite number of many other finite things. Not every author can get a book deal. Period.
But is that finite number set in stone somewhere? If Tom Hanks got a book deal, does that really mean we are one spot closer to zero remaining book deals?
News flash: Tom Hanks did not steal your book deal. In fact, Tom Hanks may have just improved your chances.
Publishers have to make money. If they don’t, they can’t publish anything. Not every book makes money. Some books don’t recoup the printing and marketing costs, let alone the advances. While there is no exact data telling us how many books are total failures, we can assume it’s a pretty high number. Just take a look around a bookstore. How many of those books do you think are actively making money for the publisher? Former Random House CEO Peter Olson admitted back in 2007 that “many books are unprofitable.”
We know Tom Hanks’s book will sell. We don’t know that it will make back the money invested in his advance, but chances are that the publisher expects to see some type of return. A celebrity book is easy money. The name sells itself.
So how does a Tom Hanks book deal help your chances as a writer? Easy. It brings in money for the publisher. That gives the publisher more opportunity to publish other books. Books by people just like you.
Ultimately, Tom Hanks is good for the writing world, even if his book ends up not being any good. A Tom Hanks book gets the general population excited about reading. In this case, we’re talking about short stories, a market that is already a tough sell. If the general population gets excited about a short story collection and the book becomes profitable, then the publishing industry will have more money to invest in short story collections. So how exactly does the publication of a Tom Hanks book hurt you again?
Celebrity book deals aren’t even where publishers make the most money. Celebrity advances are too high to bring in the big bucks. That’s why publishers always have to be on the lookout for other authors, the ones they can sign for a three-book contract and reap the benefits when the first book becomes a blockbuster.
Yes, Tom Hanks has joined a growing legion of celebrity authors. Instead of getting pissed, do what you were doing before you heard the news: write like a motherfucker.
BIO: Nathaniel Tower is the managing and founding editor of Bartleby Snopes Literary Magazine and Press. His short fiction has appeared in over 200 online and print publications. In 2014, Martian Lit released his first short story collection, Nagging Wives, Foolish Husbands. He is a former high school English teacher and the former world record holder for the fastest mile running backwards while juggling. He currently lives in Minneapolis with his wife and daughter. Visit him at nathanieltower.com.
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