KYRA DAVIS: How Screwing Up Can Get You Published

When I heard the news about the Rolling Stones article on Stanley McChrystal my first thought was not, "What an idiot," or even, "what was he thinking?" No, my first thought was, "He's going to get a huge book deal out of this."

It's one of the most frustrating things about my industry. Anyone who makes a splash in the headlines for good or bad reasons is made rich by some publishing house. Make an idiot out of yourself on some reality show? There's a book deal in it for you. Did you mess up an answer during a beauty pageant? Book deal. Did you have sex with a married politician? Take a lot of drugs while in public office? Rig an election? Book deal, book deal, book deal. And if you can't actually write a coherent sentence, no problem. That's what ghostwriters are for.

There's something wrong with that. And of course the publishing houses wouldn't be handing out seven-figure book deals to these people if their books weren't selling. We seem to live in a world where we reward people for screwing up. And I'll admit, I read How To Rig An Election by Allen Raymond and it was an interesting exposé but even as I read the book I wondered, "should I be supporting this guy with a book purchase?" I mean even if he was scapegoated as he claims to have been he did do some pretty awful stuff. Should his crimes earn him a six-figure advance? Shouldn't the exposés be coming from our media and printed in our newspapers and magazines rather than coming from the criminals themselves and printed inside a cute hardcover?

By the way, I'm not suggesting that McChrystal is a criminal and if he had left his post without controversy he would still have been able to get a book contract if that's what he wanted. But his latest error in judgment makes him more marketable, not less.

And once again I've got to say, there's something wrong with that.

Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
The Sophie Katz Mystery Series
and
So Much For My Happy Ending
Order Vows, Vendettas & A Little Black Dress today!

Vows, Vendettas and a Little
Black Dress

3 comments :

UnknownThursday, June 24, 2010 at 2:02:00 PM PDT
This blog is so appropriate to the thought that ran through my head a little over an hour ago. It was a very,very brief thought, but it did pass through. I was thinking, "Wow, i wish I could write a book! Maybe I can ask Kyra how she started". I swear to God that was the exact thought that lasted no more than 10 seconds! LOL.
It quickly left my mind because I couldn't think of anything interesting enough to write about.
I think the reason "crummy" people AKA the ill-mannered, get book deals is because society has such an infatuation with the illicit and taboo actions these people take. Our natural curiousity takes over and the chemicals in our brain pump interest!
Maybe a better way to look at it is- with all the technology and advancements, at least people are still reading!
I for one am very choosey about what I read and who writes it. Case in point: Kyra Davis!
kyradavisThursday, June 24, 2010 at 2:15:00 PM PDT
lol, well I appreciate your choosiness ; )

And I understand that it's hard to turn away from a train-wreck but I think our willingness to reward people for bad behavior is only part of the problem. The other part is that the media really ISN'T giving us the insider's look at these things that they should be so we have to turn to the actual criminals in hopes that they will enlighten us. That's problematic on soooo many levels.
BeccaThursday, June 24, 2010 at 4:11:00 PM PDT
I don't agree with how he did what he did, but I do think that he did it for his right reasons. Maybe it will bring about some level of understanding or conversation of the issues at hand before we see the death tolls in Iraq and Agfhanistan hit a the 10k mark. And what would we have solved. Maybe this little debacle brings everyone to the table as it should have been, rather than playing freaking politics with lives.