In the UK, there’s a groundswell of complaint this week coming from writers—particularly children’s writers—about the deals being given to high-profile personalities.
The Bookseller’s Charlotte Eyre writes (subscription required), “There are two main groups of famous people who are now sought out by children’s publishers: comedians and YouTubers.” Authors are questioning publishers’ assertions that celebrity-bylined books for kids produce money that’s then invested in other writers. They’re also concerned that, while ghostwriters for many celebrities are being properly credited by publishers, there are still cases in which it’s unclear whether a star actually wrote the book in question.
Picking up on the mood of the writers, Danuta Kean at the Guardian writes that comedians and YouTubers have “rushed into the market, some signing six-figure deals, while professional authors’ advances slipped to as low as three and four figures.”
As author Chris Priestly says to the Bookseller, it’s clear that, for publishers, “it’s easier to import a celebrity brand than it is to build an author brand” to generate sales. For their part, publishers quoted in coverage are responding that they use a range of diverse authors, not just celebrities, and that increasing literacy and staying relevant to a media-driven audience of youngsters are their key drivers.
Bottom line: YouTube stars in particular can attract ready young readers, a demographic that publishers may find hard to draw without brand names. While the recent objections are coming from the UK, the US knows the celebrity trend, too, with children’s book celebrities including Barack Obama, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Bruce Springsteen, Brooke Shields, Whoopi Goldberg, and many others. This is a good debate, well worth the airing authors are giving it—although we don’t see the Big Five walking away from these opportunities as long as they represent profit, as noted in our item last year on entire book imprints driven by celebrity.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
