When Lauren Conrad released her first book last year and it made it to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list, I just thought it was a bunch of Hills fans who were helping her out and that the world would get back to normal soon. Now though her second book has just hit the top of the bestseller list and I am starting to wonder if maybe she is a good writer or something. Is she writing these herself? Is there a ghostwriter involved? Have any of you read these books? Apparently the second book is just a continuation of the first and the first was supposed to be based on her life so maybe it is easy for her.
"It's so gratifying for my second book to be so successful and it was so fun to write. The characters were already developed so I really enjoyed the process so much more this time around. All the characters have become like my friends now. I just sat in bed writing and it was the best process. Who gets to work from home in their PJs?"
Although I don't get to work from home in my pajamas, I have been asked to leave from work several times after being told that pajamas are not appropriate office attire.
Sitting at home in bed in her jammies with her ghost writer.
ReplyDelete"Pajamas are not appropriate office attire"? WTF!?!?! Why not?
ReplyDeleteI don't know about America, but to be on the Canadian best seller list you only have to sell something like 30,000 copies. When you say it like that, it's not too terribly impressive. ;)
ReplyDeleteWho gets to work from home in their PJ's? Me, that's who! It's been almost 2 years and 25 pounds. It has it's ups and downs.
ReplyDelete"Does This Mean Lauren Conrad Can Actually Write?"
ReplyDeleteNahhh
Nope, but that dress is cute.
ReplyDeleteSue Ellen, in Canada, the rule of thumb is 5000 copies.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/yzzwjs5
:)
well that didn't work...
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestseller#Description_and_types_of_bestseller
it's only 5000? jesus i need to get my write on!
ReplyDeletehaven't read her books yet.
@Jewels
ReplyDeleteMaybe the 30,000 number is for the number one best seller. At least that's what Robery Herjovek said on Dragon's Den this past Wednesday.
I bet it's a combination - she writes down her ideas and then a professional writer cleans them up.
ReplyDeleteEnty, we've gotta get you a full velvet suit. Even better than pjs.
I agree with Mooshki.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is fucking ridiculous that this girl has a book deal.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I read her first book. It was horrible. If a ghost writer had anything to do with that crap they should feel massive amounts of shame. It ended in a cliffhanger so I knew there would be a second one, but I don't know who the hell would finish the first one caring enough about any of those asshole "characters" (seriously it was like reading The Hills instead of watching the show) to find out what happened next. I threw the book across the room and then went on a facebook rant (much like this, who knew a year later I would still be so angry?) that if I ever met Lauren Conrad I would slap her across the face for producing that waste of paper and ink. So yeah, I agree, it's amazing that she has a book deal and that the second one is a best seller.
ReplyDeleteI watched a video by an ex Scientologist who worked in their publishing division - he talked extensively about how they would use all these machinations to get Hubbard's books listed as NY Times bestsellers, because the bestseller moniker is a real marketing advantage.
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt that the corporate interests behind Conrad's books are using similar techniques. How many degrees of separation are there between MTV and her publisher?? Not many I venture to guess...
I'm sure she has help, but I will say that I enjoyed the first book - LA Candy immensely. Was it all literary? No. Was it a fun, frothy stay-at-home-in-your-jammies-and-shove-flamin-hot-cheetos-with-cream-cheese-while-guzzling-cherry-coke read? Heck yes.
ReplyDeleteAmit! While I disagree with you about your opinion of the book. I would like to thank you for giving me the awesomeness that is Flamin' hot cheetos dipped in cream cheese! Friday night here I come!
ReplyDeleteIt's done all the time -- the author's people buy up enough copies to push the thing to the top of the bestseller list. They buy in bulk and coin it out as promotional money.
ReplyDeleteIn sum, yes, there would be a ghost writer or ghost editor if she were to actually write something herself. the rules of 'authorship' are very loose in the publishing world, unfortunately. kind of like in the celebrity designer world. as long as they pay the ghost writer/editor then no one is supposed to be the wiser.
ReplyDeletebelow are some tidbits from the first page of LA Candy. I don't think that she should be expecting a call real soon from the pulitzer committee.
----
Jane Roberts leaned against her dresser, studying the way her white silk nightie looked against her sun-kissed skin. Her loose blonde curls cascaded softly over her shoulders as she pretended not to be interested in the guy in her bed.
....
“Janie, you’re the most amazing girl I’ve ever met, I’m so in love with you its crazy,” he said, gazing into her eyes.
no, it's crazy. I am totally in love with DIVAS by Rebecca Chase? or Chance? right now, it's everything that Lauren Conrad's ghostwriter is aiming for and failing - fabulous!
ReplyDelete@ Abby. Did you have to make me gag?
ReplyDeleteGood news is, the $ the publisher makes on this junk can be spent promoting real writers.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who does marketing for the publishing industry. Part of his job is to insure that certain books make the bestseller list. How do you insure such a thing? The marketing firm buys thousands of books, which they then store in a warehouse. I'm not joking. I was shocked when I found out, but he says his firm is not the only one that does this. The bestseller is almost entirely controlled by publishing houses that can afford to "promote" their writers.
ReplyDelete