Blogs

Freya North

Freya gave up a PhD scholarship to write her first novel, Sally. Her ninth novel Pillow Talk was published in August 2007, and recently won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Her 10th novel Secrets will be published in February. Her website can be found at freyanorth.com.

Girl not allowed

03.02.09

So, Cheryl Cole is to write a series of ‘chick-lit’ novels . . . Ms Cole is gorgeous and talented . . . as a singer and celebrity.  But can she hack it as a novelist? Does she actually know what it entails? Where’s her track record of being able to write 100,000+ words of original fiction? And hold  on . . . isn’t she a singer? Has she ever said “if I wasn’t in Girls Aloud, I’d love to be a novelist”?  Did I miss an interview when she’s previously revealed “all I’ve ever wanted to do is write . . .”? The quote I read said she hadn’t previously thought of writing, but that she’s “come around to the idea”.

It’s tempting to be larky about this (as many of the comments on my facebook page tended to be), but I take this very seriously. It’s not about ‘slagging off Cheryl Cole’ (she’s seems lovely) - it’s about protesting at the decisions made by our leading publishers. My concern is that talented, promising, as-yet-unpublished authors may be ignored because publishers are investing their funds elsewhere, where literary quality does not figure. Tell me that Ms Cole’s fine UK publisher won’t now reject and forfeit fine unknown novelists on account of having spent a vulgar amount on her advance?

We all know the adage of 'everyone has a book in them' - but how many truly have the commitment, courage, tenacity - and skills - to write a series of novels? Writing a novel is not about ‘burning ambition’ - where ambition is solely about publication or money or fame. For a novel to be a good novel - and worthy of the generous readers who part with their cash to buy it - it can only arise from the author’s absolute desire to write that story out of their  system - and being blessed with the necessary talent to do so.

I've had a really strong response to this story from authors I know - via my facebook page as well as my website blog (www.freyanorth.com). Above all else, we object to the assumption that it's 'easy' to write commercial fiction - that 'chick-lit' (an umbrella term I've always loathed...if anyone called me a chick I'd belt them...) is but a dumbed-down genre that 'anyone' can turn their hand to. It’s great commercial fiction, it’s perennially popular and there should be quality controls!!!

Add comment

By posting on this website you agree to the Bookseller Comments Policy. Comments go direct to live, please be relevant, brief and definitely not abusive. Report any "unsuitable" comments by clicking the links.

Name

Comment

Email

Comments on this article

By jo

Where's the evidence for this. Admittedly the number of sleb writers cashing in from weak-kneed publishers is on the rise, but one of last year's topselling writers was Sadie Jones, a new talent, properly invested in by her publisher. Totally agree that chick-lit writers should get more credit though.

03 Feb 09 17:33

Unsuitable?

By Bert

Back when I was working on the frontline of bookselling, a gaggle of teenage girls came in searching for the new "Jordan" novel. One of them - the leader of the pack, it seemed - later became a regular customer, asking for more by Jordan, and when there were no others - asking for other books she may like. I pointed her to the likes of Marian Keyes, Jackie Collins and - yes - Freya North. For as long as these celebrity fiction writers continue to expand the market, for as long as these publishers are happy to pay the celebs for the use of their name and for as long as the real writers are happy to remain as ghosts, then long may it continue, I say. Despite huge advances and payments, the publishers won't be making a loss on these books - that's just not the way business works - and the more money they do make, gives them more money to invest in newer writers.

03 Feb 09 22:16

Unsuitable?

By Freya North

I hope so, Bert - and on behalf of myself and my fellow authors, thanks for the support you gave us! The response from my readers (ie: existing fans of contemporary fiction) is that they wouldn't take seriously/ buy such a novel. I would imagine that the book's core buyers will be X-Factor/ Girls Aloud fans - but as you say, if that then introduces them to the wealth and breadth of titles available, all well and good. But the book better be good - otherwise they won't want to sample anything else...

04 Feb 09 09:48

Unsuitable?

By Ray Leigh

there is room for everyone - many harsh things could be said about contempoary fiction. other voices, other perceptions outside the pale of what the jaded old wheelers and dealers serve up will have to find ther own oxygen. www.thefupress.wordpress.com

04 Feb 09 10:52

Unsuitable?

By A B Seller

Freya, I admire your stance. Particularly brave given Cheryl is to be published by your own house. One hopes there aren't any silly repercussions. I sincerely hope that Bert is right in that the readers of Jordan, Jade, Katona et al become fans of literature upon introduction. I am certain that readers of those three in particular would find Keyes, Parks, North et al particularly enjoyable reads - perhaps even more so given they have a natural talent for writing. However, I do fear that many of the readers of Katie Price ONLY read Katie Price and therefore publishers will continue to be keen to spend big bucks in securing the signatures of celebs that appeal to the masses of very-light book readers in the wider public. It, of course, makes sense from a business point of view if the books sells enough copies (and Price certainly has), although it is disheartening to many more talented writers out there.

04 Feb 09 12:50

Unsuitable?

By Retired Publisher

Come on. Publishing, like any other business, is about making money; especially in these difficult times. If I had a pound for every time and editor had said to me "this book ought to be published" I would be very rich, but the publishing houses I worked for would be in the sticky stuff. By all means publish some "highbrow" stuff but lets keep it in proportion.

04 Feb 09 13:15

Unsuitable?

By Sheila

Clearly the lovely Cheryl Cole isn't going to write these novels. They will be 'branded' as written by her. So the story should be 'Cheryl Cole in multi-million novel marketing deal' which would at least tell it like it is. If HC think that they will recoup the money they are giving her then fine and dandy it's a commercial decisioin but please do not insult people who do write for a living by implying that Cheryl will sit down in front of the computer and come up with her plot and 100k words all by herself.

04 Feb 09 13:19

Unsuitable?

By Clovis

Listening to publishers justify this is a bit like hearing the vastly wealthy talk about the trickle-down effect - arguing that their greed somehow benefits the poor. It doesn't, and ghosted novels are an embarrassment to the industry. If the book's good enough, publish it under the actual author's name. Otherwise don't use celebrity to foist second-rate fiction on the world.

04 Feb 09 15:26

Unsuitable?

By What's not to like?

Cheryl Cole will surely get tills rolling and non-book buying customers into the shops.

04 Feb 09 16:32

Unsuitable?

By Dan S

I do understand that the industry will always make use of ghost writers, and often for very good reasons. But there seems something fundamentally dishonest about publishing a novel under a celebrity name if they didn't actually write it or have a major input. It's just all a bit Milli Vanilli for my liking.

05 Feb 09 10:58

Unsuitable?

By BSEL

Who was Cheryl Cole?

05 Feb 09 11:04

Unsuitable?

By Sarah Harding

Dan S - I think you are underestimating the intelligence of the prospective audience of these books. I'm pretty sure the readers of these books will know that they have been ghosted, similar to knowing that Girls Aloud don't actually write their own songs. I doubt they would care.

05 Feb 09 12:19

Unsuitable?

By Lewis

First of all, congratulations to Freya for her brave and brilliant blog. Sadly, I disagree with the above comment. Readers are fooled into thinking celebs write their own books. Look at the amazon reviews for Jordan - readers there write reviews along the lines of 'she has such amazing ideas, I can't wait for her next one' Etc. Readers clearly have no idea how hard it is to write a book or how much time is involved. I think they will believe Cheryl writes her own even though they will without a doubt be ghosted. It makes a mockery of the publishers and the industry. When Jordan attempted to sing for the Eurovision contest, she clearly couldn't sing and even her bevy of fans didn't vote her in. Yet she is able to publish books without having a drop of literary talent. Although Girls Aloud might have song-writers writing their songs for them, they do actually sing and perform themselves. The music industry would never allow other people to sing for them and just let Girls Aloud mime. It would be regarded as a laughing stock and nobody would buy their records. Yet our industry is now allowing the equivalent to happen. Publishing is about making profits but given that Sebastian Barry is now riding high in teh charts, why the need to dumb down quite so readily? It smacks of laziness and fear instead of discovering a real writer and taking a risk.

05 Feb 09 12:29

Unsuitable?

By Clovis

I completely agree with Lewis and Sheila. Allowing celebrities to masquerade as writers is saying that the act of writing is unimportant and it's the branding that matters. I'm interested in the legal side here. Can publishers can get away with this under the trade description act? If a novel is not actually written by an author, surely it shouldn't be sold as such, in the eyes of the law. And well done Freya North.

05 Feb 09 13:47

Unsuitable?

By Dan S

I too have wondered how a publisher might deal with a legal challenge to passing off a novel as being by someone who didn't write it. Much different to someone ghosting an autobiography. As for those claiming it makes good business sense, publishers have spent years killing themselves with short-term money spinning ideas and this trend smacks of similar. Better off concentrating on producing good quality content than silly marketing fluff like this that soon loses its gloss.

05 Feb 09 15:30

Unsuitable?

By Charles Hale QC

Dear Freya, I am a lawyer, and with regard to the Cheryl Cole book situation, there is no question that if properly legally challenged, publishers would find themselves in trouble for their implication that Cheryl Cole wrote the books. It is, to be blunt, against the law to pass off a product sold as being anything other than that which it is. You can, legally, no more claim that the book was written by Cheryl Cole if it wasn't, than you can sell your books and tell people they're a pair of socks. Legally, one has to be clear about what one is selling and not advertise or make claims that it is anything other than that which it is. The law is strict on this and I am astonished that noone has challenged it. It would be like TopShop saying that Kate Moss made the clothes in her range at the store - of course she didn't. She didn't sew buttons on them or check hemlines, as Cheryl Cole won't add plot twists or check adverbs. Topshop have been very fair to their customers and have been clear that the range of clothes was INSPIRED by her and that she has helped with the DESIGN of them. The books, to be legally solid, should say 'based on an idea by Cheryl Cole' or 'inspired by Cheryl Cole'. But publishers would rather lie to consumers and, yes, that is strictly against the law. Yours, Charles Hale QC

05 Feb 09 16:22

Unsuitable?

By Bert

Charles - I'm interested in the legalities around pseudonyms... This is a slightly different issue, but If I wanted to write a novel under my own name, I would be more than welcome to. If I wanted to write it under a made up name - Alfonse Pumpernickel - I would be more than welcome. What would happen if I wanted to write one under the name of a famous celebrity -perhaps a novel about a former member of an eighties boyband who keeps getting in trouble with the police by 'George Michael' (or indeed 'Boy George'...). Assuming the name is not copyrighted, could I or my publishers get into trouble for doing this? Presumably either one of the George's might object but if I then paid £5m for the use of their name...?

05 Feb 09 17:29

Unsuitable?

By Jonathan

I think it's pretty much a myth that books get non-readers reading regularly. They'll just buy it as another piece of merchandising, probably in supermarkets, W H Smith, and other less book-heavy environments. Oh, and Amazon, who'll sell it for less than most of the rest of the trade is paying for it. Certainly, if my experience selling Katie Price is anything to go by, most won't even look at anything else in the shop, let alone buy anything. And while some will realise that it's ghosted, many will not - just look at the reviews for Katie Price on Amazon. It all contributes the the gradual erosion of the the writer's craft as a skill to be nurtured and celebrated. I'm sure plenty of money will be earned, but, for me anyway, that's really not enough. These sort of books are pointless - and we have more than enough appalling books (and films and TV and music) cluttering up modern culture as it is.

05 Feb 09 17:49

Unsuitable?

By Charles Hale

Bert, You're fine to make up a pseudonym as long as you don't use the name of a famous person and pretend to be that person. So you could call yourself Cheryl Cole, as long as you weren't trying to con the public into believing that you were 'the' Cheryl Cole. So if you choose to call yourself George Michael, you're fine as long as you steer clear of anything that implies you are THE George Michael. What you can't do is deceive the public into believing that the former Wham star wrote the book that you're selling (though it's no 'less legal' than what Harper Collins are doing), CH QC

06 Feb 09 10:02

Unsuitable?

By TemporaryAsset

I agree with the basis of Freya's argument here, that money and resources should not be spent on celebrities largely without any talent being given credit for doing something they could never in a million years do; however, my take on it is that said money and resources should of course be awarded to up and coming writers who have a real story to tell, one that might enrich the lives of those that end up reading it. This vital section of the literary world are granted barely a cursory look in comparison to commercially-viable producers of such tat, and for this reason the market, from a meaningful standpoint, is stagnant. Yes, the trade must make money but must it devote the vast, vast majority of itself to books that are instantly forgettable?

06 Feb 09 13:37

Unsuitable?

By JPFife

Although I'd agree with you in general it's a bit late to get principles isn't it? I visited your site and on your biography it states "Freya sent him 3 chapters and a page of completely fabricated reviews, which she wrote on behalf of the ..." I think that would count as misrepresentation as much as someone putting their name to a novel they didn't write.

08 Feb 09 20:17

Unsuitable?

By Freya North

On the contrary, JPFife - I had written two novels but it seemed because I was a nobody, no one would consider them. Despite four years of rejections, my passion for writing was not hampered and I never gave up. My conviction that there was a market for my work, and my frustration with the slush-pile, led me to write fake reviews which realistically appraised my work. They were very obviously tongue-in-cheek (ie: I ensured Germaine Greer slagged off my work, while Marie Claire magazine quite liked it...). The reviews were neither a con, nor were they for public consumption. They were sent to one agent only. Jonathan Lloyd read them in the spirit in which they were written - and he remains my agent to this day. Incidentally, one publisher who had rejected me 6 months previously, ended up bidding for my work. My blog was not about ghosting (but boy could I take to my soap box on that one) but on writing commercial fiction - a serious business requiring dedication, ability and quality on the part of authors and publishers alike.

09 Feb 09 09:56

Unsuitable?

See Also