Page 1 of 1

Wilbur Smith: is this the book deal of the century?

PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 2:52 pm
by Matbow
Another Guardian UK article:

Age: 79.

Appearance: Maths teacher on safari.

Ah, yes – I've heard of this guy. He writes novels about people having sex in Africa. Set in the past. Occasionally they escape from jackals between shags. Is that right? No.

Oh. Well, I mean it's not always jackals. Sometimes it might be pirates or hippos. Look, you've got the wrong end of the stick. What I mean is that Smith won't actually be writing them any more. At least not every word.

What? First it's Katie Price, now this! Is nothing sacred? No, it isn't. According to various reports, Smith's new publisher HarperCollins is going to pay him £15m to come up with six plot outlines, some of which will be written up by other people over the next three years.

That's very nice of HarperCollins. It certainly is. "My fans have made it very clear that they would like to read my novels and revisit my family of characters faster than I can write them," Smith says. "For them, I am willing to make a change to my working methods."

How noble. Still, it's hardly easy to devise a new bestseller, and maybe even write some of it, every six months. Not for Wilbur. As he explained to a reader in 2009: "I have never had too much trouble for creative ideas to spring up in my mind."

We'll miss his way with words. We will. Although HarperCollins has denied that the books are going to be ghostwritten. According to The Bookseller, "some of the titles will be written with co-authors" but "the mechanics of the process are yet to be decided".

That doesn't sound much like denying it to me. No. And not all Smith fans are happy. One reader on his Facebook page called it "a sell out", and added: "I for one won't be buying a Wilbur book written by a third party."

Quite right! I've half a mind to start reading Wilbur Smith novels just so I can boycott them. Let's not do anything drastic. I doubt most readers will notice the difference anyway.

Really? Nah. Writing is just hackwork. Any idiot can do it.

Do say: "Hi Wilbur, could you sign my copy for me?"

Don't say: "Thanks, but I was kind of hoping you'd do it yourself."

Re: Wilbur Smith: is this the book deal of the century?

PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 4:17 pm
by Nefer
Do say: "Hi Wilbur, could you sign my copy for me?"

Don't say: "Thanks, but I was kind of hoping you'd do it yourself."


HAHAHAHA!