Celebrities are still writing children’s books. Well, celebrities have been writing books for a long while, and it’s not just limited to children’s books. But now that celebrities are moving into a broader market, many authors are angry and concerned. Here’s why celebrity books shouldn’t annoy you.
The trend of celebs writing children’s books continues to grow, as actor Keira Knightly is set to release her debut children’s book soon. The book, titled “I Love You Just the Same” is about a girl who is adapting to a new sibling. Many other celebrities have written similar books, such as Tom Fletcher, Dougie Poynter, and David Walliams.
With these books going on to be popular bestsellers, it leaves full-time authors feeling slighted.
Impact on Authors
With more and more celebrity authors publishing books every day, a new trend has been stirring among regular authors. This trend is pushback at the idea of “celebrity authors” as many of these full-time writers are now feeling overshadowed by their celebrity counterparts.
Joshua Seigal, a well-known author and poet, has mentioned that writing for children requires both talent and dedication—something that these celebrities may pass over in favor of a quick buck.
Author Challenges
Let’s be honest—the writing market is oversaturated. Because of this, many authors who don’t have celebrity status or “star power” often face rejections before securing publishing, if they ever do.
In fact, many of these authors turn to self-publishing as a last resort, advertising their books through other means. Of course, this is a challenge that many celebrities rarely face.
Representation?
Of course, there is a flip side to this, with many celebrity books being high quality, and some even being praised for their positive impact on the publishing market.
For these books, the critiques seem to fall by the wayside. After all, a quality book is a quality book, right? Although these issues are put aside when it comes to quality books by authors, I believe that the issues are overblown in every other instance as well.
Overcome It
Here’s where many authors simply fall short. Instead of trying to understand why these celebrity books sell, we as authors simply become bitter over the success that celebrity authors have. And sure, to a certain extent that’s justifiable. But at the same time, we need to understand how these celebrities even found their success in the first place.
It’s not a fluke that fans of the celebrity buy the book they publish. Rather, it’s an example of yet another celebrity product being marketed to—and subsequently purchased by—fans who care more about the celebrity than the product itself.
Whether it’s the countless alcohol products sold by actors or the merch and shoes sold by musicians doesn’t matter. Even with Lunchables and Prime from Mr. Beast and KSI respectively, or any other number of products, the fact remains the same.
These products are not being sold to your target audience, so quit feeling jealous over the success of the celebrity who is selling the products. More than likely, their product is nothing more than a cheap imitation of something better that exists already. More than likely, you’re capable of writing a better book or designing a better brand than these celebrity authors. But that doesn’t matter, because you don’t have the target audience for it.
Build Your Audience
So what’s the answer? Should authors be angry about the success of celebrities who write books? No. It’s a waste of energy, and these celebrities are finding success in publishing their books for a reason.
Instead, there’s an important thing that new authors can do—read classic books, refine your craft, and become a better writer.
Build your brand, slowly but surely, through any means necessary. Keep doing this, and you can build a successful business for yourself. Sure, it might not be the millions of fans that a celebrity has, but you don’t need millions of fans to be successful.
And let’s be real, jealousy isn’t a good look.
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