Celebrity books (books written by celebrities, especially in children’s literature) divide people. They divide readers, they divide ‘real’ authors and illustrators. But, like with any shift in culture, there are pros and cons to celebrities penning picture books.
If you’ve benefited from one as a creator (full disclosure, I have, in fact, 2 now), you’re likely to think they have a net positive impact. But, if you feel as though you can’t get published because celebrities keep “taking up the available space”, you may be a little bitter.
Here are a few unstructured thoughts about the role of celebrity books, or, at least, what I think is true right now.
Celebrity books extend reach
If a celebrity putting their name on a book, whether they actually write it or not, gets a book into a home or in front of a child that has never read a book before (or otherwise wouldn’t) then I am all for it. Meghan Markle’s book got slammed by some reviewers, but, you know, it’s also true that reviews don’t really matter. And, if just one kid got access to a book because it was Meghan’s, then I don’t see how that’s a bad thing. Judging one’s taste in books is unhelpful and it’s OK for people to like whatever they want.
Publishers struggle with marketing and celebrities are helpfu
Let’s be frank – marketing books is difficult. If it wasn’t there’d be plenty more self-published authors out there with huge audiences. In fact, I’d say that publishers aren’t really in the game of ‘publishing’ anymore – it’s actually about distribution and marketing.
It’s not that publishers don’t know how to do it (although some understand it better than others) but, just like any individual who is trying to get their work out there, publishers need to fight and/or use algorithms designed to hide and/or show things from certain people. Those algorithms change constantly and there’s no transparency around that so it’s a game where, eventually, big tech wins. Publishers, like any click-bait media company, also need to compete with a messy 24-hours news cycle, an increasingly divided audience attention, new channels like TikTok, the list goes on.
Engaging celebrities to write their own books allows publishers to outsource some of the marketing to those people who have amassed captive audiences on all the marketing channels already. This leads to the first point: It gets books in front of people who may not necessarily read in the first place.
Many celebrities are writers
Many celebrities are indeed writers. They may not have written for children necessarily, but they are often celebrities because they’ve written before – comedy, music, film, tv – and that work has been successful; it’s connected with an audience. Does that mean they can’t write for children? And, do they write their own children’s books from scratch? I suspect it’s a spectrum. Do ‘real’ authors write their own? I know some ‘real’ authors who are heavily edited, and I know some who aren’t. Does the amount of editing and hand-holding that may go into a celebrity book make it illegitimate? And then, like with any writer who’s writing for a new audience, sometimes they need help (all editors help all ‘real’ writers anyway). Should they be denied that?
Celebrities block ‘diversity’?
And so, this is a tricky one, but I’m not sure anyone knows if it’s true that we have fewer voices from historically-discriminated-against communities because of a publishers’ propensity to publish celebrities. Yes, there is historical discrimination in our media landscape. That’s been proved time and time again. But, the representation of voices from historically-discriminated-against backgrounds is improving. Maybe not as quickly as anyone would like, but it is. And so, should only white male celebrities be prevented the opportunity to write and market a book to their audience for a while? If Oprah wrote a children’s book, is that OK?
This line of thinking is nuanced and complex. But, if those diversity advocates value true diversity, then ‘real’ authors and ‘celebrity’ authors of any race, gender, and sexuality (whilst being mindful of the historical discrimination of marginalised groups’ voices) should sit side by side on the shelf. Again, who are we to judge what someone should or shouldn’t read? Maybe, just maybe, celebrity books aren’t blocking new voices, but making room for them? This brings me to my next point.
Celebrity books may make more room for unpublished authors
If a publisher’s goal is revenue (and let’s be a clear, a publisher can’t exist without that), then managing risk is important. Publishers tend to do this through a common mechanism used by any business, diversification.
Bear with me on this one.
A publisher could publish only one hundred cookbooks in a year, or, they can publish broadly – novels, YA, kids etc. The rules of diversification basically state that the second way is a better way to manage risk.
What celebrity books can bring to publishers is a surer bet – like picking a favourite in a horse race. Celebrities, because of their audience, are more likely to sell more books than someone who isn’t. It doesn’t always work out this way, but nothing is certain in publishing, anyway. However, if publishers have the opportunity to place some surer bets, it means that they’re more able to take risks elsewhere. What sort of risk are we talking about? New authors and illustrators from historically discriminated against backgrounds – people whose voices have not been heard before. Now, I’m not in publishing, so I don’t know if that’s actually happening, but it’s certainly possible. The optimist within me hopes it’s true. I’d love to know from publishers whether they’re being this strategic. I suspect, like always, it’s a spectrum; both across publishers and time.
What’s a real author anyway?
I’m not here to defend ‘celebrity’ authors (ok, I am a little bit). But, in the end, anyone can write a great story, and anyone can write a terrible one. Books written by “Real authors” and “Celebrity authors” aren’t mutually exclusive, nor are they a true signal of a good or bad story.
What I know is that giving kids (and adults) access to a wide variety of stories and styles of illustration and art are important. Kids, like adults, have a huge variety of likes and dislikes. A ‘celebrity’ book that an adult may roll their eyes at might just be the one that unlocks a love of books and reading for a child.
I’m not sure why would anyone get in the way of that.