Young Writers Dazzle Publisher (Mom and Dad)

Ahhhhh.... I went and read some of those Maradonia excerpts!! Yes, I know she was just a kid.... but even for a 12 year old, that's pretty bad, I have to say. Plus what is up with the formatting? I know it's quoted so I haven't seen the reallll thing, but it looks like there aren't paragraph breaks for dialogue? In the novel I wrote at 11 I'm sure I had punctuation errors, but I started new paragraphs for dialogue. If you, er, read at all surely you must notice that's what's done? I'm mostly just baffled that her parents didn't fix that, at the very least.

I do feel kind of bad for her, though, because she's gotten all this feedback from the people she trusts the most that it's Very Good, and when/if she ever learns it's not, that's going to be devastating. Like I said I wrote a novel at 11, and I did get the feedback that it was very good for an 11-year-old and I had lots of potential as a writer [from a published author and also a small press editor, not just my parents], but no one pretended that meant it was very good period. "Keep writing because with work you could be good!" isn't the same as telling a kid their work is as good as any published author's, or better. Encouragement is good but indulgence isn't. This is indulgence.

I think it's more than indulgence. I think it's exploitation. I think her parents were really banking on turning her into the next Christopher Paolini, but EVEN YOUNGER! (and therefore worth more money).

I mean, her parents paid for this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X4OYYjXWCoI

Even with relatively poor production values, they did put some cash into this. Why pretend there's a big book signing event going on and that their daughter has all these fans if they weren't trying to make it actually happen?

Reminds me of the parents who try to push their kids into acting when the kids aren't really interested, just because they want to profit from a child star.

Libbie said:

I think it's more than indulgence. I think it's exploitation. I think her parents were really banking on turning her into the next Christopher Paolini, but EVEN YOUNGER! (and therefore worth more money).

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A little off-topic, but I read somewhere that CP only started 'Eragon' at 15, but didn't finish it until 19. In which case, "starting" can mean anything and the 15 year old novelist thing was just a marketing ploy. Does anyone know if this is fact or just a rumour?

I mean, her parents paid for this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X4OYYjXWCoI

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Holy... I think that was the dumbest thing I've ever seen... Especially the end part with the producer. I mean, c'mon. How stupid do the parents think people are?

Reminds me of the parents who try to push their kids into acting when the kids aren't really interested, just because they want to profit from a child star.

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I'm not sure this is the case. Obviously, I don't know if the author is actually interested in writing, but I have to assume she is. She wrote a book at a young age. The next thing she wants to do is get it published and she thinks it's publishable. I've been there. I don't think the parents forced her to publish it, but I think she was really excited about it and asked her parents how one could publish a book. Then they got a little too involved, saw an opportunity to make their child a "star" and cashed in on it. I think that it was consensual, but the author didn't really understand what was going on. She just knew her book was being published and that's all she cared about. Obviously, she forgot to research on AW first. But anyway, her parents probably said to her that the fake videos were "just part of the business" or something. So she went along with it, and I think she genuinely believed she was a published author. I assume by now she realizes that she isn't.

At least, that's how it seems to me.

Libbie said:

I think it's more than indulgence. I think it's exploitation. I think her parents were really banking on turning her into the next Christopher Paolini, but EVEN YOUNGER! (and therefore worth more money).

I mean, her parents paid for this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X4OYYjXWCoI

Even with relatively poor production values, they did put some cash into this. Why pretend there's a big book signing event going on and that their daughter has all these fans if they weren't trying to make it actually happen?

Reminds me of the parents who try to push their kids into acting when the kids aren't really interested, just because they want to profit from a child star.

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That is really sick. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the book and is just filled with false advertisement to make it look like her book is a bestseller. I think the most telling statement in there is "This kid's a billion dollar industry!"

Ugh. Just sickening.

Also I was a 15 year old novelist. And my book was better than this one. Which doesn't say much, to be honest.

It's not as special as it sounds, especially when you're only "published" because your parents paid a lot of money to have it done.

To be honest, it's probably a good thing this girl was home schooled. Could you imagine the shit she'd get at a high school?

kaitie said:

To be honest, it's probably a bad thing this girl was home schooled. Could you imagine the shit she'd get at a high school?

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one fix

MJNL said:

Wait, that video was made by the girl's parents? It looks like a spoof--like it's explicitly making fun of the books, not advertising them. Except for the end...which looks like the beginning of a porno...

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I thought the exact same thing!

I saw a porno coming on too lol. That was bad to say the least. How is this kid going along with it? I would at least run away

Well, looks like the actors captured the nuance and subtlety of the original text fairly well.

I'm usually against thinking badly of others, but this Gloria Tesch....Ho-Ly-Sh-It. I mean anyone who has their parents pay for them to be published is going to get snubbed by those that did it the "hard" way, but that's just too much. Christopher Poalini got a lot of hate as well, but he didn't try to sound like a star, and his books were actually very enjoyable for me when I was younger (at least the first one).

Libbie said:

I mean, her parents paid for this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X4OYYjXWCoI

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What...the...hell?

You guys need to stop posting things like this so I can have my life back. It was seriously, the closest I have ever come to watching a train wreck.

Ugh. So disgusting.

No wonder she's got a gigantic head. Do you think her parents told her the same lies the video had?

I read some of Gloria Tesch's work and it's exactly how I would expect a twelve-year-old to write. It's how I wrote around that age. I thought that to make an interesting character, you made them do lots of awesome stuff. I certainly didn't have the concept of a Mary Sue. I actually found her work cute because it was like I'd discovered a bunch of my old manuscripts from middle school. I remember thinking I had to keep bad language and violence out of the books, though, so I could be a good role model to all the little kids who would read my masterpiece. (Yeah, I had an inflated ego even without a book trailer.) ^_^

My understanding is that Eragon (the commercially published version) came out when Paolini was about 20. What age he was when the self-published version came out, I have no idea. But he was definitely old enough when Eragon hit shelves across the country to have his work critiqued as an adult's.

Hopefully Gloria Tesch will realize that all authors need to keep growing in their craft and work on something outside the Maradonia universe.

This is a very interesting thread for me, 'cos I have an 8 y.o. whose current career goal is writer/illustrator (and he states if he can't do that, he'll just be a hobo, lol) He's a very dedicated writer, and he and I love to sit and have our writer chats. He's very open to feedback and soaks up everything I can teach him. His story "Godzilla's Wonderful Day" led to a great conversation about fan fiction. His "Aliens Vs. Australians" led to a discussion about appropriate levels of violence in children's books (this story had an awful lot of blood, decapitations, alien limbs strewn everywhere, etc) His "Diary of a Dorky Kid" got us chatting about originality and how to come up with unique story ideas.

At one point he was talking about getting one of his stories put into print. We went to the Lulu site and talked about the difference between being published and being self-published. He decided to wait until his work was "good enough." (his words, not mine)

It can be a difficult, at times. When he brings me one of his stories and asks for my opinion, I want to be honest, but I also don't want to crush his delicate little writer ego. Thankfully, SYW has given me lots of experience in giving tactful feedback.

Most recently, while watching me work on first round edits, he decided that he too needed an editor. He's tackling his first chapter book at the moment. It's science fiction with an awesome premise. He says if it's good enough he'd like to photocopy it and give out copies to his friends. He was very shy and sweet when he asked me if I'd edit it for him first. So cool to hear Martin and King (and Libbie!) did this when they were kids. So much better than feeding his immature ego and acting like he's the next big thing. Even though, I think, if he sticks with this, he darn well could be. Yep, I'm a proud momma. Though one with plenty of common sense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEVX...otation_620502&src_vid=JKtCeyPVB18&feature=iv This was interesting. One person's take on Tesch.

dolores, I laughed out loud at your son's comment about being a writer or a hobo. ^_^

For whatever it's worth, when I've worked with elementary-aged kids, the two phrases I've seen used for critiques are, "things that are already good," and "things that could make it better." It seems to work nicely. I think it's awesome your son is looking for critical feedback at such a young age.

We had some volunteer moms at my elementary school who would hand-bind books for kids. Each student was only allowed one book for the year, though, so kids had to carefully choose their best work. It was an awesome experience. Maybe making a homemade book out of his best story would be a fun craft for you and your son too.

dolores haze = good mom. No, = great mom.

Will you adopt me?

I just watched the video, and there seem to be a lot of plants in that bookstore. Almost as if it was someone's living-room.

Also love the line "Why have we been brought into this totally different world?"

brainstorm77 said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEVX...otation_620502&src_vid=JKtCeyPVB18&feature=iv This was interesting. One person's take on Tesch.

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I've seen that before. I thought a particularly interesting point was swankivy got a copyright complaint from the Tesch gang for including clips of their video that included copyrighted material that isn't theirs.

gotchan said:

I've seen that before. I thought a particularly interesting point was swankivy got a copyright complaint from the Tesch gang for including clips of their video that included copyrighted material that isn't theirs.

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That stuck out to me too

gotchan said:

I've seen that before. I thought a particularly interesting point was swankivy got a copyright complaint from the Tesch gang for including clips of their video that included copyrighted material that isn't theirs.

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Yep. I posted it right here on page three yesterday...

aruna said:

Yep. I posted it right here on page three yesterday...

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Aw, I'm sorry.

That wasn't an intentional ignoring. Just a "I got lazy and only read the last couple posts of the thread" sort of ignoring.

This should be in a stickie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBhQhKWOZmk

Dolores haze, tell your son I want to read "Aliens vs. Australians." The title has hooked me.

James D. Macdonald said:

This should be in a stickie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBhQhKWOZmk

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As should this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9fc-crEFDw