YouTubers & Book Deals

YouTubers & Book Deals

(& many other great opportunities YouTube celebrities got recently)

Hi everybody, Mary here.

So, as we keep going into these #YouTubeOpinions of mine that I wanted to share with you guys, this is the time when I talk about the book deals and other opportunities given to YouTubers ! Bare in mind that my opinion is the one of a writer and aspiring author working on her first fiction at the moment. I am not a YouTuber (and even less a YouTube celebrity), so I may have a different opinion than others ! If you want to react to my opinion and keep the debate going, please leave a comment, it's free for everybody and I read/answer them !

As a writer and aspiring author, obviously it bums me out. Not specifically because these YouTubers are given opportunities that the lambda author will work for YEARS and YEARS to get, not specifically because these people (even when they say that they love reading and writing since forever, which may be or not true, since we don't know them in real life) just had this idea, like, last year or so, for most of them ??? when I am an avid reader since the age of 8 and an avid writer since the age of 12 (now working on my very first fiction that I started in December 2014) ???

(Okay, you can tell me that my current project is quite recent and I started thinking about that one specifically in September 2014. But that doesn't mean that I had never thought about writing a whole novel since I started writing at the age of 12.)

I am not bummed specifically because these celebrities are opportunists (let's be honest, they took the opportunity to be YouTubers and basically gambled on that to be their career sometimes, and I am happy for them that they were early enough to find a place that was empty enough to let them grow instead of 2015 where the YouTube space is basically filled up with them, and thus smothering the work of small content creators. They took every opportunity, book deals, radio/TV shows, movies, and many other deals, to make money, because they ARE opportunists). And I would never say that it's a bad thing. It's quite the opposite, actually : if that's what they wanted, good for them. I mean, to work and make a living out of the entertainment industry, you must have the guts to do it and be the best to make enough money to survive when you start.

What bugs me way much more, actually, is a couple of things that I am going to list right here.

1) The guilt trap. When a YouTuber says : "If you read my book, you'll have access to new and never-before-seen content !", like, details about their life, about their childhoods and births, about their experiences, about SECRET TRIPS NEVER DEALT WITH BEFORE (you know who I am talking about. I don't hate them at all, but really ? Epitome of the guilt trap, pretty much, me says !). Basically, what they say is : "Here, on the one had, is the content that you can get for free on YouTube. On the other hand, is secret access content that you can only get if you give us money.". Now, as I said in the previous post about my #YouTubeOpinions, the demographic for these people are teenagers, for the most part, between the ages of 11 and 16 (correct me if I am wrong). They ARE influenceable, malleable, they want to please they faves by buying their books and showing it to everybody else on the Internet to show them how much of a good fangirl they are. (If you're buying a YouTuber book because you genuinely like it, that absolutely fine, it's just that some of the fans will be like that. They will buy a book just because it's written, or not, by their faves. Sadly, I wish that everybody buying the book was doing it because they like the book, not to please the author. But that won't happen soon, I am afraid.) And sadly, some fans will believe that they will be less of a fan if they don't buy a book. That's OKAY if you don't want it/you don't like it/you don't have the money to buy it ! No YouTuber ever has the right to pressure young, influenceable, malleable fangirls into buying a book just because they are the author.

2) Are these YouTubers good writers ? Can we consider them as authors now ? We don't know. After all, it's their first book. When I get my book published (that will happen one day, if I manage to finish it and not give it up), people will read it with the apprehension of reading a new author on the market. They won't get to judge me on past works, since they don't exist. Please, some haters, don't judge too quickly a book by its cover, and a YouTuber by the book they are releasing right now. Also, I understand that it's their first time trying a new thing, but please, when there's a ghostwriter, as I said in YouTube Culture, be TRANSPARENT. Tell us the truth before we find out by ourselves and give you a huge backlash, not for having a ghostwriter, but for lying about the situation.

However, writing a book is way different from filming a video. It's a different type of media and communication, that needs specific skills. Thus, I have a question : where did they learn how to write ? I mean, if they liked that so much, why didn't they talk about it ? When you say in your announcement video that you love reading, I am not thinking that you're making this up to justify your book (even if now, I am wondering if people don't exaggerate about this). I am just genuinely asking you : why didn't you talk about this earlier ? You could have so many great conversations with your fans about your favourites authors/books/genres/recommendations and such, in live shows for example, and communicate with your audience about things that you love. But nobody does that. That's the reason for which some fans believe that these new book and YouTubers saying that they are book-worms is just plain fake. And as a book-worm myself, I have to say that this is not really convincing for me. (Even when it's the truth.)

(But again, that goes with my previous point about the fact that they can't fully express their opinion without getting a sort of backlash.)

Last but not least, I feel like this YouTubers (and I only found one exception to the case) are probably going to write only one book. Can we consider them as authors now ? I mean, for me, they are definitely writers. But authors ? Being an author is a thing where writing is a recurring job/hobby, where you do it frequently and have an ambition for it. I don't consider myself as an author because my work isn't out yet, however, I consider myself as a writer as I have a blog where I post daily (or so I try). Furthermore, I am an aspiring author and I am writing and hoping to be published one day.

3) The publishing houses cashing in some easy and ever-flowing money. No, really ? Where do you believe all these YouTubers got all the fantastic book deals ? Because they are cool ? Because the publishing houses wanted to please the fans by giving a new opportunity to their faves ? Because they are good Samaritans ? When you know that in France, for example, to be published in a traditional library, there is a 1/100, or even a 1/1000 ratio to be actually chosen, that bums me out.

Now, I wouldn't mind if the YouTubers had played fair game by writing their stuff and then submitting it to the publishing houses. But when you know that some of them got the book deal even before they started writing, and they announced a release date even before finishing the writing, which is quite surprising because even I don't know when I will finish my own novel, it's quite... surprising, you know ?

NOT AT ALL.

Actually, sometimes (and maybe more often than you think), YouTubers managements contacted the publishing houses, and got them the deal. Then, the YouTubers just had to think of an idea, write it, and send it, knowing that it would be edited and then published anyways. Why do you think they do that ? To have more influence. To become bigger corporations. To make bigger benefits. The publishing houses are also licking their lips at the sound of the money from young teenagers rushing in to buy their faves' book. YouTube is, as I said, mainstream. A world full of sharks where the bigger ones get to eat all the others. It's just, well... a business. The Darwinian theory of the survival of the fittest. A race to avoid extinction. After all, that is the entertainment industry nowadays.

In conclusion, my point is that YouTubers are not to blame. I mean, are there many people who would refuse such opportunities ? I personally would (eat up my whole hand if I happen to do otherwise), because I have strong morals and values. But that's how the world goes. The art industry caring more about making quick and easy money instead of investing on actual talents isn't new, after all. It's always been this way, with patronage since the Middle Ages and corporations investing in people that, according to them, will bring a fresh and new flow of cash.

And that's the same for every opportunity that these celebrities got recently. Ad videos ? A new opportunity to sell products to teenagers. Radio and TV shows ? A new way to bring teenage audience to listen/watch their stuff easily. Book deals ? A new way to bring new clients to the yard, and maybe, increase sales. That's why all these YouTubers are getting book deals. Because, on the one hand, they accepted the new opportunities that they got, to try new things and get paid for it. On the other hand, to give more influence to the managers and more money to the publishers. After all, everybody wins, am I right ? (I mean, you get to read a book from your fave, aren't you happy about it though ? I mean, they still worked really hard for it, I suppose...)

So let it be. That's how the world is working anyway : on fame and money, both before creativity, innovation and actual talent. There's no way to stop it now. Welcome to the capitalistic world, my little angels. It's not unicorns and rainbows in the land of fame & money.

Okay, I hope that this post is not hateful or anything (please tell me if it is), and that I am not to sarcastic about my opinion. But that's the harsh truth, I am afraid.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this post and I will see you soon with another one !

And as usual, our last word : KIDNEYS !