Okay, I have a confession to make:
I’m also really J.K. Rowling!
Not buying it, huh?
Well, it was worth a shot. The news that Ms. Rowling was “outed” in an anonymous tweet to England’s Sunday Times to be the actual author of the new mystery The Cuckoo’s Crime by “Robert Galbraith” tipped this well-reviewed “debut” novel from its reported initial sales of 1,500 copies into a 300,000 second printing has got the publishing world in a dither.
Ms. Rowling, whose previous novel The Causal Vacancy–her first for adult readers and written under her own name–was not so well-received by critics, said of the revelation, “I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer, because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name.”
I believe the second part of her statement, the part about writing under a pseudonym being a liberating experience.
I don’t believe that Ms. Rowling wanted to keep the secret any longer than she already had. After basking in the rave reviews received by “Robert Galbraith,” it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that she had an attack of ego at that 1,500 sales figure and had a hand in her own outing. The Twitter account used to send the anonymous tweet was deleted, according to the reporter who received the tip and who I heard interviewed on NPR on July 15, immediately after the message was sent. The investigative trail leading from the former plainclothes Royal Military Police investigator “Robert Galbraith” lead from the small literary agency, whose main client is Ms. Rowling, to Mulholland Books, an imprint of Little Brown, Ms. Rowling’s publisher.
I.e., sure smells like a publicity stunt to me.
I don’t begrudge Ms. Rowling her sales. Harry Potter isn’t my cup of tea (could never get past page 50), but she worked hard, created a spectacular brand, and kept her readers and fans happy over a long haul, earning every penny she’s made. And good for her.
What the Cuckoo’s Crime stunt does do is remind me of the miserable state that publishing has fallen into: Even a novel as well reviewed as The Cuckoo’s Crime would have just fallen into the cracks if Robert Galbraith had in fact really been just Robert Galbraith. Just-Robert Galbraith would have seen his book fade into the oblivion of the remainder pile without ever having received even one one-hundredth of the publicity that Robert-Galbraith-is-really-J.K.-Rowling is getting.
How many good books die on the shelves for want of even a fraction of that attention, ignored because their authors aren’t J.K. Rowling? How many good books don’t ever even get reviewed? Or are published by houses unwilling to invest in some (any!) advertising? How many good books are read by editors who, even recognizing their worth, reject them anyway because there’s no room on their schedules for books that won’t be a bestsellers? The Hollywood/Blockbuster mentality has overtaken the once genteel field of publishing. The only projects getting green lit are the ones with “stars” attached to them. The rest are left to sink or swim (mostly sink) on their own.
My beef isn’t with J.K. Rowling. As I said before, she’s earned her success. You sell, sister! We all write to be read by as many people as possible…and not just because readers translate into dollars. Yes, we want to make a living from our labors; who doesn’t? And, while I wouldn’t say no to making millions off my books, I didn’t choose this path expecting to ever get rich. I did it because I have to write, plain and simple. I wrote before anybody ever paid me for it and I would continue writing even if (as has happened) the money stopped coming in.
The truth is, I don’t even know who my beef is with. The publishers? The editors? The critics? Newspapers that don’t support local authors? Newspapers dropping their book review columns? The mega-bookstores where less and less space is devoted to actual books as more and more floor space is given over to e-readers and accessories?
All I know is, me and my writer friends and acquaintances are all massively frustrated by the state of publishing today. I imagine if there really had been a Robert Galbraith, he would be sitting around the table grumbling and bitching along with the rest of us. But he doesn’t have to.
So, no, I’m not J.K. Rowling.
But I sure as hell wouldn’t mind being Robert Galbraith right around now.
Tags: Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, literary hoax, Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo's Crime