Author Lynn Shepherd recently wrote a blog post for the Huffington Post entitled “If JK Rowling Cares About Writing, She Should Stop Doing It.” A lot of people, myself included, have a lot of problems with this article. Let’s have a look at why:
I didn’t much mind Rowling when she was Pottering about. I’ve never read a word (or seen a minute) so I can’t comment on whether the books were good, bad or indifferent. I did think it a shame that adults were reading them (rather than just reading them to their children, which is another thing altogether), mainly because there’s so many other books out there that are surely more stimulating for grown-up minds.
Okay, let’s stop for a minute. Right off the bat, Shepherd comes off as an elitist snob. “You must read books that are intellectually stimulating. If it’s a children’s book, or if it involves fantasy, then it cannot be intellectually stimulating.” By Shepherd’s own admission, she’s never even read any of the Harry Potter books. Just the very notion that adults would dare to read something that doesn’t fit in Shepherd’s narrow-minded definition of “intellectually stimulating” is enough for her to take issue. Adults should read whatever books they like and the elitists like Shepherd should stay in their ivory towers and leave us common folk to our own devices.
It would have been bad enough had Shepherd just stopped there. But she decided to keep going. Because, you see, if you’re not a big name writer, apparently Rowling is destroying your career. Because Rowling wrote The Casual Vacancy and apparently Shepherd is annoyed that people bought it instead of her books:
It wasn’t just that the hype was drearily excessive, or that (by all accounts) the novel was no masterpiece and yet sold by the hundredweight, it was the way it crowded out everything else, however good, however worthwhile. That book sucked the oxygen from the entire publishing and reading atmosphere. And I chose that analogy quite deliberately, because I think that sort of monopoly can make it next to impossible for anything else to survive, let alone thrive. Publishing a book is hard enough at the best of times, especially in an industry already far too fixated with Big Names and Sure Things, but what can an ordinary author do, up against such a Golgomath?
This line of thinking is, of course, patently ridiculous. What Shepherd is essentially doing is blaming her lack of success on Rowling’s success. Where I come from, we have a word for this: it’s called petty-minded jealousy. Not to mention a lack of personal responsibility.
But Shepherd decided to then go further:
So this is my plea to JK Rowling. Remember what it was like when The Cuckoo’s Callinghad only sold a few boxes and think about those of us who are stuck there, because we can’t wave a wand and turn our books into overnight bestsellers merely by saying the magic word. By all means keep writing for kids, or for your personal pleasure – I would never deny anyone that – but when it comes to the adult market you’ve had your turn. Enjoy your vast fortune and the good you’re doing with it, luxuriate in the love of your legions of fans, and good luck to you on both counts. But it’s time to give other writers, and other writing, room to breathe.
If I were Rowling, my response to this would be, “who the hell do you think you are, lady?” What gives Shepherd the right? And more than that, her arrogance knows no bounds—she’s not standing up for all writers who might be affected by Rowling’s success (which is total nonsense but I’ll get to that in a minute), she’s only standing up for her. Look at what she says: “By all means keep writing for kids.” Or in other words, “you can take away sales from other writers, just not me.”
Now, as to why this whole notion is nonsense. It’s been said that a rising tide lifts all boats. And in reality, Shepherd should be thanking, not condemning, Rowling. Because fans of the Harry Potter series may not have ever tried reading books like The Casual Vacancy or The Cuckoo’s Calling. But thanks to Rowling, now they very well might. And if they like what they read, they might seek out other books in those genres. Perhaps books like the ones written by Lynn Shepherd.
Well…that might have happened. Had Shepherd not seen fit to publicly order Rowling to stay out of her territory as if the publishing world was akin to gangland turf (although that might be kind of fun if it were).
I’m by no means a successful author. Even in the world of New Pulp, I’m not as successful as the likes of Barry Reese, Bobby Nash, Derrick Ferguson, Van Allen Plexico, or others. But do you know what I’ve never done? I’ve never said, either publicly or privately, that the reason my books don’t sell is because of these other New Pulp writers. It’s flat-out idiotic.