Just What We Need

Hot off today's newswire comes a story that should not surprise the savvy budding novelist. Yes, that paragon of literacy known as 'Fitty-Cen' is going to be published in 2007. While the rest of us slave away, sending out queries without end, the literary world has embraced the hip-hop world. Surely, if Fitty writes (via author Nikki Turner), they will come, er, that is, buy. Like Harlequin's new line of Nascar themed pulp, the novellas and comic books will feature the hip-hop G-unit rap crew that will be familiar to fans of Fifty Cent. The publisher is presuming, of course, that his fans read, and that they will spend money on books; neither presumption has any fact behind it.

We will never run across a post from Fifty Cent on Writers Net, puzzled over the merits of granting an exclusive submission to an agent. Tell them you're a one-agent man, he might be advised, but send the manuscript to anyone who asks. The chances are good that no one will offer representation anyway, so why worry. A man with a platform has no such concerns, not when ghostwriters and freelancers are available for a fee. Nelson Algren once immortalized the underworld of Chicago's dark alleys, crafting novels that are more poetry than prose. Don't expect the same from Pocket/MTV Books.

A talented writer could pen a series of novellas that detail life on the streets, but without star power that same writer has little or no chance of being published. While it is sad for the reader, who longs for good stories and good writing, it is a winning proposition for Pocket Books. They exist to make money, not to churn out good literature. As long as the public is buying, they will print the adventures of the G-Unit, their sex and drugs and guns. When the returns come in, Pocket Books will find something else commercial. Perhaps some day, they will figure out that book sales are down because they are not publishing what the reading public likes to read. Nah, never happen.