How to make a point

[fpb]

The world is full of people who think they can see through the motives of others, and that those motives are always bad. JK Rowling is a favourite target: hugely rich, quite pretty, and never giving an inch on her private life, she is an obvious target for envy and spite. Of course, the revelation that a mildly successful and critically very well received detective novel – The Cuckoo's Calling – had been written by her under a pseudonym sent the crowd into overdrive. In certain circles, it became Gospel to claim that the whole affair was a marketing trick thought up by the greedy and talentless (wrong on both accounts!) Rowling.

So Rowling not only forced the people who'd given the secret away to make a large payment to a charity of her choice, she herself earmarked THE NEXT THREE YEAR'S PROFITS from The Cuckoo's Calling to that same charity. In practise, she is giving away all the money she would be making because the book was revealed as hers, and you may be sure it will be a tidy sum. The charity in question just think they died and went to heaven.

Come on, lads and ladies. I have no doubt that you will find a way to claim that this was all selfish propaganda and market manipulation. I am just waiting to hear how, but I am sure that nothing is beyond the creativity of your hatred.

Comments

[super-pan.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear you say you like this book; I will try it! As for your post, I bet she just wanted to stretch her horizons as a writer and wanted to sell the book on its own merits. And since she is a gazillionaire, she can write purely for fun and challenge, and I think it's great she's giving away so much to charity. I doubt it was a publicity stunt on her part. As for the people pooh poohing her, well, sometimes it's hard not be jealous of gazillionaires! :-)