Prince Harry's Book Deal

[AgentPete]

(ask any questions below)

 

[E G Logan]

Amazingly H actually speaks – according to the press releases at any rate – as if he believes HE is writing the book.
What does he thinks the other, presumably highly-paid, guy is doing?

 

[AgentPete]

I know... that's rather funny, actually!

If Harry were doing quite a bit of the original writing spadework, the publisher would probably put forward a very solid, all-rounder editor/publisher/Jane-of-all-trades to bring the manuscript up to scratch.

The fact that an external “ghost” is being used does suggest that he won’t actually being doing any of the writing at all...

 

[Hannah F]

Makers of "The Crown", who were probably already rubbing their hands in glee, are soon going to need hand cream and restorative skin treatments.

(Wouldn't it be fun to know who, in the celebrity world, has actually written their own book, and are those who wax lyrical (or maybe not so lyrical) at book festivals just pretending?)

 

[Eva Ulian]

If Litopians care to RT the below tweet from @Litopia and then post it on their FB page- it looks grand.

It’s billed as the “most explosive book of the decade” - Prince Harry has been secretly writing his memoir for nearly a year! A lot of people have been asking us today about the $20m deal, so here’s our take youtu.be/SX-Z3GVUHJ4

 

[Jonny]

I'd do it for £250k Pete.

Any chance we could gazump (downwards) dear old "J.R." Moehringer?

 

[Vagabond Heart]

Makers of "The Crown", who were probably already rubbing their hands in glee, are soon going to need hand cream and restorative skin treatments.

(Wouldn't it be fun to know who, in the celebrity world, has actually written their own book, and are those who wax lyrical (or maybe not so lyrical) at book festivals just pretending?)

It was my understanding (from someone who does a lot of ghost writing for celebs) that pretty much none of them write their own books. Why would they? They’re not writers: they’re famous for something else. Exceptions being those celebs who wrote their own comedy sketches, etc., so had been writing for years anyway (you know who you are, Walliams).

 

[E G Logan]

Re the timing, and @AgentPete's question about the advisability of it: I see today's online Daily Mail* is suggesting it was chosen to coincide with the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Year, and that consequently no one at the Palace is amused.

[*I'm in Italy, so I have to take my English-language news where I can get it.]

 

[Hannah F]

To put his 20 million in perspective, the Obamas got a $65 million dollar advance . . . Harry should've used an agent.

 

[AgentPete]

To put his 20 million in perspective, the Obamas got a $65 million dollar advance . . . Harry should've used an agent.

The Obama(s) deal was extraordinary. It covered a number of books, but – even so. One wonders how it will ever earn out.

Here in the UK, “sweetheart” book deals are sometimes given to retiring politicians, one assumes for services received. I can think of several such deals, none of which would have been viable on purely commercial grounds.

But hey, you get the government you pay for…

 

[Paul Whybrow]

How to get published? Be Royal!

Her Heart for a Compass by Sarah Ferguson review – Mills & Boon debut is chaste good fun

Pass me the sick bucket!

 

[AgentPete]

I know! Wonder if she really did write it herself...

 

[Hannah F]

I know! Wonder if she really did write it herself...

Sounds as if she just breathed annoyingly close to the writer's shoulder, her red hair tickling the writer's cheek, the writer being too well paid to complain.

 

[AgentPete]

I suspect that’s more than likely. People like Fergie rarely have the degree of commitment / concentration it takes to become a writer / storyteller. They’re more used to having flunkeys to do that sort of stuff.

Btw, never understood the difference between a flunkey and a lackey. I don’t even know if it’s important…

 

[Hannah F]

My understanding is that a lackey is a grovelling or sycophantic servant and a flunkey is a servant who does his job lazily.

I could be wrong.

 

[Jonny]

That makes me a flunakey

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Never let it be said that I’m anti-Royalist—I also loathe and despise our elected leaders—especially those with literary pretensions, such as Buffoon Boris!

His 2004 novel Seventy-Two Virgins received mixed reviews, though it revealed many of Johnson’s prejudices, bigotry and dislikes.

What does Boris Johnson’s terrible novel Seventy-Two Virgins tell us about him?

 

[E G Logan]

I suspect that’s more than likely. People like Fergie rarely have the degree of commitment / concentration it takes to become a writer / storyteller. They’re more used to having flunkeys to do that sort of stuff.

Btw, never understood the difference between a flunkey and a lackey. I don’t even know if it’s important…

So you've lacked but never flunked...?

 

[ChandlerJules]

Maybe TLR
I was brokenhearted by princess Diana’s death—it stunned the world as you well know.
Recent work on childhood trauma, neglect, abandonment, has resulted in a term, here in the US at least, of Developmental Trauma Disorder and leading this work is a man named Bessel Vanderkoelk. This umbrella is a new designation in DSM IV directories for Medical professionals, which I am not. However, when you look at the upbringing of some of the Royals you cannot help but suspect that they would fit very neatly within these parameters. I think particularly of both Prince Charles and Diana.
At the risk of stating the obvious and excuse me if I’m overstepping, you cannot help but have compassion for children raised in these circumstances where the nuclear family is so isolating and and emotionally barren. To shorten this I will simply say I applaud Harry and Megan for the steps they’ve taken to live their own healthy lives. I applaud their efforts in bringing forward our need for honoring and using psychoanalysis and other techniques to address our mental health issues which have been so sadly neglected.