Every now and then the subject comes up on DorothyL (DL) of whether authors should be, or ever are, paid to include real product names in their fiction. A few authors jokingly ask who’s getting paid to mention products, so they can find out how to get paid too.
The consensus from published authors who post on DL is— No, they don’t get paid to mention specific products. They use product names to make the scenery or a character more realistic.
I think an author is more likely to get a letter from a company complaining about misuse of a registered trademark than payment for unsolicited product mentions. I’m sure no authors get paid to do this, and if any do, they’re likely already well-known enough not to need the money to pay the rent. Funny how that works.
As most writers of more than one novel know, but most readers and fledgling writers may not, a novelist is more likely to get struck by lightning than make a living—just a living, not necessarily a good living—writing fiction. Lotto tickets would likely be a better investment than the paper we print our manuscripts on—unless the writer is Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling. There are a handful of well-paid authors—a handful. When your next door neighbor tells you she has had a novel published, don’t assume she is now rich. She more likely could use a handout—a nice fat little grant in support of the arts? Any offers? No? I guess I’ll have to spend tomorrow looking for that part-time job.
Even most published authors aren’t well paid. Many spend their meager advances—if they get an advance—on promotion. Many ply their art after work and on weekends, or are supported by a hardworking and much-neglected spouse, or they begin writing seriously after retirement. They write at their own expense and a sacrifice of time and energy that would in most cases be better rewarded if spent maintaining their significant relationships.
Writing is also possibly the most-scammed occupation. There are so many charlatans out there eager to stick their hands in a writer’s pocket, all the while promising he’ll be the next Stephen King, that most seasoned hopefuls refer to a website called Preditors & Editors to determine which are legitimate claims or offers and which aren’t. Chances are, if they contact you or they advertise in the back of a writer’s magazine, they’re not for real. If a publisher advertises their publishing services on television, they’re spending money luring in writers that should be spent—if they’re a conventional, worthwhile publisher—advertising books.
Why would anyone continue to do this if it’s so wrought with financial disappointment? Most of us who stick with it for more than a few years write fiction out of an inexplicable passion to write, a thirst to tell a story, that is as compelling as the need to breathe or drink water. I’d like to say we do it out of love, but it sometimes feels more like love/hate. If we had enough money and sense, we’d chip in to pay for a scientific study of why we feel compelled to spend our lives seeking rejection and bankruptcy.
As for sponsorship for product mention, Canadian Jim Munroe, author of the science fiction novel Everyone in Silico, sent invoices to the makers of all the products he named in his 2002 novel. (Some writers are funny even when they’re not trying to be.) A few of the resulting letters were published by Taddle Creek in an article titled Past Due.
You have to keep your sense of humor in this business.
Thanks to Sarah Byrne, who posted the link to “Past Due” on DorothyL.
1.
Somehow you don’t make it sound very romantic. Sounds like it’s a passion that some people must live by.
Nice to hear from you
Cas
Comment by cassie-b — August 3, 2005 @ 11:51 am
2.
I think that giving your name to something you believe in is perfectly acceptable…
Comment by violetismycolor — August 3, 2005 @ 11:57 am
3.
Your essays always seem to dovetail with my head-scratching episodes. I recently finished ‘Strange But True’ by John Searles. One of the characters works at an Olive Garden restaurant. References to his employment there are very unflattering - the author certainly didn’t receive recompense for the mentions. I thought it was unnecessary – why not use a fictitious name? I was somewhat surprised with the author’s choice, then even more surprised when I did a little research. Naively, I thought Olive Garden was a small regional franchise – had no idea how big it is. I have a slim affection for Olive Garden because of my enormous affection for my elderly mother who LOVES to go there. During my research I discovered a great essay written by a Doug Shaw regarding the reasons not to eat at an Olive Garden. (Just type in Doug Shaw Olive Garden and his site will come up – very clever, very on target.) Anyway, I feel uncomfortable when name-recognized entities are used in a negative context, unless it’s non-fiction.
And, yes, unrequited affection for my brilliant manuscripts can momentarily dim my passion – but the seduction is powerful and I continue to love unconditionally.
Comment by Reenie — August 4, 2005 @ 7:01 am
4.
Heh, love the Olive Garden post too! I never thought about this so I don’t really have an opinion on it.
I do have rather STRONG opinions about the advertising that now decorates every stadium, arena, and game court in our country, and most of all, I HATE, HATE, HATE that the circus does it now too. So I don’t go anymore. Not that I was exactly a regular. ha.
Comment by Bev Jackson — August 4, 2005 @ 8:23 am
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Cassie-b: True, I don’t make it sound very romantic. Chalk it up to the fact I was about to get very ill for a couple of days at the time I wrote this-stomach flu or food poisoning, I’m still not sure which. I finally feel human again today. Maybe the illness was already getting me down.
I think most things that seem romantic from the outside aren’t usually so to those directly involved in them, whether they answer a passion or not. The process of writing is certainly like that. But there is something very compelling to those of us who have caught this writing bug. It can be almost like drug addiction in some ways. And once the completed work is there in front of the writer she can’t imagine anyone not liking it. Even though we learn to expect rejection, it’s still a shock. Like having someone tell you your child is likely to wind up in jail, when you’re certain he’s an absolute angel. It defies reason.
violetismycolor: I agree, giving your name to anything you believe in is fine. However, I think when authors do that in fiction they’re usually simply attempting to make a scene or character ring true. And it’s a lot less awkward to say, “She drove a big white Mercedes,” than to say, “She drove a big white upscale European sedan.” If I read the first example I wouldn’t pause, but the second would make me stop and think the author was trying too hard NOT to name a particular brand. This would have nothing to do with whether the author thought a Mercedes was a great car or a piece of junk—or even had some political reason for not wanting to support that company in print. One keeps the reader reading, the other throws them out of the story momentarily.
Reenie: I think I’d have used a pseudonym for the Olive Garden. It’s too easy to see lawsuit written all over that one. Wow, it’s amazing the number of horror stories that come out of people working for restaurants, chains or otherwise. I once worked with a man who’d previously been an under chef in a famous hotel restaurant in Coronado. He had nothing good to say about their practices. Most of the other stories I’ve heard have been about fast food chains. Maybe restaurant work is just so unglamorous that people wind up with awful attitudes toward the jobs and employers. If you hear enough of these stories, it makes you want to eat every meal at home. All my personal restaurant stories come from when I was a little girl and spent hours in the back room of my grandmother’s diner with my sister and cousin while our mothers worked for her. If I had my choice, I’d eat at Grandma’s. The pie was the best in the world. But don’t ask what mischief the little girls were getting into in the back room. (Don’t worry, we weren’t allowed anywhere near the food.)
Bev Jackson: The circus? I haven’t been to the circus in years, and that’s just too sad. When I was a kid, the only place you saw that was in auto racing. It’s spread quite a bit since then.
I hope advertisers DON’T start paying authors. It would ruin the stories, if you ask me. Then, instead of thinking how a book gripped me and drew me in, I’d wonder if I was being manipulated and coerced into buying something. There’s enough of that in real life. But I vote for all the really good writers getting published and making a living.
Comment by Barbara W. Klaser — August 5, 2005 @ 3:27 pm
6.
Ok I will resist the tempation to write something like, she was so addicted to her diet pepsi, or diet coke. I will say diet cola. Even though I only drink diet pepsi they don’t need my help advwertising. But it is quite different isn’t it? Maybe I will change it to iced-tea!
I think you need to become a professional coach!
Awww Barbara, Grandma’s diner that is sweet and I know first hand the meat loaf was yummy too! Oh the antics, hee hee.
Thanks so much for your inspiration today Barbara. I sat down and wrote 5 pages, got a good start - yippee!
Glad to hear you are writing that is so great hope it keeps going well. Talk soon!
Comment by Layna E. — August 5, 2005 @ 6:47 pm
7.
The diner story was soooo you - sweet!
Continuing with my odd segue into restaurant land, many years ago a friend of ours was always griping when we all went out for dinner. I thought his behavior indicated he was cheap. He kept on insisting that dining at home was more satisfying. I now esteem his wisdom regarding the dining in or out issue. Brian and I rarely eat out anymore – way too expensive and too often with disappointing food or service. Now regarding restaurant portion sizes…
Comment by Reenie — August 7, 2005 @ 6:21 am
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No problem, Layna E. Coaching? I’ll have to think about that. I may need a new career.
Comment by Barbara W. Klaser — August 7, 2005 @ 7:43 pm
9.
Gosh, I’d never considered the question of what one does in fiction. I have to research every product name in a trademark database and use the applicable (R) and ™, plus add the one-liner “Product X is a trademark of Company Y” in everything I create.
Authors who use a lot of pop culture references probably have their assistants ring up the offices of the associated companies in order to obtain written permission to use the trademarks. Money probably doesn’t exchange hands, though. I hope it stays this way; I don’t think I could bear to wade through prose like this: “Hilary and Ashley went to the mall. They walked past the Gap(R), the Orange Julius(R), and the Macy’s(TM). There, they met Amber, drinking a Coke(R) and blowing her nose with a Kleenex(TM). You couldn’t get through a paragraph without stray trademarks sticking to your shoes.
Comment by blogdog — August 8, 2005 @ 10:17 am