Skip to content

{ Tag Archives } wordsmith

Why Mills and Boon Sells 200 Million Books A Year

Mills & Boon enjoys a huge readership, but has attracted furious critics during its 10 decades in business. Daisy Cummins explains why she is proud to write for the company, while Julie Bindel just wishes the books would go away

A fine romance

Mills & Boon books have long been an easy flogging horse. Many assume they are only read by the hopelessly unfashionable and out of touch, desperate for tales of helpless heroines swept off their feet by dashing, mildly brutish heroes.

In fact, though, the person reading an M&B is far more likely to be a successful, highly intelligent woman in her 20s or 30s. And neither these women nor the heroines they love are waiting for a man to come and rescue them. M&B has moved on and sexed up.

Next year sees the firm celebrate its centenary and high sales figures continue to speak for its success. Two hundred million books sold worldwide per annum; 13m shifted each year in the UK.
As the daughter of a single-parent feminist, I was hard-wired from an early age to balk at the merest whiff of sexism. Yet, after finding a M&B in my Irish Catholic grandmother’s room one summer, I was hooked.

I had discovered an exciting world of feisty heroines and hard-muscled heroes. Sexual tension simmered and exploded. And there was always a happy ending. The hero and heroine were equal partners and every conflict was happily resolved, not necessarily in a marriage but with a firm commitment for the future.

For me, the child of a revolutionary and somewhat bohemian background, it was a welcome – albeit, at first, slightly guilt-inducing – contrast to the anger at men I had witnessed growing up.

My mother knew I read them and said nothing, giving her tacit permission. She understood the need to balance things out. I now write for M&B myself, and am supremely proud to do so.

My last book, The Kouros Marriage Revenge, was about a devastatingly gorgeous Greek. I write under the name Abby Green purely for the thrill of having a pseudonym. – Read more at Guardian
Also tagged ,
2007 12 08 Book
Culture Shock
Girl Stuff
Guy Wisdom
Love and Dating
Sex 101
Sexuality Comments (0)

Season Of Birth Can Influence Your Personality

Astrology may usually be dismissed as harmless superstition, but scientists are discovering that the date we are born can affect our later lives.

Research has revealed the time of year a person is born can influence his or her personality, health and even whether they are male or female. But rather than being written in the stars, studies are showing that it is the season of birth that predisposes individuals to different traits.

In the northern hemisphere, women born in May will display more impulsive behaviour while those whose birthday falls in November will be more reflective. Men born in the spring will show greater persistence than those born in winter.

Other research has shown that people born in the autumn will tend to be physically active and excel in football while those born in the spring will be more cerebral and may be better suited to chess.

Those born between September and December are more prone to panic attacks while there is growing evidence that schizophrenia is higher among those born in the late winter and early spring.

“It is exactly what you would expect if it were temperature related,” said Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, who has examined the link between luck and the season of birth. “Many of the effects reverse in the two hemispheres.”

Professor John Eagle, a psychiatrist at Aberdeen University who has studied the relationships between season of birth and mental health, added: “The two main culprits are diet and the seasonal fluctuations in nutrition, and the increase in infections during the winter.”

Astrologers have seized on the findings as evidence that the stars influence personality. But scientists insist there are biological reasons behind the effects. – Telegraph UK

Also tagged , ,
2007 12 05 Cool Science
Lifestyle
Sports and Fitness
True Health Comments (0)

Writer Boi Raps for Writers Strike

Every strike needs a hip hop anthem

Also tagged
2007 11 29 Activism
Business and Money
Funny
Music Box
Video Comments (0)

Writers Strike – The Sweatshop Show Must Not Go On

I was heading out to a picket line when my friend and I began our exchange so I didn’t have time to get into all the issues. So I did my best to address one point, specifically about the DVD/download situation. In 1985, the writers made a really bad deal with regards to video cassettes.

I know we’re talking DVDs now, but it’s all relative. Remember 1985? Cable was in its infancy, and everyone watched 13 channels because that’s really all there were to watch, and all of those channels were free!

Now, I realize this shows a lack of vision on all of our parts (both writers and actors), but as everything was free and plentiful, the idea of paying to watch a video/re-run of your TV old show was not really a concept the WGA and SAG thought would take off, and then of course, movies followed suit. Clearly, we were all naive.

The deal that the writers made in 1985 meant they would get four cents for every video cassette sold. How’d they come up with four cents when the writers were getting two-and-a-half cents (out of every dollar) per airing on network TV?

Well, the studios asked the writers to take a pay cut in order to grow this fledgling market. The writers as they were eager to help to expand the home video business agreed to cut their residuals on video sales by 80 percent.

They agreed to this with the understanding that once home video was a thriving, profitable market, the studios would then give back what the writers had given up. Hmm…kind of remind you of the cable deal we made in the ’80s?

Well, that was 22 years ago, VHS cassettes have long since given way to DVDs, and sales have soared, but the 80 percent pay cut is still in place. A DVD on average costs about $19.99, and in 2007, the writers still only get four cents.

Keep in mind there wouldn’t even be any DVD’ to sell, be it Seinfeld or Shakespeare in Love if not for writers, and they haven’t gotten a pay increase in 22 years!? What are they, teachers?

But wait the absurdity doesn’t end there…let’s talk about the internet, and iTunes and any download service provider that have allowed studios to digitally distribute their products more efficiently than ever (and it’s easy to track too!), no manufacturing costs, no shipping costs, no need to warehouse anything (sorry, I still miss Tower Records…records, that says it all!), no physical product what so ever!

And the studios want to pay the writers the same rate for these downloads as they pay for DVD residuals? That’s right, a whopping four cents….despite this huge cost savings!

And the fun just doesn’t stop, websites like NBC.com that I mentioned yesterday, and I’ve since learned about Hula’s website, well, you can go on to either of them right now, and watch entire episodes of your favorite TV shows for free! (But please, don’t log-on until this is all resolved. Thanks!)

Even though the studios sell ads on these websites and thus, earn money off of these shows still…..they’re estimated to bring in 4.6 billion dollars over the next three years, they are refusing to pay the writers any residuals at all. Now, that’s fair negotiating.

And why? How can they possibly get away with this? Well, they claim that it’s for promotional purposes only. Promos used to be considered a 15 or 30 second commercial to get the audience “to stay tuned for next week’s exciting episode”….not next week’s ENTIRE episode!

And if studios have their way the 80 percent pay cut will not only apply to downloads, a 100 percent pay cut will apply to streaming video, too! And it’s not only writers that are affected, but actors, directors, and anyone who relies on residuals to pay their bills, and to fund their pension and health, we’re all affected.

And can you imagine what will happen when TV and the internet merge and become one? Hmmm…do you think studios will be magnanimous and pay residuals based upon the current established TV rate when they can pay you the bargain basement internet rate? Come on, is that a trick question?

The deal that was made in 1985 meant that the studios would retain more than 80 percent of all gross sales of video cassettes/DVDs, and that’s still the way it is! All writers, actors, directors (unless they as “stars” and can negotiate an additional percentage upfront) collectively share the remaining 20 percent and have for 22 years.

Tell me, that’s fair negotiating?! I know I explained yesterday about using the word “fair” and how inappropriate of a word it is to use in the corporate world. But maybe the question, we should all ask ourselves, is any of this right?

Would you ask a teacher, a bus driver or even your plumber, to live on wages based upon a pay scale established in 1985 in 2007? No, you wouldn’t, and besides your plumber would walk, so why would you ask that of writers?

In solidarity and hope… still,

Susan Savage
Actress,
Screen Actors Guild
National Board member

Read more about the strike on the Huffington Post’s writers’ strike page.

Also tagged
2007 11 16 Activism
Business and Money
Celebrity Epiphany
Movie Buzz
TV Shows Comments (0)

Alec Baldwin – Writers’ Strike Is Studios’ Fault

When I look back on the years I have worked in the film and television business, since beginning in 1980, there have been many obvious changes.

Most of those are technological ones and those technological developments have profoundly altered the soul and the math of the business. Cable TV and then satellite, VHS and then DVD and then DVR, and now MP3.

Three networks dominating everything and then those three networks dominating nothing. HBO producing original broadcasting that competed with the Big Three for audience share. David Chase giving everyone a reason to stay home on Sunday to watch TV. Who’d a thought?

In the movie business, among the biggest changes is the background, personality and capabilities of your average head of the studio, head of production and their marketing departments. I recall, through the admittedly distorted prism of time, that Mike Medavoy was the kind of old school studio boss who looked at his release schedule and decided to burn one on “the side of the angels.”

He had a movie and a filmmaker that he truly believed in and, inside of a slate of 20 or 15 or even 12 movies, Medavoy made one with little regard for the box office prognosis. He wanted to make a good film and believed that audiences would follow the filmmaker, and him, to the theatre.

There are no Mike Medavoys running the studios today. There are no Fred Silvermans running the networks, either, Silverman being the television-savant-as-executive, a breed that seems to have all but vanished, save for Garth Ancier, who apprenticed under Silverman.

The studios are run by men and women who know very little, if anything, about how to make a good film. That is why so many studio films are so shamefully (or shamelessly) bad.

These are men and women who simply do not have the recipe, although each fancies himself as a modern day Cohn, Warner or Zanuck. From what I read of Hollywood history, Zanuck had more talent for how to fit the disparate elements of filmmaking together in one finger than most of today’s crowd has in their whole production department.

Make no mistake, there are extraordinarily talented and capable people at the studios and networks. Ron Meyer, once the greatest talent agent of them all (he was mine, and I mean every word of that) and Brad Grey are two smart men who have had remarkable careers and yet run major studios that answer to demanding corporate parents.

The writers’ strike is upon us because the writers want more of the back end and the studios claim they don’t have it. If the studios don’t have it, it’s more their own fault than anyone else’s. We are now in the fully realized age of the modern entertainment corporation, with lawyers and accountants calling nearly all of the shots. Some say the old studio system was bad.

However they look more and more like the Medicis compared to what exists today. Even in independent film, so much of the product seems tired. (If I see one more Indie Icon Guy and Indie Icon Gal put one of their parents into a nursing home, while the lighting is dialed down real low to hide the cheap set design, I might cry.)

Many contributors disparaged the striking WGA on this site. I was dismayed by this. Do you honestly believe that most writers are ultimately responsible for what goes on screen, even if their name is on it?

That’s like saying a plumber is responsible for your taste in fixtures. Sometimes a writer is like a plumber: he installs what he is paid to install. Most writers I know have a great script in one file and a commercial one in the other. They have BILLY BUDD and PORKYS all in the same computer.

Don’t ever judge a writer by any screenplay that gets made. Unless you’re saying something admiring about a real giant, with real power, from another time. Like Welles or Mankiewicz or Robert Towne.

Everyone in the film industry seems to be searching for the risk-free project. There is no such project. Movie-making, music, theatre and TV, even publishing…all creative enterprises that struggle to discern the taste of a mass audience are in a risky business. We need more risk-takers to make movies and produce TV. We need more Mike Medavoys. And let’s hope the strike ends soon. – By Alec Baldwin. HuffPost

Also tagged
2007 11 12 Business and Money
Celebrity Epiphany
Movie Buzz
TV Shows Comments (0)

Why Is Harry Potter So Popular?

Many articles have been written on the subject of Harry Potter and his remarkable appeal to the mass market, but that’s not going to stop me putting in my five cents on the subject.

I came to Harry Potter late myself, having dismissed the books as something for children for several years. It was a silly dismissal on my part since I can name several children’s books that I still happily read.

However, a couple of years ago the staggering media coverage of the movies forced me to read the books to see what all the fuss was about.

Since then, like most everyone else, I have been captivated. I have read all of the Harry Potter books in order, watched the movies and read many articles about various aspects of both Harry and J.K. Rowling and I believe that I have identified two key elements in the success of Harry Potter.

I make no claims that these are the only elements, but I believe they are central to its appeal to both children and adults.

GROWING UP ALONG WITH THE READER

One obvious feature of the Harry Potter novels is that Harry ages. With each book, a year goes by. While this is not unique to Harry Potter, it is unusual for a writer to stick with a single feature character over so many years.

Particularly when those years encompass the key ages of ten through seventeen. As a result of this, and the fact that the books have come out over an approximately nine year period (most likely ten by the time the final book is published), the children who read the Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s/Philosopher’s Stone have effectively grown up with Harry Potter.

Whether by accident or design, it seems that J. K. Rowling has reflected that increasing maturity in both Harry and her audience by telling tells that become progressively darker and more complex in their characterization.

This reflection of Harry’s growth towards adulthood conveniently mirrors the same growth that Rowling’s core audience was experiencing. It also has the side benefit of attracting the interest of adults, many of whom became aware of the books through their children but discovered something with a little more depth than the average children’s tale.

So the increasing sophistication helped Harry Potter capture an ever larger audience, but what was it that appealed to them in the first place?

THE IMPORTANCE OF ARCHETYPES

The Harry Potter books are packed full of archetypes. From the Dursely’s, a family that will be very familiar to anyone who has read the works of Roald Dahl, to Lord Voldemort (Tolkien anyone?), to the boarding school environment (a setting used in many older British children’s books) to the magical creatures which inhabit Harry Potter’s world.

Now, it’s important to be clear on this point. I am not suggesting plagiarism. Those allegations have been made and in each case, clearly showed to be false. No I am talking here about archetypes: “the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.”

Like all writers (like everyone), J K Rowling has been influenced by her own experiences, by what she has seen and by what she has read. In creating Harry Potter she has called on much of that and made use of (knowingly or unknowingly) many archetypes from both fantasy and children’s literature.

Archetypes are present to some degree in almost all fiction and used well can create extremely satisfying stories. They also tend to create stories that have a mass appeal, because archetypes are things that we are all familiar with to some degree and humans by nature (whether they will admit it or not) like the familiar.

Don’t believe me? Look at one of the most popular movie series of all time. Star Wars was heavily influenced by Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with A Thousand Faces which maps out the common underlying structure of myths using archetypes.

It is the use of that very structure which allowed Star Wars to break out from the sci-fi niche and become a cultural phenomenon.

The use of archetypes made the alien situation less threatening to audiences. Rowling is in good literary company on her journey. J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings can also be mapped against the same mythic structure and it has more than stood the test of time and popularity. Of course following Campbell’s roadmap the story should end with “The Hero’s Departure”… But that’s a whole other discussion.

Eoghann Irving is the webmaster for Solar Flare, the long-running science fiction news blog. A lifelong fan of the sci-fi and fantasy genres, Eoghann writes news, reviews and commentary for all forms of science fiction including tv, books, movies and comic books. Eoghann is always looking for news and information on all things sci-fi. He can be contacted at webmaster@sflare.com. Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Also tagged
2007 06 13 Book
Fun and Games
Lifestyle Comments (0)

 


 


J-List