USAToday has a story that Sen. Ted Kennedy is the newest author to join the ranks of celebrity children's book authors.
What interests the Word Nerd is the caption that says Kennedy's book will be 56 pages.
That's 24 more pages than most children's book authors get. The info Word Nerd has gleaned from authors is that children's picture books are 32 pages. It's all about how the big printing machines print and fold and cut the pages. If you write a kid's book, what Word Nerd has been advised is make darn sure it fits on 32 pages.
Some authors, like Neil Gaiman, get more pages per picture book, like in his delightful "The Day I Swapped my Dad for 2 Goldfish." But Gaiman has a proven track record of writing good books.
Kennedy, on the other hand, has a proven track record of being a member of the Democratic Party.
Word Nerd just wonders if there is a double-standard for authors with or without a famous last name, regardless of whether their story merits the extra pages.
2 comments:
The other question I have is why are these people writing books in the first place? Are they good? Do they deserve the contracts? Or is it that the bottom line is extra fat and black?
My Senator and Me: A Dogs-Eye View of Washington, D.C.
Seriously.
I wonder if his interns wrote it.
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