The Neil Gaiman drama is still going strong. This is the STUPIDEST political drama going on right now.
Long story short:
1. Library asked Neil to speak. Neil's agents told them his fee, $45,000, which doesn't strike me as out of line for his level of fame.* Anyway, they paid it, and Neil spoke. Both sides of contract fulfilled. No problem, right? Neil has donated the fee to charity.
2. House Majority Leader Matt Dean calls Neil a "pencil-necked little weasel who stole $45,000 from the state," because in his world, being paid an agreed-upon fee is stealing.
Already stupid, right? Well then it goes from stupid to heinous:
3. A House Republican committee chair said he is recommending a $45,000 cut in the Twin Cites' regional library system budget to make up for the state Legacy money it paid last year to Gaiman for a speaking appearance. Because they only logical thing to do is punish the library's patrons.
This is the Legacy in question.
This is the book club program he spoke for.
The library says they regret not negotiating the fee.
I doubt it was negotiable. The library is used to getting authors who will basically do it for exposure, and the LAST thing Neil Gaiman needs is more exposure. He wrote this a year ago:
"The main reason I got a speaking agency, ten years ago, was because too many requests for me to come and speak were coming in," Gaiman wrote in a May 2010 journal post in response to criticisms then about the speaking fee. "And the speaking requests were, and are, a distraction from what I ought to be doing, which is writing. So rather than say no, we've always priced me high. ... I'm at the top end of what it costs to bring an author who should be home writing and does not really want a second career as a public speaker to your event."
And this is on his FAQ page:
Q. How can I get Neil Gaiman to make an appearance at my school/convention/event?
A. Contact Lisa Bransdorf at the Greater Talent Network. Tell her you want Neil to appear somewhere. Have her tell you how much it costs. Have her say it again in case you misheard it the first time. Tell her you could get Bill Clinton for that money. Have her tell you that you couldn't even get ten minutes of Bill Clinton for that money but it's true, he's not cheap.
On the other hand, I'm really busy, and I ought to be writing, so pricing appearances somewhere between ridiculously high and obscenely high helps to discourage most of the people who want me to come and talk to them. Which I could make a full time profession, if I didn't say 'no' a lot.
* Neil says his fees are comparable to those of Snookie from Jersey Shore, and I've heard Bill Clinton gets between $200,000 and $500,000.
PS. Neil's blog entry on this.
I just read Coraline yesterday :) I love his books, I don't know how he comes up with these concepts.
ReplyDeleteJust read up on this though and from what I see, he was told that the money is not from the library budget, that it needed to be spent by June that year or it will by gone as it doesn't roll over. He donated the money he got from it, so he actually didn't make any money for speaking, taking questions and shaking hands for 4 hours instead of doing what I want him to do, which is writing another awesome book for me to fall in love with. He said on his blog that he would've done it free or cheaper if he was a. asked and b. not told that money had to be spent anyway.
After all this he is the bad guy?
Arts
He's an incredibly generous and lovable man. When I tweeted that I was joining the Clarion Write-A-Thon because he inspired me, he donated $50 to my fundraising efforts and thanked me personally by way of encouragement. Just goes to show that some people are more about grinding an axe than actually celebrating the goodness and wonder in the world.
ReplyDelete