Is Beauty Worth The Money?

If you're young and attractive, go ahead and skip this post. Save it on your computer and look at it in twenty years. Only then will you understand what this is all about.

I've worked in an industry where beauty is synonymous with selling. There's a blog I follow that makes my point. The blogger mentioned running into Miss Snark and they gaze admiringly at her (potential) client. It's an old post, but one that still sticks in my craw.

For the full post go here. But the piece of conversation I want to point out is this:

"Wow," I said. "She's hot."

"Yeah, Chuck," Miss Snark said. "That's what we like to call platform."

I almost choked in grief. Not because I find it unfair, but because the majority of humanity lives on the veneer of vanity. We idolize beautiful people. We put them on tv and the internet--and sign them to book contracts.

This young woman, whoever she was, may very well be all that and a milk shake, but what about the thousands of other writers, the ones without a physical "platform"?

I'm not crying in my beer over this. This has been the way of things since the first monkey groomed the better looking monkey just so they could make little monkeys.

It just makes me irritable that we give more value to beauty than to real talent. Sure, we have our Susan Boyle's and Paul Potts's, but it's because the unlovely give such outstanding performances that the world is forced to recognize them for their superior accomplishments.

Please feel free to disagree with me if you want, but tell me: Have you ever bought a book because the author was beautiful? Even if some people do, exactly how many books does that sell?

Are beautiful authors worth more than less attractive authors? Are they more gifted, articulate or credible?

It is human nature I suppose to adulate the beautiful--to make celebrities out of people who happen to fit nicely into tight fitting jeans.

But beauty doesn't last forever. Today's god or goddess will be just like the rest of us before they even realize what's happened.

I often think that's God's little comeuppance for our arrogant youth. As for the publishers who pay that kind of money...that looks like yet another chink in publishing's armor.

There are so many other places that monetary premium could be used to revive sales rather than dump it all on one pony to win.

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For some reason, Blogger is not posting my articles when I have them scheduled. I have one more scheduled for Independence Day (USA) and then I will be on the road for a while.

When I get back, I hope to have a special week of posts, so please come back and check on me.