Blogger Mocks Boyfriend, Gets A Book Deal
While there are plenty of bloggers revealing the dirt on their “loved ones” (as one can tell by visiting MySpace), it’s not too often that you hear of an authors rants against her boyfriend leading to a book deal.
Zoe McCarthy from England started a weblog entitled “My Boyfriend is a Twat,” after her boyfriend apparently dared her to start posting her thoughts about him online.
It seems as if that dare has recently paid off, as Zoe has secured not only a book deal, but $10,000 as well.
(C|Net News) We all have complaints about the people we love and live with, but typically they don’t turn into book deals. But Zoe McCarthy (no relation to this reporter), a 44-year-old British woman who gained cult fame for operating a blog called “My Boyfriend is a Twat,” has recently cashed in on her significant other’s tics and quirks. McCarthy, according to the U.K.’s Observer, has received about a $10,000 advance from web-to-print publisher The Friday Project to turn her blog into a book. Not quite a Harry Potter-worthy figure, but nothing to scoff at either.
Andy Carling (the boyfriend) seems to be quite happy with Zoe getting the money, not to mention the relationship as a whole. Ironically he not only dared Zoe to start the weblog, but helped setup the site as well.
Note: For those wondering what twat means, Wikipedia enlightens the masses, although one may not desire to label a stranger (or even a loved one) this, as it could spell the beginning of a very nasty fight.
Ummm,
just started having a read of this ‘Boyfriend is a Twat’ blog – interesting blog – but a book deal? Now I’m not saying that it isn’t a good blog, but it is really worth a publishing deal. Its really not the witty Lette-esque chick lit I was expecting, which would probably have been its only excuse for hardcopy publication, falling outside most other print worthy genres as it does. I won’t say ‘I could have eaten alphabetti spaghetti and poo-ed better prose’, but I expected something a little sharper and less one-dimensional. Not the blogger’s fault, but the publishers – this belongs in a Sunday supplment at best, TV Quick at worst, not on the shelves at Blackwells or Waterstones.
For the folks across the Atlantic – Alphabetti Spaghetti is spaghetti in the shape of letters from the alphabet in case you didn’t guess. Us Brits eat the stuff with HP Sauce and maple syrup by the gallon.
I wish her congratulations on the cash, good luck on the book, and a reminder that not all blogs translate into books worth reading. The Girl with a one-track mind has a pretty famous and popular blog, but most every review I’ve seen of her book says it’s not worth buying.