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ORIGINAL: Rinc

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ORIGINAL: Sexual Harassment Panda

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ORIGINAL: Rinc

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

Even if they did give him a publishing deal because of who he was, it was a lifetime of dedication and hard work that got him where he is today. He hasn't lucked out, he's just reaping the benefits of his achievements.

If that's the case, would it be ok to make him a teacher, a carpenter, a pilot or the CEO of a multi-national, just because he worked hard at football?

That's a bit of a tame argument? Listing professions that require qualifications, or a reliable ability to ensure the safety and well being of others isn't really comparable.

No it's not a tame argument. Saying Lampard is reaping the benefits of working hard in one profession to gain employment in another totally different profession that has no links to it is ridiculous. So I'm using equally ridiculous professions as examples. Not just that, those professions all require a certain amount of skill, as does being a children's author. So hard work in another profession is completely irrelevant.

But just for you, I won't use examples that ensure the safety of others or need qualifications (which carpenters and CEOs don't really). Would Lampard deserve a commission for a portrait, a place in a professional orchestra or a five album deal because he worked hard at football?

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

How do you know he hasn't worked hard at it? You really think someone can just become a good writer "because?"

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Also this isn't a profession that requires qualifications, anyone can do it if they're good enough.

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man
How do you know he hasn't worked hard at it? You really think someone can just become a good writer "because?"

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

It's not a ridiculous argument at all, no matter how much you want to twist it into something else.

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ORIGINAL: Cloud Cuckoo

That's pretty harsh. She has a point - the more mediocre authors are given publishing deals, the more mediocre the available reading material becomes. It's perhaps not quite as relevant to young children's fiction as to adult fiction, given young children's books are much simpler and concerned with teaching kids to read and learn, to absorb and enjoy fiction, but the logic is there. For all we know, Lampard won that contract over a retired school teacher with a specialism in young children's linguistics. It's an extreme example, I know; but who would be more likely to get the deal on merit?

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ORIGINAL: clownfoot

Criticise and be cynical about this deal all you like, but let's not make rudimentary false statements about the quality of modern children's literature when the evidence suggests otherwise. Baby Brains, Snuggle Bunny, Time For Bed, Go to Fucking Sleep, Sometimes, Freddy the Frog, Are We Nearly There Yet, Baby Badger's Wonderful Night to name a few have all prepared my little one for the joy of reading and are quite wonderful in their own right. Curiously, none of these have been written by a celebrity.

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ORIGINAL: jonson

I think it's the same as anything, whether it be Dan Brown or JK Rowling or Frank Lampard or sodding Playboy. If it encourages kids to read, learn to read, gain knowledge, it's a good thing. It's only literary snobs who turn their noses up at this kind of thing.

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ORIGINAL: jonson

Sarah Ferguson's helicoptor shit didn't last long did it?

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ORIGINAL: superdan

This thread is funny. I wouldn't have thought the completely unremarkable occurrence of a celebrity trying their hand at something outside their established field would cause such a fuss.

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ORIGINAL: clownfoot

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ORIGINAL: Cloud Cuckoo

That's pretty harsh. She has a point - the more mediocre authors are given publishing deals, the more mediocre the available reading material becomes. It's perhaps not quite as relevant to young children's fiction as to adult fiction, given young children's books are much simpler and concerned with teaching kids to read and learn, to absorb and enjoy fiction, but the logic is there. For all we know, Lampard won that contract over a retired school teacher with a specialism in young children's linguistics. It's an extreme example, I know; but who would be more likely to get the deal on merit?

No, not harsh. Steff was using an emotive comment about 'will somebody think of the poor children' to criticise Frank's pending deal. Criticise and be cynical about this deal all you like, but let's not make rudimentary false statements about the quality of modern children's literature when the evidence suggests otherwise. Baby Brains, Snuggle Bunny, Time For Bed, Go to Fucking Sleep, Sometimes, Freddy the Frog, Are We Nearly There Yet, Baby Badger's Wonderful Night to name a few have all prepared my little one for the joy of reading and are quite wonderful in their own right. Curiously, none of these have been written by a celebrity. This kind of makes one think that more than enough creative and intelligent authors do get stuff published today than the assumptions being cast by some here would suggest. Children with access to such good material don't need daft romanticised pity...

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ORIGINAL: Rinc

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ORIGINAL: superdan

This thread is funny. I wouldn't have thought the completely unremarkable occurrence of a celebrity trying their hand at something outside their established field would cause such a fuss.

I can't believe it's got more traffic than my 'Favourite sounding footballer's name' thread.*


*It's still Holger Badstuber

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ORIGINAL: Rinc

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man
How do you know he hasn't worked hard at it? You really think someone can just become a good writer "because?"

How do you know he has worked hard at it? You know as little about his writing as I do. Besides, when did I say he hasn't worked hard at it? Where did I say I had a problem with Lampard becoming a good writer if he's worked hard at it? And how do you know he's a good writer? You've no evidence.

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ORIGINAL: clownfoot

Baby Brains, Snuggle Bunny, Time For Bed, Go to Fucking Sleep, Sometimes, Freddy the Frog, Are We Nearly There Yet, Baby Badger's Wonderful Night to name a few have all prepared my little one for the joy of reading and are quite wonderful in their own right. Curiously, none of these have been written by a celebrity.

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ORIGINAL: Rinc

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man
How do you know he hasn't worked hard at it? You really think someone can just become a good writer "because?"

How do you know he has worked hard at it? You know as little about his writing as I do. Besides, when did I say he hasn't worked hard at it? Where did I say I had a problem with Lampard becoming a good writer if he's worked hard at it? And how do you know he's a good writer? You've no evidence.

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

It's not a ridiculous argument at all, no matter how much you want to twist it into something else.

What am I trying to twist? You said 'Even if they did give him a publishing deal because of who he was, it was a lifetime of dedication and hard work that got him where he is today.' I have problem with that because I don't believe someone deserves success in one field because they've worked hard in another. Otherwise thousands of people across the country, and lots of people here, deserve a publishing deal. I work 45 hours a week and have always worked hard. I've probably been through more hardships than Lampard and have still been dedicated to my work. Does that mean I deserve a book deal?

If you'd said he'd worked at hard at writing whilst being a footballer then that would be ok. But you didn't, so I'm not twisting anything.

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ORIGINAL: jonson

I think it's the same as anything, whether it be Dan Brown or JK Rowling or Frank Lampard or sodding Playboy. If it encourages kids to read, learn to read, gain knowledge, it's a good thing. It's only literary snobs who turn their noses up at this kind of thing.

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

It's not just about writing a great book, you have to get yourself noticed. It's never been different.

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Also, is there some kind of scholarship deal going on with publishers that I'm not aware about? How does his publishing deal impact anyone else? "Hey everyone, I've just found the next big thing, bigger than Harry Potter, Twilight, AND Lord of the Rings!"
"Go away Jenkins, you know we've put all our resources into these Frank Lampard books..."

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I also don't need evidence to give someone the benefit of the doubt. I happen to think thinking the best in people is a good attribute. There's enough cynicism in this world as it is.

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

Also, is there some kind of scholarship deal going on with publishers that I'm not aware about? How does his publishing deal impact anyone else? "Hey everyone, I've just found the next big thing, bigger than Harry Potter, Twilight, AND Lord of the Rings!"
"Go away Jenkins, you know we've put all our resources into these Frank Lampard books..."

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

I also don't need evidence to give someone the benefit of the doubt. I happen to think thinking the best in people is a good attribute. There's enough cynicism in this world as it is.

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ORIGINAL: MonsterCat

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ORIGINAL: jonson

Sarah Ferguson's helicoptor shit didn't last long did it?

I certainly hope not. Sounds painful.

That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne.


TREK WARS

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ORIGINAL: Quint

Didn't Frank lose his father? Maybe that contributed to the publisher's vote of support. Frank told them his story (he can spin a good yarn, our Frank) with Coldplay's 'Fix You' warbling in the background and the judges - sorry, publisher's - were moved to tears. When a loved one dies I am pretty sure you deserve the deal then. Oscar Pistorious is apparently sorting out his own book deal as we speak...

Seriously though, I think it's a pretty cool avenue for Lamps to be heading down actually, and I wish him luck with it (not that he needs it, he's a celeb with a deceased parent; life is on a plate).

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ORIGINAL: horribleives

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ORIGINAL: Quint

Didn't Frank lose his father? Maybe that contributed to the publisher's vote of support. Frank told them his story (he can spin a good yarn, our Frank) with Coldplay's 'Fix You' warbling in the background and the judges - sorry, publisher's - were moved to tears. When a loved one dies I am pretty sure you deserve the deal then. Oscar Pistorious is apparently sorting out his own book deal as we speak...

Seriously though, I think it's a pretty cool avenue for Lamps to be heading down actually, and I wish him luck with it (not that he needs it, he's a celeb with a deceased parent; life is on a plate).

No, his mam.

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ORIGINAL: Hood Man

It's not just about writing a great book, you have to get yourself noticed. It's never been different.

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ORIGINAL: Rinc

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

Also, is there some kind of scholarship deal going on with publishers that I'm not aware about? How does his publishing deal impact anyone else? "Hey everyone, I've just found the next big thing, bigger than Harry Potter, Twilight, AND Lord of the Rings!"
"Go away Jenkins, you know we've put all our resources into these Frank Lampard books..."

Hopefully this turns out as SHP (I think) said and his deal opens the door for the publishers to sign more authors. But at the moment he's probably been given that deal over other writers. I know why, because Lampard will make them more money, but that won't make writers who have toiled for years any happier.

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ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

I also don't need evidence to give someone the benefit of the doubt. I happen to think thinking the best in people is a good attribute. There's enough cynicism in this world as it is.

Maybe I am a bit cynical. But then again I did say I'm for anything that gets kids reading. So overall this is a good thing. But then I never said it wasn't. The only problem I have is people suggesting he kind of deserves this because he worked hard in a totally unrelated field. I know it's always been the case that people need to get noticed, I used to work in the media industry where talent is very often overlooked for those that are noticed more. Maybe that's why I'm cynical!

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ORIGINAL: DancingClown

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ORIGINAL: Hood Man

It's not just about writing a great book, you have to get yourself noticed. It's never been different.

Well, if getting noticed involves being a major celebrity then where the fuck does that leave the rest of us who are trying but aren't famous? Frankie Lampard gets noticed because he's Frankie Lampard. That's a world away from working a normal 9-5 and then spending the precious spare hours you have writing and submitting to agents and publishers and having the rejection letters pile up. Most sample-chapters and book proposals get binned without even being read. Just getting a foot in the door is nigh impossible. But if you're Lampard and your agent contacts a publisher about a book proposal then he's got their attention straight away. That's a world of difference. That's called preferential treatment. That's called having a special leg-up. The rest of us are trying to sell ourselves on ability alone, we don't have the fame as stilts in order to get our foot in the door that would've been held wide open for Frankie. So we really shouldn't be pretending that Frankie had to prove himself like anybody else. Because that is horseshit. And if it turned out that Frankie wasn't terribly good at writing they'll just get a ghost-writer involved. Either way he's quids in.

But, hey, luckily Frankie's Magic Tackle or whatever it's called is pretty far from the kind of fiction area that I'm trying to penetrate. And yes I know that sounds weird. I'm too old to start a football career to get noticed, though, so maybe I'll just kidnap the members of an online message board, hold them to ransom, and then sell the story.

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ORIGINAL: superdan

This thread is funny. I wouldn't have thought the completely unremarkable occurrence of a celebrity trying their hand at something outside their established field would cause such a fuss.

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ORIGINAL: Professor Moriarty

I've been considering starting a thread called "Paul Scholes becomes brain surgeon". This thread would state that as Scholes had been successful in one field of life it only seemed reasonable that Holby City Infirmary give him a scalpel and see if he could be a neurosurgeon too. A source at the hospital stating that Scholesie has a high profile, which is more likely to bring rich patients to the hospital and his lack of surgeon training really isn't that important as he's a bright lad who deserves a chance and most of the real surgery will be done by an unnamed Dr anyway.

And after that another thread on Francis Lee, "Can everyone's favourite pie eating diving 70s footballer really make his mark selling bog roll?"

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ORIGINAL: Dpp1978
There are certainly times where calling a person a cunt is not only reasonable, it is a gross understatement.

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ORIGINAL: elab49
I really wish I could go down to see Privates

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ORIGINAL: Professor Moriarty

I've been considering starting a thread called "Paul Scholes becomes brain surgeon". This thread would state that as Scholes had been successful in one field of life it only seemed reasonable that Holby City Infirmary give him a scalpel and see if he could be a neurosurgeon too. A source at the hospital stating that Scholesie has a high profile, which is more likely to bring rich patients to the hospital and his lack of surgeon training really isn't that important as he's a bright lad who deserves a chance and most of the real surgery will be done by an unnamed Dr anyway.

And after that another thread on Francis Lee, "Can everyone's favourite pie eating diving 70s footballer really make his mark selling bog roll?"

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ORIGINAL: Deviation

I'd prefer "Andrie Arshavin to become Russian President, Soviet Union restored. Blames meteorite on female driving" tbh.

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ORIGINAL: Dpp1978
There are certainly times where calling a person a cunt is not only reasonable, it is a gross understatement.

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ORIGINAL: elab49
I really wish I could go down to see Privates