The Fame Formula

It's been in the papers a lot but I dont know whether its just a load of waffle..
Opinions? Its quite expensive!

Oh, and hello all by the way.. im vicky, from UK. Im a drama student.. and long time lurker here but first time registerer (is that a word?) Looking forward to meeting people here and maybe picking a few brains!

In the English papers, maybe? It doesn't seem to have created any buzz here at all. Not to mention that it's not even available on Amazon yet...

If it's expensive, I'd wait until it got into libraries. It doesn't sound life-changing, no. And it sounds more like a book for people in marketing than actors (sure, actors might want to read up on marketing, but there's a wealth of works on that topic.)

There's another aspect to this too, which is that most actors would do well to focus more on acting than on being famous. There IS a particular kind of person - Madonna comes to mind - for whom fame is virtually a craft in itself, but that kind of person usually finds like-minded souls to work with them.

Most actors though, if they find fame at all, will find it through craft, not canny manipulation.

Welcome, Paperswitch. Glad you've moved out of the lurking phase and into the interaction phase. And I'm embarassed to say (as a word junkie) that I'm not sure what the word is for "one who has registered." Nevertheless, welcome.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Paperswitch:
The Fame Formula

It's been in the papers a lot but I dont know whether its just a load of waffle..
Opinions? Its quite expensive!/QUOTE]

For what it's worth, I like to judge books by the author: generally, if someone has a accomplished a lot, they likely have a lot to say. If the best someone can say is that they teach somewhere, they likely won't have much to tell you - harsh, maybe, but I've taught my share of college and call tell you that you often don't need much more than a pulse. (Occasionally, someone who's accomplished a lot will have a hard time communicating their craft effectively: this is often true of musicians, for example. Even so you can often get gems of information by reading between the lines.)

As far as this guy's credentials go, he claims to be one of Britain's leading publicists. If this is true, he may have quite a bit to teach. On the other hand, I found no actual, concrete accomplishments listed on that site - who did he publicize? Actors or Fortune 500 companies? Was he running a PR company, or was he running to get coffee for the guy who did? Without more information, it's hard to tell.

Incidentally, I've personally found that reading stories from other industries can be really beneficial. For example, I don't write for newspapers, but I learned much about writing from books targeted at reporters: the A&P style guide, for example. Reading biographies of business people might be a good idea: acting is a business, and entrepreneurs face many of the same problems as actors: tons of competition, no guarantee of success, lots of rejection, and so forth.

Take it easy,

David berube

This looks like a fun book, but not one you should imagine will help your acting career. But your "get famous by any means career," well, sure.

Thanks for your opinions everyone. No way am i interested in fame for fames sake, though i am fascinated by it.

David - you make some great points. Thank you!
I think the library idea is best - i'll ask if they can order it in for me. In the meantime I might even try entering the competition that goes with the book... make a fool of myself i expect!