By Lauren Husbands

Traditionally, autobiographies and biographies are most likely to be written by stars that have achieved something extraordinary and want to share their journey with their fans. For example, a world record holding sports star, a multi-platinum album selling pop star. However, what is becoming more and more common in society today is the Reality TV star and their relatively easy claim to fame. They haven’t conquered life threatening situations yet within the space of sometimes even a week, these Reality TV stars are the most talked about people in the country. The culture of celebrity seems to have become an inevitable part many people’s daily lives and with countless amounts of reality TV shows produced left right and centre there seems to be no end to the mass production of these Reality TV stars. Aware of their fame, many of these celebrities have now gone on one step further than the TV screen and have moved onto the bookshelves as well. There seems to be no escape.

So the likes of Snooki, Kim Kardashian, Sam Faiers and Lauren Conrad may not be on the mainstream news or newspapers for saving the world but they certainly are read, watched and spoken about almost every day. How is this possible? They are merely human beings. Human beings just like us who were once ordinary but have now become extraordinary just by featuring on a Reality TV show. This means now they can write a book about their phenomenal life, journey and achievements? What achievements exactly?

Many of these stars have been criticised for their lack of talent and their ‘achievements’ have often been questioned. Despite the fact of having very little to show for themselves, many have managed to earn big fortunes and have learnt that the more gossip, trauma and drama they create, the bigger and more popular they become. It almost makes sense to write a book of saucy secrets especially as they know that people will be willing to read what they haven’t yet seen on the TV. These stars have become majorly influential on the younger generation who enjoy the turbulent lifestyles that are portrayed on the TV screen and become almost fascinated with them. They are no different to you or I apart from the fact that their lives are followed by a camera yet many groups of young adults consider them as idols. Whilst the stars are slated for being talentless, the question turns to us as consumers as we become increasingly infatuated not only with the celebrity but the way in which they live their lives. It also highlights the shocking possibility that

On a more positive note however, it could be suggested that this fascination with celebrity has encouraged more and more people to read books. Publishing books with similar content to that on our TV screens is bound to be inevitably successful as it stimulates groups of people who may not take a preference to read books on normal occasions but will do so in these cases to find out more about the celebrity. Nevertheless, could this be damaging to the representing image of the world of books? Whilst the appeal of books about the lives of the ‘trashy’ and the ‘talentless’ increases rapidly, it could be argued that the demand for fiction books is likely to fall. This highlights the fact that publishing’s venture with Reality TV and its stars has caused a massive revelation. It appears that the stars of the entertainment shows and their ten minutes of fame receive more appeal and attention than authors who write and share about great things that they have achieved in their life which are slightly more meaningful than just being on TV.

The stars of Reality TV have come from pretty ordinary backgrounds and have lived extraordinary lifestyles through TV. As a result many of them have chosen to take advantage of their fame and fandom and have advanced their fortune by moving their face from the screens to the shelves. Whilst they are often criticised for selling us their lives that are just different to ours, they seem to have made a pretty smart move. Snooki may not appear to be that smart when she’s falling over drunk every night in Jersey Shore but let’s face it; she’s sitting in a pretty good place right now!