Apparently, there is some money in this writing thing after all. If you're Neil Gaiman that is.
In April of 2010, writer of comics, books, and films, Neil Gaiman was paid $45,000 in speaking fees by the Twin Cities' regional library, and a state representative has called them out for it. Rep. Matt Dean went on to suggest that Gaiman is a "pencil-necked little weasel who stole $45,000 from the state," a comment he later apologized for. Later, another representative, Dean Urdahl, suggested cutting exactly that amount from the Library budget.
Gaiman, who donated the $45,000 to charity, responded by saying that his speaking fee is comparable to that of Snooki from Jersey Shore, and that "I won the Newbery Medal. I won the Carnegie Medal. I've written movies that were the Number 1 movie in the entire world."
The talk has been archived online by Minnesota Public Radio, and the subject is why the author loves libraries, clearly understanding the desires of his benefactors.
A letter has been released by the Chris Olsen, executive director of the Metropolitan Library Service Agency, apologizing for poor judgement in paying the fee, citing that "In our naivete, we simply thought there was no room for negotiation. I am very sorry."
Gaiman suggested that he could try to seek legal damages for the comments, but would rather check out other options that would be "so much more fun than going legal."
It's mostly a lot of political posturing, with the current climate alowing for political points to be scored by focusing the spotlight on the use of public funds, and signifies very little. But it must be said that it's all just a bit weird, isn't it? Further, it must be good to be Neil Gaiman. I can't think of another figure who came from comics, short of Stan Lee, who has such a popular appeal. Of course, much of Gaiman's notoriety came in conjunction with his work outside of comics. But I think the fact that he started in, and occasionally dabbles in comics, gives him a certain cachet that adds to his mystique. Then he goes and lives in Minnesota. Like I said; weird.
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This really points out how bad the politicans are in the state. All of this talk about workers/teachers losing rights and a guy tries to get money back from someone who DONATE it to charity. I’m sure Fox News made Gaiman the bad guy though.
The only mis-step Neil made was comparing his fee to that of Snooki, it just de-values his worth being compared to her. And anyone who would pay her any amount to speak anywhere on anything should be fired.
All of this, plus he’s married to Amanda Palmer!
Rep. Matt Dean (hero of the people-haha) can easily be reached. Check his website! Not that I’m proposing sending him any messages or anything. I’m sure he is busy, you know, governing.
@k5blazer I don’t know man, people like boobs and as far as i can tell Neil doesn’t have any of those and she has two big ones. Give the people what they want y’know.
Thats awesome – Good for Gaiman- I have no problem with this they knew how muched it cost to book him and they paid him. Whats the problem here- no one forced them to hire Neil to speak and why in the world would anybody hire Snooki-f###ked up world we live in
its not like he told them it was free and then sent them a bill. You can choose to not bring in people who’s fees are too high, or ask for a pro bono thing if its for charity. Don’t order Lobster at a restaurant and then say it costs too much when you get the bill.
Also, that money was supposed to used for stuff like this and if they didn’t spend that money they just would’ve ended up having it taken away since it doesn’t roll over for the next year.
Really what this shows is the continued disrespect for the arts in general and sci-fiction/fantasy in particular. Gaiman is “stealing” money because this governer can’t see the value in having a world reknowned author come in to give a talk to people who want to hear about his love of libraries and their services and worst of all he’s an SF writer, the most “disposable” of all genres.
Actually Gaiman lives in Wisconsin.
@odino1 Did he move? I think you’re right.
Gaiman commented on his high speaking fees about a year ago. He basically said he sets his rates high to deter people from hiring him, because he’d rather spend his time writing. Sort of a demand and supply thing.
I was checking this story out last week, and I have the same general feeling as Heroville, it really is showing a growing trend of disrespect across Noth America towards the Arts, and all literacy genres I find.
I think this really was money well spent, especially given that if they didn’t pay him to do the talk, they’d have lost the money, and not had the value of his talks.
HOWEVER, it should be noted that Gaiman later also clarified that he was not paid $45,000, but rather $33,600, which is significantly less than the accused amount. ALSO, he gave the money to 2 charities. This money went from Governmental hands, to a well respected and deserving author, and then directly to charities that wanted and needed the money to go back into worthy causes. How does this cycle of the money upset Mr. Dean???
I think the point that isn’t being made on Gaiman’s behalf in a lot of other articles on this story is simply the issue of market rate for this service. Speaking engagements are expensive. Politicians like Palin and Clinton probably rake in 5 times as much. Why is Neil’s rate so high? Yes, it’s what he’s worth on the market, but also, it’s to deter people from hiring him. If Neil spoke for everyone who asked him, he’d be speaking 365 days a year and never writing! So he sets his fee high, and when someone wants to pay it, fine, he makes the time, and on top of that, he donates what does seem to be a ludicrous amount of money to charity.
I don’t get paying anyone that much money just to talk.
@Mart8El They paid $45K. Some of that went to the agent. In the end, Gaiman got $33K, which was then donated to charity.
@Zarathos81 University.
People who are experts in their field get paid lots of money to do presentations.
It happens outside of entertainment as well.
@ScorpionMasada -Thats how former presidents and politicians make all of their money. Speaking fees are incredibly high across the board for top talent.
@josh Where did you find that info at? I haven’t seen anything breaking down the fee from $45,000 and onwards…
@josh This article from Minn Post seems to suggest that the amount (after other money is taken out) totals to just $40K, which is still a bit lower than the amount Dean claimed…
http://www.minnpost.com/maxsparber/2011/05/09/28121/neil_gaiman_matt_dean_and_the_assault_on_the_legacy_amendment
@Mart8El I just read it that way. In the end, it’s sort of irrelevant to the point. It is tens of thousands of dollars.
Gaiman has a few posts about this on his journal. If you’re interested, a good starting point is here:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/05/opinions-of-pencil-necked-weasel-thief.html
@josh: He is in Wisconsin but close to the Minnesota border, so you didn’t miss by much 🙂
He lives near in Menomonie, Wi.
I think, of all people, a politician has no right to mouth off about expensive use of public funds. If they are anything like the ones in the UK they are claiming for everything from second homes to hubbies pron movies as part of their publicly funded salary.
Hey I’ve got an idea for a worthy cause he could donate the money to–
How about a fu*king library?
This isn’t like getting paid to speak at a corporate retreat.
As an author- you would think that maybe he might be a little more sensitive to an organization that is almost always underfunded and stressed for resources that promotes Literacy!
This is an assy move on Gaiman’s part.
The politics of this are far from surprising.
in my opinion, I think Gaiman should partner with the CBLDF and start passing around lawsuits for slander. While it may be no big deal to Gaiman, because his millions of fans will rise up in his defense, lesser authors could be bullied and sullied. A state government chose to make an example out of Gaiman and I feel the CBLDF should choose to make an example out of a state government.
@wallythegreenmonster We’re not going to start talking about which political party is evil here. There are plenty of websites for that.
@TNC: “ I’m sure Fox News made Gaiman the bad guy though.”
I just searched foxnews.com and didn’t find anything about this. You need to break out of the left/right paradigm and stop making sweeping generalizations about things. I don’t even watch Foxnews, but this kind of blame-game gets us nowhere.
Personally, I dunno, I think the whole thing is pretty ridiculous on all angles.
Yeah, Gaiman gives the money to charity, but that’s still a lot of money that the state doesn’t have to pay teachers, fix roads, etc.
Gaiman’s really turned into a blowhard the last few years. I used to really admire the guy a lot but he hasn’t really done anything original or interesting in over a decade, imo. He used to be my favorite writer, so I don’t say that criticism lightly.
I don’t see how huge speaking fees or lack thereof really have anything to do with society’s respect for the arts. A society honors art by real people taking it upon themselves to actually READ and appreciate art. Giving huge lump sums of money to celebrities, just so the celebrities can reluctantly talk to crowds–that seems more like part of the problem than the solution. Throwing lots of money at people who are already rich seems like a quick way to just forget about bigger problems (ie, kids and adults not reading as much anymore). Real appreciation for the arts starts small.
Really the politician should be ashamed of himself too. I understand that the guy’s trying to cut the budget or whatever, but calling someone names just adds fuel to the fire and turns the whole thing into hate speech.
@josh–sorry for that….The article was surprisingly politically charged which to me seems to be the root of this entire controversy. But i do agree this isn’t the place for that conversation.
@ericmci He reportedly just directed another organization that booked him for a speaking engagement to make the check out to a specific library.
@wallythegreenmonster It’s a fine line, I’ll grant you.
I highly doubt that the $45,000 came out of money that would have gone to buying books, or paying salaries, or maintaining facilities. This is a multi-million dollar public organization. They have budgets for every sector of their business, including special events and speaker fees. I imagine that big-name speakers would get them attention, patrons, etc. So, it’s really silly to say so-and-so shouldn’t take money away from the library like he’s stealing out of the pockets of underpriveliged children. We’re not a pre-industrial society. If we can’t afford to pay our authors a bit of cash to hear them speak, then what’s the point of it all, anyway?
hilarious! who is snooki by the way?
@ericmci
@kidCharlemagne Good on ya, it’s a waste of use my braincells to remember her image and name, except for the creature in the SouthPark episode of course.
@debaser17 He also writes books that people actually read.
@drdeeeznutz –snooki has been on a few talk shows ie. Late Night with Letterman etc.
The cost of his appearance is well worth it. He writes for comics (more than commonly known), adapts and writes screenplays (domestic and foreign), and is a great prose writer. His range of material is huge (children’s and all ages to fantasy to downright adult and creepy.)
His Sandman (and Hellblazer contributions ) are what pretty much got me back into comics. And he’s a very nice and gracious gentlement.
Money well spent.