ChewingSand (Hazel Hayes) - Part 2

[fighead]

Hazel comes crawling back to youtube when everything else comes to a halt. HA!

So true. What’s funny about listening to her book is that it seems to be fairly faithful to reality - I used to watch her ‘time of the month’ vlogs which she was doing when the break up with Ollie happened, ( I genuinely thought at first she had had a shock bereavement because of how traumatised she seemed)
Faithful to reality with some key changes. Firstly, she isn’t a YouTuber but a freelance writer - far cooler. Secondly, she has a black friend. The way it’s brought up feels forced enough to suggest it was a deliberate addition - and I can’t think of any friends of hers in real life that aren’t white ?

Yeah that definitely felt shoe-horned in for representation. The thing with her book is that it isn't BADLY written but it's not great. It's quite self-conscious and repeats itself a lot - "truth be told", "to tell the truth" etc. But then again it's not the kind of thing I tend to read anyway.

[chinese_whispers]

Hazel comes crawling back to youtube when everything else comes to a halt. HA!

So true. What’s funny about listening to her book is that it seems to be fairly faithful to reality - I used to watch her ‘time of the month’ vlogs which she was doing when the break up with Ollie happened, ( I genuinely thought at first she had had a shock bereavement because of how traumatised she seemed)
Faithful to reality with some key changes. Firstly, she isn’t a YouTuber but a freelance writer - far cooler. Secondly, she has a black friend. The way it’s brought up feels forced enough to suggest it was a deliberate addition - and I can’t think of any friends of hers in real life that aren’t white ?

Yeah that definitely felt shoe-horned in for representation. The thing with her book is that it isn't BADLY written but it's not great. It's quite self-conscious and repeats itself a lot - "truth be told", "to tell the truth" etc. But then again it's not the kind of thing I tend to read anyway.

I'm actually quite enjoying it. I don't know if I'd pick up a physical copy but I'd definitely get it if it was an audio book that she read. I'm liking the tone that she's reading it in. I didn't find the black friend THAT shoehorned. My mixed-race friend said the same about my ex, trying to find a reason for me to dislike him when it was all over. I'd find it weirder if she'd mentioned Maya was black as soon as she introduced her, I thought it came very naturally in the story/dialogue.

[horatio]

Hazel comes crawling back to youtube when everything else comes to a halt. HA!

So true. What’s funny about listening to her book is that it seems to be fairly faithful to reality - I used to watch her ‘time of the month’ vlogs which she was doing when the break up with Ollie happened, ( I genuinely thought at first she had had a shock bereavement because of how traumatised she seemed)
Faithful to reality with some key changes. Firstly, she isn’t a YouTuber but a freelance writer - far cooler. Secondly, she has a black friend. The way it’s brought up feels forced enough to suggest it was a deliberate addition - and I can’t think of any friends of hers in real life that aren’t white ?

Yeah that definitely felt shoe-horned in for representation. The thing with her book is that it isn't BADLY written but it's not great. It's quite self-conscious and repeats itself a lot - "truth be told", "to tell the truth" etc. But then again it's not the kind of thing I tend to read anyway.

I'm actually quite enjoying it. I don't know if I'd pick up a physical copy but I'd definitely get it if it was an audio book that she read. I'm liking the tone that she's reading it in. I didn't find the black friend THAT shoehorned. My mixed-race friend said the same about my ex, trying to find a reason for me to dislike him when it was all over. I'd find it weirder if she'd mentioned Maya was black as soon as she introduced her, I thought it came very naturally in the story/dialogue.

Yes I agree it could have been a lot more contrived. As I said it only really stood out to me because all the friends I know of hers in real life, and the group she seemed to spend a lot of time with when this happened, are white.

[Mleeps]

I'l give credit where it's due and say I am really enjoying her reading. Her writing is quite lovely. I don't think that people want to read stories for the 'content' of it (i.e. because they're interested in the author's personal life), I think sometimes if the story is well-told it sells on its own merit. So I don't think it's like any old 'YouTuber' book for me because yeah, I couldn't give a rat's arse about her breakup, but I am interested in this character that she has written about, because the writing kind of just draws me in. However, I find her so contrived guys. She is so irritating. The way she looks at the camera and talks, it is so obviously not how she actually is in real life, she is trying to present this artsy persona .. I dunno, it looks to me like she is full to the brim of herself. It's all HER and her friends and their lives and oh my goodness DON'T SAY HELLO TO ME STEVIE I AM SO ANGRY AND I MUST RELEASE IT ALL OUT ON PAPER AT ONCE, MY CREATIVITY WAITS FOR NO MAN. I used to behave like that when I was eleven. Idk, am I nitpicking? Just, as with Dodie, she seems so up her own arse. Like all that matters on earth is herself and her feelings and her friends and her process and she is the best at everything and good lord how the masses will wait avidly to hear every word that drops from her mouth.

[fudgeland]

I sent her sample chapter to a book publisher friend of mine months ago and her reaction was "is this a friend of yours?" To which I laughed and said no, just a first time novelist. She was not impressed, said it was desperately cliche, poorly constructed and said it would require major editing if it were to actually published. She said she did feel a bit sorry for Hazel, who seemed to really believe she could be a writer.

Hazel reading Hazel's own writing is going to sound much better than YOU reading Hazel's writing.

[Monster_Guru33]

How in the hell did Hazel get published then?

Oh, don't tell me...

YOUTUBE CASH IN!!!!

I hate the publishing industry sometimes.

[fighead]

How in the hell did Hazel get published then?

Oh, don't tell me...

YOUTUBE CASH IN!!!!

I hate the publishing industry sometimes.

I believe she crowdfunded and self-published via a company called Unbound? But she still basically used her Youtube following from when she used to post regularly for that

[horatio]

How in the hell did Hazel get published then?

Oh, don't tell me...

YOUTUBE CASH IN!!!!

I hate the publishing industry sometimes.

I believe she crowdfunded and self-published via a company called Unbound? But she still basically used her Youtube following from when she used to post regularly for that

I remember the crowd funding but I’m sure she mentioned something about her publishers and the delay to release because of corona... how much do a company like unbound do if it’s self published ? And she’s got an audio book too surely she didn’t organise that ? Unless there was money left over from the crowd sourcing I guess

[aaaaaaaaaah]

How in the hell did Hazel get published then?

Oh, don't tell me...

YOUTUBE CASH IN!!!!

I hate the publishing industry sometimes.

I believe she crowdfunded and self-published via a company called Unbound? But she still basically used her Youtube following from when she used to post regularly for that

I remember the crowd funding but I’m sure she mentioned something about her publishers and the delay to release because of corona... how much do a company like unbound do if it’s self published ? And she’s got an audio book too surely she didn’t organise that ? Unless there was money left over from the crowd sourcing I guess

I've been following this saga for a while, so maybe I can clear some stuff up. Unbound isn't self publishing, it's vanity publisher.

Vanity publishers hide under nice words ("of course you get an editor!", "your book will be properly published, not like those self published people who can only do kindle books", "no, no, we're a real publisher, we just work differently!", etc.) but in reality, they charge a hefty fee for minimal editing and other shady maneuvers. Traditional publishers do not charge anything and self publishing means that you have to find your own, but likely better than a vanity press, editor. It's also important to mention that Unbound as a company owns the rights to anything you publish, meaning that if you want to publish more of the same book or do a sequel you might have to go through them.

In Hazel's case, after going through all the reward tiers and the amount of people who paid for each one, she crowdfunded a minimum of £27,775 which is 199% of her original goal, meaning that her original goal was around £14000. This is an absurd amount to publish a book. A good editor costs about 4k, and the average cost for a front cover is around £900. Printing a book is the most expensive part of publishing, however a company publishing many books (like Unbound) will be able to do it en-mass for much cheaper. Traditional publishing only means you get an initial editor to polish it up before sending it out to agents/publishers, but as a youtuber Hazel wouldn't have needed to do this.

As Unbound is a crowdfunding company, it's far more likely that they aren't doing proper editing (after reading the excerpt, there are many, many grammatical mistakes that a professional editor would have caught but that the average reader might not). This brings down the editing cost considerably, meaning that the actual cost to edit and publish her book's initial goal might have only been £7-8k, leaving Unbound with a huge amount of profit because that's how the company works. They're a vanity publisher who prey on people who want to be published so badly that they'll cut corners.

Also vanity publishers and those who use them are heavily looked down upon by traditional publishing houses and self publishers. Trad publishers often won't accept any work by someone who has used a vanity publisher. As a youtuber, hazel could have gone down the traditional publishing route so that her fans wouldn't have had to pay so much, but she used a vanity press instead.

[horatio]

Thank you for an excellent post definitely exceeded your intent of “clearing a few things up.” Unbound sound dodgy as hell.

One question tho, are you working on the assumption that the 14k target was all unbound’s fee / or maybe not an assumption and she said as much on the crowdfunding page. Or was any of the money to support her while she wrote it? And theres the audiobook recording ...? Can you link the CF page ?

[aaaaaaaaaah]

Thank you for an excellent post definitely exceeded your intent of “clearing a few things up.” Unbound sound dodgy as hell.

One question tho, are you working on the assumption that the 14k target was all unbound’s fee / or maybe not an assumption and she said as much on the crowdfunding page. Or was any of the money to support her while she wrote it? And theres the audiobook recording ...? Can you link the CF page ?

Here's the crowdfunding page (all rewarded donations are just a bit below, I can't tell if people could donate £1 which would mean the total is significantly higher): https://unbound.com/books/out-of-love/

I can't find any info on the website, but I would assume that Unbound takes into account the estimated number of pages and puts out a figure that you can't go under. They're a company and they have to make money so they wouldn't allow a figure that doesn't make them money.

Most vanity presses take the author's money, but Unbound is different as it's a crowdfunded vanity press, meaning that other people pay for it. Hazel will have earned a percentage from the profits (e.g. 80% after editing and publishing costs) because those are all sales for her book. Any further books published with this company will also take a percentage for themselves. Hazel will make a higher percentage than the company but the company will take a percentage because that's how the business model has to work.
In a weird way, it's like an MLM. Authors wanting an easily publish buy into Unbound's idea, send any friends/family/fans to their crowdfunding page, those people give money and the money works its way up the pyramid into the authors and Unbound's pockets. Even though each single author will make more than Unbound on their book, Unbound earns the most because it collects from everyone.

Unbound does also have seem an audiobook option for people who want to be published. The problem is that they're hiding so much on their website (like whether they have the rights to your work or just a PDF on legalities) that it makes it difficult to find anything. I can't find who narrates the audiobooks, so it might be that the author narrates it, which is unusual in publishing but helps the egos of people who use vanity publishers and reduces costs, or Unbound has its own people narrating the audiobooks therefore they don't say who narrates them.

Basically, Hazel's payment for the book + editing + publishing + company's payment + a possible audiobook = where the money went.

If anyone wants any credentials or why I know a bit about the publishing industry: I'm an illustrator who has worked on book covers and I do preliminary editing for those going into traditional publishing looking for agents on the side as well as the occasional person looking to self publish. I've had to warn multiple people about these vanity presses that make themselves look official. A traditional publishing house will never a) ask you to find your own editor, b) ask for payment, c) require you to find your own cover artist (some might give you options but you can also choose to go with their artists). Unless you are famous or have some sort of preexisting audience, you are incredibly unlikely to make any money from a vanity press.

[Gingerpandas]

I think the sudden push of half naked photos is to push the book because as we know, more skin=higher engagement

[Gingerpandas]

Also, I’ll bet a pretty penny she’s going to come out as bi when her book officially releases to help push sales

[fighead]

Also, I’ll bet a pretty penny she’s going to come out as bi when her book officially releases to help push sales

I think she already did?? Very low key in a video with Stevie I think. I'm hoping I didn't imagine this haha

[Gingerpandas]

Also, I’ll bet a pretty penny she’s going to come out as bi when her book officially releases to help push sales

I think she already did?? Very low key in a video with Stevie I think. I'm hoping I didn't imagine this haha

I think she’s dropped several hints but I don’t know if she’s said it out right

[fighead]

Also, I’ll bet a pretty penny she’s going to come out as bi when her book officially releases to help push sales

I think she already did?? Very low key in a video with Stevie I think. I'm hoping I didn't imagine this haha

I think she’s dropped several hints but I don’t know if she’s said it out right

I didn't imagine it! It's at the start of this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNfDFC0ad5Q

[polarbearninja]

I'm a little confused about her living arrangements. I know she lived with Dodie for a while and then swapped with Daniel J to live with Jack. I know that when her and Jack broke up she then got her own place. I know Stevie moved in with her for a while, but now Dodie seems to be in lockdown with her? Does Dodie still live with Daniel but breaks social distancing to visit Hazel or has decided to stay with her for the duration of lockdown? Or has she moved in with Hazel again?

[Alicedumbbum]

Hazel announcing the optioning of her book is suchhh a rookie error. I've worked for several production companies and whenever we optioned books we always advised the author not to disclose it publicly, as the majority of options sadly do not end in a commission. But of course, Hazel had to jump on the chance to humblebrag though. As Frank Ocean says: "Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise."

Also, if it does end up getting made and made well, she most likely won't be the writer-director. High quality productions require investment; film and TV funds won't invest in a writer or a director with no broadcast credits, unless they have reliable acumen elsewhere (e.g. Phoebe Waller-Bridge made 'Fleabag' off the back of her award-winning Edinburgh Fringe play). She may think she's going to be heavily involved but in my experience this won't be the case. Producers often have to blow smoke up writers arses, convincing them the film/series is their baby - whilst the production team do all the real creative and practical work.

ALSO also, from what we know about the book, I don't think it's got a huge chance of being made. She's got the knock-off Sally Rooney thing going for her but BBC, Channel 4, Netflix, Hulu & Amazon are all targeting BAME and working class stories right now - Hazel's is neither. It's all about a woman being strung up over a man - a narrative that commissioners won't touch with a barge pole in the current climate, for fear of being slated.

[Orangeuglad]

ALSO also, from what we know about the book, I don't think it's got a huge chance of being made. She's got the knock-off Sally Rooney thing going for her but BBC, Channel 4, Netflix, Hulu & Amazon are all targeting BAME and working class stories right now - Hazel's is neither. It's all about a woman being strung up over a man - a narrative that commissioners won't touch with a barge pole in the current climate, for fear of being slated.

Exactly!! And she might not even have the Sally Rooney thing going for her, because the Normal People adaptation is coming to the BBC soon, and who will want to watch a knock off when you have the real thing??

[PocketPLocket]

Hazel announcing the optioning of her book is suchhh a rookie error. I've worked for several production companies and whenever we optioned books we always advised the author not to disclose it publicly, as the majority of options sadly do not end in a commission. But of course, Hazel had to jump on the chance to humblebrag though. As Frank Ocean says: "Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise."

Also, if it does end up getting made and made well, she most likely won't be the writer-director. High quality productions require investment; film and TV funds won't invest in a writer or a director with no broadcast credits, unless they have reliable acumen elsewhere (e.g. Phoebe Waller-Bridge made 'Fleabag' off the back of her award-winning Edinburgh Fringe play). She may think she's going to be heavily involved but in my experience this won't be the case. Producers often have to blow smoke up writers arses, convincing them the film/series is their baby - whilst the production team do all the real creative and practical work.

ALSO also, from what we know about the book, I don't think it's got a huge chance of being made. She's got the knock-off Sally Rooney thing going for her but BBC, Channel 4, Netflix, Hulu & Amazon are all targeting BAME and working class stories right now - Hazel's is neither. It's all about a woman being strung up over a man - a narrative that commissioners won't touch with a barge pole in the current climate, for fear of being slated.

This is exactly what I thought when I saw her video announcement - talk about counting your chickens.