Stephen King as Richard Bachman
- STEPHEN KING AS RICHARD BACHMANA black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on a book cover published by Starmont House (Ted Dikty).
I don't know if it's true, but I read somewhere that Stephen King has had more books published than any other writer in history, and only the Bible has had more copies published. How can that be? I know that King's books are popular and sell well, I have bought some of his books myself and while I enjoyed reading his scary stories, none of them contains a single line I consider worth remembering. They are like foods and drinks that taste great but have no nutritional value. But that's OK! King writes to entertain you, to thrill you with exciting weird tales, and that's it! I don't think he writes hoping to win the Pulitzer prize for literature. He writes to make a lot of money and he's very good at doing that . . .
But, being "the most published writer in history" you would think that King's books were "important" in some way, the way that John Steinbeck's book,"The Grapes of Wrath" is important because while the "story" is imaginary, it is played out against the true and dramatic history of tenant farmers in America in the 1930s during the great depression; Okies (Oklahomans) who fled the dust bowl in search of jobs and a place to live with dignity and a future. "The Grapes of Wrath" has value for any American who cares about the history of his country. - Or books like the science fiction novels of Olaf Stapleton or George Orwell that make you "think" about the future of mankind. I guess I'm just disappointed that titillating horror books outsell, by far, great works of literature. Which says a lot about our society.
And here, again, Stephen King, like so many other writers who are now famous, went through the experience of early rejection; "Carrie" was rejected by 30 publishers before finally seeing print. But he stuck with it and now, according to Forbes magazine, King is the second richest American author at $39 million. James Patterson is noted as the richest, with $94 million. All would-be writers need to learn this important lesson; perseverance is often the key to success.
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