How Would You Spend Stephen King’s Money?
Emily Schultz‘s first novel, Joyland, came out in 2006. A literary coming-of-age storyon a small Canadian press, it wasn’t a huge seller. But when Stephen King published a novel also called Joylandlast summer, that changed. King’s novel wasn’t immediately available as an e-book, so when eager King fans went to Amazon to buy his Joylandfor their Kindles, they found Schultz’s Joyland instead.
The confused customers left a series of unintentionally hilarious reviews for Schultz’s book: “Not his best effort,” says Amazon customer named Marcia. “I have always loved Stephen King novels. However, this one was a rambling, stream of consciousness mess.” Some reviews are more appreciative of her prose. “Probably one of the best books written by Stephen King,” wrote Sheila E. Peebles.
Schultz’s publisher, ECW,saw a bump in salesdue to the mix-up. “Apparently there were a lot of confused readers as this week I got a — for me — big royalty check for those mistaken books,” Schultzwrites.So she decided todocument how she’s spending the unexpected windfall (and speculate on whether King would approve of each purchase) on a blog called “Spending the Stephen King Money.”
Although Schultz hasn’t said exactly how much she earned from the slip-up, there have been several big-ticket items on the blog so far, including a $146 dinner and a $200 car insurance deductible.One recent item: St. Vincent‘s new album. “Would Stephen King like it?” Schultz asks. “Tough to say. He has an avowed love for rock so surreal cyber funk might be outside of his taste. Then again, there’s a darkness to St. Vincent he might like.”
A windfall for Schultz probably isn’t a noticeable dip in Stephen King’s royalty check. “I’m delighted for her, and I’m going to order her book,” King told Entertainment Weekly. But Schultz should probably watch out for any angry dogs or scary clowns lurking around her house, just in case.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.