Just in case anyone was wondering, spelling “magick” with a K is meant to distinguish spiritual practices in modern day witchcraft and pagan religions from things like card tricks and magic shows. Some fantasy stories use the alternative spelling “magick” to indicate that a character has real powers.
Thank you Lindsey for clarifying that for Rachel’s readers. Magick as a term was made popular by Aleister Crowley in his use in the early 20th century and adopted in general by ceremonial magicians, witches, etc. to distinguish between such and stage magic, etc. however it was already an archaic spelling
As a person who practices modern day witchcraft, I can't stand the K. I'm so sorry to people who like it. Take it back. Give the K to Penn and Teller. You know when you look at a word too long and it starts to lose all meaning or look unreal? That's what "magick" does to me. Thank you for coming to my silly Ted Talk.
Definitely Caitlin not all witches or magicians use the k version. Clearly there is a huge difference between stage magic and those practices. There still is a great deal of misinformation about magic, not least in fantasy novels
Most certainly. I think people struggle to make a compelling story around it, where they want magic to be an active story telling solution, and it often ends up being rather cringy what they come up with.
So I was an extra in a Disney channel show… Does this mean I can now credit myself as an actress and put it in all my resumes? If Sarem can, why can’t I?
One thing, aside from the scam that gets me about this book is that she made her self-insert more popular than Plain White Ts...like in her book which takes place in 2016 they're a sort of..local niche band.Desperate for HER approval. oh and ofc the whole Jackson thing...she wrote the first draft of the book a.k.a the script WHILE SHE WAS MANAGING HIS BAND. and his character hits on her character and endlessly talks about how hot she is. and she hoped he'd play AS HIMSELF in the movie. he was married at the time btw. Imagine your co-worker or manager writing a wish-fulfilment retcon of her own life where she casts you as a simp for her. while you're happily married to someone else.
One thing that cracks me up about the book itself, especially as someone who is into tarot and all that jazz, is that she didn’t even look up the basic meanings of the cards even though that’s like a huge part of the story, and the chapters are all named after cards. Like for one chapter it’s titled “Death” and some characters die in said chapter so it’s called “dEaTh”, but the meaning of the death card isn’t literal. It represents changes, rebirth, ending of phases, ect ect. Like she couldn’t even google the meanings of the cards.
Yes!! What also is absurd as a Tarot reader is her order of the Major Arcana as chapter titles. It's so almost in order she obviously was doing them in close to numerical order but the chapters have nothing to do with the meanings. So she could have just left them totally in order and it would have made more sense ultimately. But also a shitty book
I always hated that trope in media, I may not be a tarot girl but even at its basic level I know the cards aren't literal. Just bc I draw The Fool doesn't mean I'm stupid just like Death doesn't mean someone's gonna Die, atp people just use it for the sake of being edgy and it's really annoying
If she had handled it differently, she could’ve played that misconception to her advantage for dramatic effect (like make the reader think the MC is going to die if they didn’t already know about the meaning of Death in Tarot). Then again it wouldn’t have worked anyway because the MC is telling this story in the past tense and already explained that she had recovered, so the reader already knows she’ll survive.
:/ dang. honestly, i don't understand not wanting to look up the meanings when tarot is so interesting! i wanted to draw my ocs as tarot cards and spent so long looking over the meanings on a couple different sites + the booklets included with my own cards, just to make sure i would actually choose something that represented the character/their arc. research is fun, gotdammit! 😭
I saw her at Indianapolis comic con with an actual booth THIS YEAR and I literally lost my SHIT. On her sign it literally said “1# on the NYT Bestseller list for 23 hours.”
This really smacks of silicon valley "hustle culture". Me being in the tech space, I see this constantly, a "don't care, made money" approach combined with "ironic marketing".
The second you put up a picture of her next to the cover and the character looked exacty like her down to the bangs and dyed hair ends... I knew this was gonna be a trip
I know! Like If you're gonna write a self-insert... maybe try to be at least a little bit subtle about it? Don't blatantly announce it with the cover? Even Meyer and EL James didn't put fiction!portraits of themselves on their covers (If their successes were something a person wanted to imitate, for better or worse).
What always got me about Lani’s whining about YA not accepting new voices is that, at the time, Angie Thomas WAS a new voice! Angie Thomas WAS a debut! (And her success was organic-sorry about it Lani.)
The same can be said for Tomi Adeyemi who is not only a new debut author but her novel Children of Blood and Bone is a west African fantasy FULL OF MAGIC. What the hell is Lani talking about
@Ms Aileen Valentine I mean, protag spent the first page trying to say that she's "not pretty" but then proceeds to describe things about her features that would be accepted as conventionally attractive. Also more drivel about how she's not like other girls.
I like to think she now has an entire house full of her own books, and she is like constantly trying to give them away to anyone who comes to her door.
she has no real furniture, just homemade things made of her own books. BUT WAIT. it's not because she can make ppl buy them it's because she is caring for the environment and in the name of every DIY video and person out there. IT'S A STATEMENT against the capitalism (and whatever else you want to add here that sort of make sense but it really doesn't)
I lost it when Jackson Rathbone called her delulu 😂 Btw he's in a great episode of Criminal Minds, it's a much better showcase of his acting skills than Twilight.
She sounds like one of those people who hears all the criticisms against her and thinks “ah, rent free in peoples minds :)” instead of, you know, acknowledging the flaws with her work 😬
I have a friend who bought her book at Fan Expo Boston (in 2022). She didn't know anything about the reputation of the book or Lani Sarem, but it feels like Sarem actually scammed her. My friend got the book for $25 in cash, but then since she lingered at the table for a moment reading a flyer, Sarem made her pay $30 total claiming that was the price after taxes. The inside cover of the book has the price listed as $24.99. Also yes it has the "#1 bestseller for 23 hours" sticker on it!
Just so you know, she’s still selling this book with the brag that it was on the NYT Bestseller list for 23 hours with the sticker. I bought the book from her in August (2022) at Boston Fan Expo thinking the premise sounded good. I had no idea how controversial it was and she really talked it up. I knew I was in trouble when I saw the 1 star rating on Goodreads. She insisted on signing it and personalizing it so I can’t even donate it unless I rip out the first page. I genuinely feel like she scammed me. And yes, she still insists it’ll be a movie. Edit: Aww, thanks for the virtual hug!! I wrote my original comment before finishing the video so I didn’t know I had a shoutout! And she deserves the top of the authors behaving badly list!! I have the book hidden under my bed. 🙈
Part of me loves the bizarre and hilarious assortment of semi-famous artists brought together by horrible experiences with this *unique* author/manager/professional award collector.
Oooooooh, I see what she did here. This wasn't about getting on the NY Times Best Seller List; this was a scam to star in own film. If she, an actor with some connections in the film industry (albeit minor roles), got on the Best Seller List within her first week of sale, then one of her connections would possibly reach out with a movie proposal. She wasn't even trying to hide it that well considering the character on the cover of the book looks exactly like her. This entire thing is like a reverse heist. And in all honesty, this scheme alone would make a much better book than the one she wrote.
The unfortunate thing is that you can get onto the NYT Bestseller list by 2/3 ways: 1. Sell 5k - 10k copies in a week. 2. Get a good agent/publisher to get you that spot. 3. Do what Lani Seram did and don't get caught (this happens more than you'd think) It's why there are so many NYT #1's that all come out around the same time.
I've watched Krimsonrogue's reviewe on this book and it was painful to watch him suffer. I wouldn't wish that upon you. When I heard the title, I was imagining it as a tongue-in-cheek guidebook. Like how there are rules to interacting with fairies and faes. And with little backstories on how the writer discovered what is considered appropriate behaviours and what isn't. On the side note, if she had just let her books be sold organically, I'm sure she would have found a fanbase. We have seen how bad books get really hyped up.
want the "room full of unsold merchandise" MLM experience WITHOUT financially contributing to an actual MLM? GOOD NEWS! For the low, low price of writing a bad book and eternally embarrassing yourself, YOU TOO can have a room in your house dedicated to things that you won't be able to GIVE away!
I used to make myself a pretend throne out of old books as a child to sit in while reading the books I actually liked- perhaps she could try that! Or turn it into some kind of modern art statement piece?
Shoutout to GenerallyPooky for their review/retelling of all the chapters of this dumb book, littered with her good art, and also KrimsonRogue for suffering through this without his cat.
I love that you brought up Jenny's review of the book because she's a goddamn delight and her book snark reviews are hilarious. Also I'm a bookseller at Barnes and Noble and we can't even order her book so I don't know how she'd have an event there when we don't even sell the book.
Possibly she would attend with several copies of her book. I used to work at B Dalton (aeons ago), and once in a blue moon, we would do this. The author handled the sales by having a cashier with them (messy stuff, but hey). We never had a big turnout for those.
Jenny Trout is the goddamn best. I became addicted to her blog through her “50 Shades of Gray” chapter by chapter reviews and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
I'm an author whose books have (legitimately) been bestsellers in their Kinde store category. This was achieved purely through word-of-mouth and the fact I write in something of a niche category (books about horses with a LGBT+ protagonist), and (I'd like to think) I'm a good writer. I don't even do Amazon ads. I can't even fathom the effort to create such a scam to say your book is a NY Times bestseller. It was more exhausting to think about doing this than actually write. In other words, I agree with you that there are many, many books that are bestsellers, but the best way to see if a book is good is to...read the first chapters of the sample and see if you like the writing style.
I choose to believe she has constructed a puppet theatre out of her five thousand books and puts on puppet shows, which she films and will eventually release as her “major motion picture” at Sundance and similar esteemed film festivals. Handbook for Mortals: one author’s descent into madness as told by puppets.
I saw Blues Traveler live. The Lead Singer is consider one the few maestros of the harmonica. The guy played the devil went down to Georgia on a harmonica. It was pretty cool.
I can't find any documentation of her managing Blues Traveler, other than them saying it which I'll trust, but I live for the irony that they were quantifiably quite successful in the 90s, got countless movie tie-ins, more appearances on Letterman than literally any other band, set a record in the late 90s for single at #1 for most consecutive weeks, and 30 years later they're 'Blue Traveler?' to basically anyone not terminally into Jam Bands. The 90s Music Industry: there are no rules and the points don't matter.
I wasn't around to experience the 90s and the only song I know from them is Run-Around. Considering how high it reached in the charts, I'm not surprised that's the song that lasted long enough for me to hear it.
How dare you! That part in Trailer Park Shark has lines! And stars that Thomas Ian Nicholas guy, the one who formed the publisher and was going to produce the movie. He was the least charismatic one from American Pie. The other person who formed the publishing company was Claire Kramer, who was Glory in Buffy.
Omg, I remember KrimsonRogue covering her book in 2020! I hadn’t heard this much about her “excuses” and public statements though, thank you for digging back into this shitshow LMAO. I would also 100% recommend his two-part rant about the book, he tears it to shreds and it’s absolutely hysterical!!
I used to work in a book store and have worked events where we sold the book and then put it through our system when we got back to the store. So she could have done that.
LOL yeah I saw her back at the end of August at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto! My brother and I were in the vendor hall and we passed by her booth and she was there trying to sell copies of her book. I had to do a double-take because it took me a few seconds to really process what I was seeing. Took everything I had in me not to go up and ask her if she was the chick that had scammed the NYT best sellers list.
Using the titles and fonts of those franchises is 100% a copyright/trademark violation if she didn't get permission (which she most likely didn't) lol My eyes nearly bulged out of my head when I saw it. Part of me genuinely wants Gill to take them to court for the ripped off cover art, but alas it would probably be too expensive.
Using something copyrighted to make a comparison to your own product is one legal use. The point in copyrights is to give someone the power to make sure that other items aren’t mistaken for being a part of your brand or company, and her “Like Twilight and Harry Potter” nonsense is a comparison, albeit false, unless she means that they’re all debuts.
This was probably the first book Twitter drama I ran across back in the day! Probably my favorite Lani Sarem fact is that she's related to a former boy band member (can't remember if it's NSync or Backstreet Boys) and he was defending her during all this and helped promote the book at cons!!!! I wish I could remember the name of the pod, but there was also a podcast that did a chapter-by-chapter review of her book, and dove into the "magick" and tarot aspect. Unsurprisingly, she got a lot of it wrong lol. They would read excerpts and it was so so so bad but also hilarious
I remember reading an article that claimed that she wanted to star in her own movie originally and approached Thomas Ian Nichols to get it made and he gave her the idea that it would be easier to get the movie made if she made it a bestselling book. The entire thing was just a ploy for her to act in her own movie. It also said that they had people sign up to preorder the book and that's why they bulk bought the books I guess.
I heard about this story a while back and completely forgot until I went to a convention towards the end of August and saw a white, undecorated, fold out table with a stack of copies of this book. Terrifying.
I'm a full time vendor at comicons around the country, and I've seen her at at least 3 different events I've been a part of. She barely spends any time at her table so now it's become a bit of a thing I do, that I take selfies at her table when she's not around. First time I saw her me and my neighbors freaked OUT at our booths, we all knew everything about her, it was amazing
For those who want to see how bad the book is but don't want to pain themselves reading it there are a couple of reviewers who had good reviews/critiques/ripping sessions on it. I recommend Krimsonrouge and Generally Pookie (I really hope I spelled those right). Pookie does chapter by chapter cute animations as a series and is hilarious, Krimson does more of a critique and it's a longer video if long form is your thing :)
This is so funny omggg… she really woke up one day and said “mm I’d love if I could star in a fantasy movie about me, written by me! How do I do that?”
The thing that gets me about claiming she bulk bought books from stores instead of the distributor to then have on hand for events is 1) why would you want THOUSANDS of copies of your book on hand??? Surely two or three dozen would suffice, and 2) buying directly from the distributor is usually CHEAPER. It makes zero sense as an author to buy from bookstores instead of buying wholesale from the distributor unless you don't have access to order from the distributor, which isn't the case for self-pub.
I love how after all this time she hasn't even made an attempt to write the next book in her "five part series" Like girl. At least commit to your self insert fic. I would at least respect the creative spark and drive, not this naked cynical cash grab.
if i went to a convention and saw Lani there i would laugh so hard. but if she wanted to give me her book for free? sure, i'll take it. i'm not above handouts of bad literature. having a free, signed, given out from the author herself copy of such an infamous book would be so funny to me. i'd keep it proudly out on my shelf as a conversation starter
I remember when this happened and when I saw this video I was so excited holy crap. Also, I lost it when you declared her at the top of the Authors Behaving Badly list for 23 hours 🤣
Sometimes I think "I should have been crooked, at least then I might get more sales." Sadly, I am too willing to fail if it means doing things properly.
I have run the vendor's hall at a number of events, many literary. Indie authors do not traditionally sell large numbers at shows. It appears to mostly drum up future interest. She is definitely lying. I remember one event where I went around the hall collecting signatures for a local anthology. One question I asked, "How many sales have you made today?" Answer; Not enough to cover the cost of the booth space. These were local indie authors selling their own books, not just one title.
I subscribed to your channel a few days ago and haven't been able to stop binge watching all of your videos - I really appreciate your takes, analysis of books and difficult topics, and going over author drama in such depth! After finishing my grad degree, I lost my joy of reading and it's been hard getting back into it again, but your videos have been a big help in sparking that love again. Thank you for all the work you put into these videos! ❤️
I don't know why cause I've heard of this story while it was happening but all of a sudden this video got me thinking of a book I was randomly given at my college campus several years back. I decided to do a quick Goodreads of it and apparently those who gave the 1 stars also got their books given to them for free. Apparently the author is a self publisher who spend like thousands giving away their books, as it's also a hardcover. Don't know if there's more to the story. The book is "Wild Animus" by Rich Shapero
Some people have also speculated that she was the author of My Immortal (The MCR/HarryPotter/Supa Goffik fanfiction) because of the similar writing style
so don’t buy my way to the top of the bestseller list, tell people my book was there for 23 hours, and also don’t star in the movie based on my book. got it :)
This is so asinine. What the hell? Glad you made it through Ian. That was definitely the worst hurricane I've experienced, especially since moving to Central Florida in 2020, but we still came through with minimal damage in my neighborhood. A few neighbors with roof damage and broken privacy fences, but we only lost our cosmos in the garden.
Oh my goodness what a PR Dumpster Fire. On a happier note, I'm glad you and your family are safe and back home, take all the time you need to rest and recuperate! 💖
I'm glad someone is bringing up the fact that the cover of the book is stolen art, i have a print of "The Knife Thrower" which is the name of the piece in my house given to us by Gill a few years back. However it should be brought up that Gill had Alzheimer's and has recently passed away without ever being credited to my knowledge. If you like the painting I'd highly recommend checking out some of her other works, as she was a truly talented woman.
imagine having the wherewithal to scam your way into a bestseller list for your self-insert "magick" au bandfic. the cover art when compared to the author photo made me want to crawl out of my own skin with secondhand embarrassment. there is such a thing as being too cringe and too free.
Objectively, I understand why someone would want to be on the New York Times Bestseller list. It's like an "I made it as a successful author!" award and gives you that big dopamine hit. Practically, I find it useless. Since not all bookstores report to the NYT, it's not indicative of how popular or how well a book actually sold. Especially because Amazon, the huge book juggernaut, doesn't report to them. Just like the Nielson Ratings for television. Not everyone has a box in their house. Sarem went about this all wrong. The NYT Bestseller list doesn't mean squat.
I remember talking about this event when it happened and now it's faded into semi-obscurity and people deny it really happened because of how wild it is. I will never not tell the tale.
Not the autor dying her hair the same as the protagonist in a poorly executed attempt to be like "look, I'm an actress! And i look like the younger protagonist!! What are the odds!? You should give me the leading role in a movie!!!" 🤡
Yay, new video! Just want to say I've recently come across your channel and am binging your videos lol I am surprised you haven't talked about Norman Boutin and Empress Theresa, though. It's a weird rabbit hole to fall into, but I think he would fit into this series. Just throwing this out there in case you weren't aware. Love your content! ❤
Imagine spending so much money to bulk buy your books instead of using that to pay for writing classes to actually make it to the top of the best seller list.
Huh, I actually recognize this cover from a free book site once. I judged it by the cover and ignored the book without reading what it was about, but it looks like the kind of stuff pre-teen me would have liked to read, even if it wouldn't have been life changing or anything. It's just very weird that she had to sham her way into (in)fame with what looked like a sellable book for kids (I'm assuming the writing wasn't so bad, even a pre-teen would put it away).
Everybody points out the magic vs. magick thing, and sadly enough, this seems to be the only detail that had any thought put into it. When I was in college - Undergrad degree in Journalism - I interviewed several members of pagan faiths: druids, wiccans, witches etc., and many of them said that the 'k' spelling indicates their practices, while the "normal" 'c' spelling indicates "Houdini/rabbit out of a hat/prestidigitation magic." Don't get me wrong the author is a shallow, talentless, arrogant thief who has only continued to lie about the entire situation but, that detail is weirdly accurate.
At my last job I was cleaning our front desk looking for something and found a SIGNED PERSONALIZED copy of this book and the note seemed like my bosses knew her. It was really soon after seeing a video on this book so it was wild to say the least. I never got the full story and I left that job a year ago (thank god) but my bosses were odd and a little sus so them knowing her isn’t….surprising?
I heard about this book and its drama before but didn't have any idea Thomas Ian Nicholas was involved in it! I remember him from several movies from my childhood: Rookie of the Year, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and American Pie. I'm disappointed in him now. 😔
Just started watching your videos (love them btw) and I’m so happy you did a video about Lani she’s gotta be my favorite case of book drama (mostly because she’s loosely related to My Immortal which is my absolute favorite piece of internet lore). Great video!!
Was delighted to see you post, but don't push yourself too much! There's definitely been a lot going on lately, and you deserve to take the time you need
Just in case anyone was wondering, spelling “magick” with a K is meant to distinguish spiritual practices in modern day witchcraft and pagan religions from things like card tricks and magic shows. Some fantasy stories use the alternative spelling “magick” to indicate that a character has real powers.
Thank you Lindsey for clarifying that for Rachel’s readers.
Magick as a term was made popular by Aleister Crowley in his use in the early 20th century and adopted in general by ceremonial magicians, witches, etc. to distinguish between such and stage magic, etc.
however it was already an archaic spelling
Ah shit I didn’t know this. I’ll pin this comment so others can see it. Thanks for telling me.
As a person who practices modern day witchcraft, I can't stand the K. I'm so sorry to people who like it. Take it back. Give the K to Penn and Teller. You know when you look at a word too long and it starts to lose all meaning or look unreal? That's what "magick" does to me. Thank you for coming to my silly Ted Talk.
Definitely Caitlin not all witches or magicians use the k version. Clearly there is a huge difference between stage magic and those practices. There still is a great deal of misinformation about magic, not least in fantasy novels
Most certainly. I think people struggle to make a compelling story around it, where they want magic to be an active story telling solution, and it often ends up being rather cringy what they come up with.
So I was an extra in a Disney channel show… Does this mean I can now credit myself as an actress and put it in all my resumes? If Sarem can, why can’t I?
WAIT WHICH SHOW THO
@@ReadswithRachel Andi Mack 😂
@@Just-Being-Amy okay no but andi mack is my life
Does anyone really take the NY Times bestseller list seriously? If it’s easy to buy your way to the top of the list it seems rather pointless.
I think there was a Max Fosh video where he did that to (as always) make a joke.
One thing, aside from the scam that gets me about this book is that she made her self-insert more popular than Plain White Ts...like in her book which takes place in 2016 they're a sort of..local niche band.Desperate for HER approval. oh and ofc the whole Jackson thing...she wrote the first draft of the book a.k.a the script WHILE SHE WAS MANAGING HIS BAND. and his character hits on her character and endlessly talks about how hot she is. and she hoped he'd play AS HIMSELF in the movie. he was married at the time btw. Imagine your co-worker or manager writing a wish-fulfilment retcon of her own life where she casts you as a simp for her. while you're happily married to someone else.
Grooooooooooooss 🤢
That last bit about Jackson is literally almost point for point what Dante did to Beatrice.
One thing that cracks me up about the book itself, especially as someone who is into tarot and all that jazz, is that she didn’t even look up the basic meanings of the cards even though that’s like a huge part of the story, and the chapters are all named after cards. Like for one chapter it’s titled “Death” and some characters die in said chapter so it’s called “dEaTh”, but the meaning of the death card isn’t literal. It represents changes, rebirth, ending of phases, ect ect. Like she couldn’t even google the meanings of the cards.
Yes!! What also is absurd as a Tarot reader is her order of the Major Arcana as chapter titles. It's so almost in order she obviously was doing them in close to numerical order but the chapters have nothing to do with the meanings. So she could have just left them totally in order and it would have made more sense ultimately. But also a shitty book
I always hated that trope in media, I may not be a tarot girl but even at its basic level I know the cards aren't literal. Just bc I draw The Fool doesn't mean I'm stupid just like Death doesn't mean someone's gonna Die, atp people just use it for the sake of being edgy and it's really annoying
I half want to read it just to tear apart the tarot's meanings... as a tarot chick myself
If she had handled it differently, she could’ve played that misconception to her advantage for dramatic effect (like make the reader think the MC is going to die if they didn’t already know about the meaning of Death in Tarot).
Then again it wouldn’t have worked anyway because the MC is telling this story in the past tense and already explained that she had recovered, so the reader already knows she’ll survive.
:/ dang. honestly, i don't understand not wanting to look up the meanings when tarot is so interesting! i wanted to draw my ocs as tarot cards and spent so long looking over the meanings on a couple different sites + the booklets included with my own cards, just to make sure i would actually choose something that represented the character/their arc. research is fun, gotdammit! 😭
I saw a signed copy of handbook for mortals at goodwill the other day for 5 bucks. It was like seeing a cryptid
LOL 😂!!!
You bought it, right?!
i would've bought it and displayed it in a glass case like it's a piece of important history 😭
did you take a blurry picture of it lmao
I saw her at Indianapolis comic con with an actual booth THIS YEAR and I literally lost my SHIT. On her sign it literally said “1# on the NYT Bestseller list for 23 hours.”
talk about relentless haha. that's hilarious. i'd approach just to hear what she had to say lol
I saw her at FanExpo Vancouver this year with a booth too and I couldn’t believe it!!
Dude I wonder if I went to WizardCan New Orleans this year if I’d see her still selling her books lmfao
This really smacks of silicon valley "hustle culture". Me being in the tech space, I see this constantly, a "don't care, made money" approach combined with "ironic marketing".
The second you put up a picture of her next to the cover and the character looked exacty like her down to the bangs and dyed hair ends... I knew this was gonna be a trip
Same
I know! Like If you're gonna write a self-insert... maybe try to be at least a little bit subtle about it? Don't blatantly announce it with the cover? Even Meyer and EL James didn't put fiction!portraits of themselves on their covers (If their successes were something a person wanted to imitate, for better or worse).
reminds me of Blanka Lipinska and 365 days haha. at least she was never as serious about her books as Lani Sarem
What always got me about Lani’s whining about YA not accepting new voices is that, at the time, Angie Thomas WAS a new voice! Angie Thomas WAS a debut! (And her success was organic-sorry about it Lani.)
Also, Angie actually wrote a YA book. Handbook for Mortals isn't YA in any shape or form. It's closer to New Adult.
The same can be said for Tomi Adeyemi who is not only a new debut author but her novel Children of Blood and Bone is a west African fantasy FULL OF MAGIC. What the hell is Lani talking about
@@animeotaku307 I don't even think it should be anywhere in that category, the writing is just terribly juvenile.
@Ms Aileen Valentine I mean, protag spent the first page trying to say that she's "not pretty" but then proceeds to describe things about her features that would be accepted as conventionally attractive. Also more drivel about how she's not like other girls.
@Ms Aileen Valentine “It’s ZAYD not ZA DEE”
I like to think she now has an entire house full of her own books, and she is like constantly trying to give them away to anyone who comes to her door.
Generous of you to think anyone comes to her door. 😉
I'm picturing a house BUILT of her own books.
she has no real furniture, just homemade things made of her own books. BUT WAIT. it's not because she can make ppl buy them it's because she is caring for the environment and in the name of every DIY video and person out there. IT'S A STATEMENT against the capitalism (and whatever else you want to add here that sort of make sense but it really doesn't)
I like to imagine as well she is going door-to-door mormon style. Idk would be hilarious
I feel bad for her friends and family... they've probably been getting copies of the books as holiday presents for the past 5 years.
I lost it when Jackson Rathbone called her delulu 😂
Btw he's in a great episode of Criminal Minds, it's a much better showcase of his acting skills than Twilight.
I went to one of her B&N signings after this happened and Live Tweeted meeting her. She is… extremely delusional. She didn’t think libraries existed?
I’m sorry, I know this comment is a year old but… she didn’t think WHAT???????
I was in shock when I saw her at Fan Expo in 2023. Like after all the drama, she's still out here embarrassing herself.
in 2023?? goddamn!
She sounds like one of those people who hears all the criticisms against her and thinks “ah, rent free in peoples minds :)” instead of, you know, acknowledging the flaws with her work 😬
I have a friend who bought her book at Fan Expo Boston (in 2022). She didn't know anything about the reputation of the book or Lani Sarem, but it feels like Sarem actually scammed her. My friend got the book for $25 in cash, but then since she lingered at the table for a moment reading a flyer, Sarem made her pay $30 total claiming that was the price after taxes. The inside cover of the book has the price listed as $24.99. Also yes it has the "#1 bestseller for 23 hours" sticker on it!
Well that’s just awful
damn she just gave my friend the book for free at her panel- (it was an awful panel btw, and we tried to turn down the book)
Just so you know, she’s still selling this book with the brag that it was on the NYT Bestseller list for 23 hours with the sticker. I bought the book from her in August (2022) at Boston Fan Expo thinking the premise sounded good. I had no idea how controversial it was and she really talked it up. I knew I was in trouble when I saw the 1 star rating on Goodreads. She insisted on signing it and personalizing it so I can’t even donate it unless I rip out the first page. I genuinely feel like she scammed me. And yes, she still insists it’ll be a movie.
Edit: Aww, thanks for the virtual hug!! I wrote my original comment before finishing the video so I didn’t know I had a shoutout! And she deserves the top of the authors behaving badly list!! I have the book hidden under my bed. 🙈
It hurts to suggest such a treatment, but some "books" make good fire kindle, especially on long cold winter nights.
Did she mention anything about sequels? I really hope to see how much worse the writing can get.
@@anonymoussaga8723 Yes and No. She just said it was the first in the series.
@@Tiffmidon Oh good, there’s hope for more trainwreck. Thanks!
That is absolutely shameless! She’ll cling to any pebble of notoriety
Part of me loves the bizarre and hilarious assortment of semi-famous artists brought together by horrible experiences with this *unique* author/manager/professional award collector.
I will NEVER. NEVER. Have as much fun writing a blog post as I did writing the post in response to Lani's comment.
Jenny!!!!!!!
Hi 😄
I loved her in Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 and now you tell me she’s problematic? Is nothing sacred?
i fucking love this comment
Oooooooh, I see what she did here. This wasn't about getting on the NY Times Best Seller List; this was a scam to star in own film. If she, an actor with some connections in the film industry (albeit minor roles), got on the Best Seller List within her first week of sale, then one of her connections would possibly reach out with a movie proposal. She wasn't even trying to hide it that well considering the character on the cover of the book looks exactly like her. This entire thing is like a reverse heist. And in all honesty, this scheme alone would make a much better book than the one she wrote.
I laughed SO hard when you said, "Not the confederate shaming me." 😭😭
She's gonna add a sticker that says "Number One on the Author's Behaving Badly List for 23 Hours" to her book now lol
The unfortunate thing is that you can get onto the NYT Bestseller list by 2/3 ways:
1. Sell 5k - 10k copies in a week.
2. Get a good agent/publisher to get you that spot.
3. Do what Lani Seram did and don't get caught (this happens more than you'd think)
It's why there are so many NYT #1's that all come out around the same time.
I have BEEN wondering about that! I always found it mind boggling that so many books could be #1 all at the same time 🙆🏾♀️
I've watched Krimsonrogue's reviewe on this book and it was painful to watch him suffer. I wouldn't wish that upon you.
When I heard the title, I was imagining it as a tongue-in-cheek guidebook. Like how there are rules to interacting with fairies and faes. And with little backstories on how the writer discovered what is considered appropriate behaviours and what isn't.
On the side note, if she had just let her books be sold organically, I'm sure she would have found a fanbase. We have seen how bad books get really hyped up.
I have to thank you for introducing me to his channel!
@@danaslitlist1 His throne of books is everything!
True, she could've just given it to somebody on tiktok
I love KrimsonRogue's review of this. Also recommend GenerallyPooky's illustrated review of it
I love Krimson and have been a long-time Patreon.
want the "room full of unsold merchandise" MLM experience WITHOUT financially contributing to an actual MLM? GOOD NEWS! For the low, low price of writing a bad book and eternally embarrassing yourself, YOU TOO can have a room in your house dedicated to things that you won't be able to GIVE away!
I used to make myself a pretend throne out of old books as a child to sit in while reading the books I actually liked- perhaps she could try that! Or turn it into some kind of modern art statement piece?
There's writing a self insert character and then there's casting YOURSELF as the main character in the alleged movie!!!! The AU-DA-CI-TY
Apparently she mentions Stephanie Meyer twice in her book and misspells her name both times (things I’ve learned reading the reviews of this book)
Oh btw: Blues Traveler were in Shrek and a few other things. That Run-Around song is a staple of light FM radio
Shoutout to GenerallyPooky for their review/retelling of all the chapters of this dumb book, littered with her good art, and also KrimsonRogue for suffering through this without his cat.
I love those reviews of this book!
and Caleb Joseph. his was pretty fun too
The 'for 23 hours' thing is such a self burn
Honestly at this point Lani Sarem should cut her losses, dye her hair, change her pen name and just write a new book under that and start over.
I love that you brought up Jenny's review of the book because she's a goddamn delight and her book snark reviews are hilarious. Also I'm a bookseller at Barnes and Noble and we can't even order her book so I don't know how she'd have an event there when we don't even sell the book.
Possibly she would attend with several copies of her book. I used to work at B Dalton (aeons ago), and once in a blue moon, we would do this. The author handled the sales by having a cashier with them (messy stuff, but hey). We never had a big turnout for those.
So she can’t even be bothered to put it up on Ingram. Real smart of her….
Jenny Trout is the goddamn best. I became addicted to her blog through her “50 Shades of Gray” chapter by chapter reviews and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
@@haggisa She's a constant fucking delight. I used to read her 50 Shades blogs aloud to friends in college. we'd be crying laughing.
I'm an author whose books have (legitimately) been bestsellers in their Kinde store category. This was achieved purely through word-of-mouth and the fact I write in something of a niche category (books about horses with a LGBT+ protagonist), and (I'd like to think) I'm a good writer. I don't even do Amazon ads.
I can't even fathom the effort to create such a scam to say your book is a NY Times bestseller. It was more exhausting to think about doing this than actually write.
In other words, I agree with you that there are many, many books that are bestsellers, but the best way to see if a book is good is to...read the first chapters of the sample and see if you like the writing style.
Not to mention that many actual bestsellers aren't eligible for the NYT list.
What book? You tell me enough to make me interesting, but not enough for me to actually find and read it
that's so cool that you got your niche!! congrats on your success!!
@@magicpensel9548 If you look up the commenter's name, you'll find their books: Mary Pagones
@becauseimafan thank you kind stranger. I can be a bit dumb some times
I choose to believe she has constructed a puppet theatre out of her five thousand books and puts on puppet shows, which she films and will eventually release as her “major motion picture” at Sundance and similar esteemed film festivals. Handbook for Mortals: one author’s descent into madness as told by puppets.
I would watch that
I’m so happy u did this scam!! 🎉 Also happy u survived the hurricane
♥️♥️♥️ Same.
I saw Blues Traveler live. The Lead Singer is consider one the few maestros of the harmonica. The guy played the devil went down to Georgia on a harmonica. It was pretty cool.
I can't find any documentation of her managing Blues Traveler, other than them saying it which I'll trust, but I live for the irony that they were quantifiably quite successful in the 90s, got countless movie tie-ins, more appearances on Letterman than literally any other band, set a record in the late 90s for single at #1 for most consecutive weeks, and 30 years later they're 'Blue Traveler?' to basically anyone not terminally into Jam Bands. The 90s Music Industry: there are no rules and the points don't matter.
I wasn't around to experience the 90s and the only song I know from them is Run-Around. Considering how high it reached in the charts, I'm not surprised that's the song that lasted long enough for me to hear it.
She didn’t work for any of those bands in a legit way. She was an assistant to the actual band manager. She didn’t work directly with the bands. 🙄
The points don’t matter…that takes me back.
How dare you! That part in Trailer Park Shark has lines!
And stars that Thomas Ian Nicholas guy, the one who formed the publisher and was going to produce the movie. He was the least charismatic one from American Pie.
The other person who formed the publishing company was Claire Kramer, who was Glory in Buffy.
Omg, I remember KrimsonRogue covering her book in 2020! I hadn’t heard this much about her “excuses” and public statements though, thank you for digging back into this shitshow LMAO.
I would also 100% recommend his two-part rant about the book, he tears it to shreds and it’s absolutely hysterical!!
I remember this happening! I both can't believe but also am not surprised that she's still out there trying to make this book happen 🤦♀️
"It's never gonna happen, Lani. Stop trying to make this book happen."
The longer it takes for her to make the movie, the more hilarious it'll be when she plays the main character.
I used to work in a book store and have worked events where we sold the book and then put it through our system when we got back to the store. So she could have done that.
RIGHT?! THere were so many options! She played herself in so many ways
How can an individual author do this? I’m intrigued now, and would like to know more to consider it.
@@ariaalexandria3324 you would have to contact the bookstore directly
she’s trying to run a convention company now so be wary!!!
LOL yeah I saw her back at the end of August at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto! My brother and I were in the vendor hall and we passed by her booth and she was there trying to sell copies of her book. I had to do a double-take because it took me a few seconds to really process what I was seeing. Took everything I had in me not to go up and ask her if she was the chick that had scammed the NYT best sellers list.
Damn I can’t believe how many expos she’s been at recently!
Using the titles and fonts of those franchises is 100% a copyright/trademark violation if she didn't get permission (which she most likely didn't) lol My eyes nearly bulged out of my head when I saw it. Part of me genuinely wants Gill to take them to court for the ripped off cover art, but alas it would probably be too expensive.
Using something copyrighted to make a comparison to your own product is one legal use. The point in copyrights is to give someone the power to make sure that other items aren’t mistaken for being a part of your brand or company, and her “Like Twilight and Harry Potter” nonsense is a comparison, albeit false, unless she means that they’re all debuts.
Blues Travelers is literally the last band I ever expected to be connected to YA book drama
She gave people the runaround. 😉
This was probably the first book Twitter drama I ran across back in the day! Probably my favorite Lani Sarem fact is that she's related to a former boy band member (can't remember if it's NSync or Backstreet Boys) and he was defending her during all this and helped promote the book at cons!!!!
I wish I could remember the name of the pod, but there was also a podcast that did a chapter-by-chapter review of her book, and dove into the "magick" and tarot aspect. Unsurprisingly, she got a lot of it wrong lol. They would read excerpts and it was so so so bad but also hilarious
i forget the boy band member as well, but I *think* that person is her cousin if I remember right
JC Chasez from NSync is her cousin. Sadly, my brain has burned this factoid into memory
I remember reading an article that claimed that she wanted to star in her own movie originally and approached Thomas Ian Nichols to get it made and he gave her the idea that it would be easier to get the movie made if she made it a bestselling book. The entire thing was just a ploy for her to act in her own movie. It also said that they had people sign up to preorder the book and that's why they bulk bought the books I guess.
Grifters gonna grift.
I heard about this story a while back and completely forgot until I went to a convention towards the end of August and saw a white, undecorated, fold out table with a stack of copies of this book. Terrifying.
I'm a full time vendor at comicons around the country, and I've seen her at at least 3 different events I've been a part of. She barely spends any time at her table so now it's become a bit of a thing I do, that I take selfies at her table when she's not around. First time I saw her me and my neighbors freaked OUT at our booths, we all knew everything about her, it was amazing
For those who want to see how bad the book is but don't want to pain themselves reading it there are a couple of reviewers who had good reviews/critiques/ripping sessions on it. I recommend Krimsonrouge and Generally Pookie (I really hope I spelled those right). Pookie does chapter by chapter cute animations as a series and is hilarious, Krimson does more of a critique and it's a longer video if long form is your thing :)
It’s KrimsonRogue 😊
Seconding the recommendation- they are hilarious
This is so funny omggg… she really woke up one day and said “mm I’d love if I could star in a fantasy movie about me, written by me! How do I do that?”
The thing that gets me about claiming she bulk bought books from stores instead of the distributor to then have on hand for events is 1) why would you want THOUSANDS of copies of your book on hand??? Surely two or three dozen would suffice, and 2) buying directly from the distributor is usually CHEAPER. It makes zero sense as an author to buy from bookstores instead of buying wholesale from the distributor unless you don't have access to order from the distributor, which isn't the case for self-pub.
Would you be interested in making a tier list of "author's behaving badly"?
I kinda wanna read Handbook for myself so I can see for myself whether is bad
Narcissists gonna narcissist. (( RE: Laney embarrassing yourself again, WHYYY are you doing this???” ))
I love how after all this time she hasn't even made an attempt to write the next book in her "five part series"
Like girl. At least commit to your self insert fic. I would at least respect the creative spark and drive, not this naked cynical cash grab.
if i went to a convention and saw Lani there i would laugh so hard. but if she wanted to give me her book for free? sure, i'll take it. i'm not above handouts of bad literature. having a free, signed, given out from the author herself copy of such an infamous book would be so funny to me. i'd keep it proudly out on my shelf as a conversation starter
someone would point at it and ask what it was and i'd go "sit down by the fire" and launch into the tale
It makes be feel insane when authors put the ENTIRE book on their synopsis - holy hell
Ah, a classic case that I was actually around for. Truly a tale for the ages.
I remember when this happened and when I saw this video I was so excited holy crap. Also, I lost it when you declared her at the top of the Authors Behaving Badly list for 23 hours 🤣
Sometimes I think "I should have been crooked, at least then I might get more sales." Sadly, I am too willing to fail if it means doing things properly.
I have run the vendor's hall at a number of events, many literary. Indie authors do not traditionally sell large numbers at shows. It appears to mostly drum up future interest. She is definitely lying. I remember one event where I went around the hall collecting signatures for a local anthology. One question I asked, "How many sales have you made today?" Answer; Not enough to cover the cost of the booth space. These were local indie authors selling their own books, not just one title.
The fact that she was going to play her own character in the movie just tells you that it's a self insert.
I subscribed to your channel a few days ago and haven't been able to stop binge watching all of your videos - I really appreciate your takes, analysis of books and difficult topics, and going over author drama in such depth! After finishing my grad degree, I lost my joy of reading and it's been hard getting back into it again, but your videos have been a big help in sparking that love again. Thank you for all the work you put into these videos! ❤️
Your comment made my whole day!
I’m having the same experience! Such interesting content
I don't know why cause I've heard of this story while it was happening but all of a sudden this video got me thinking of a book I was randomly given at my college campus several years back. I decided to do a quick Goodreads of it and apparently those who gave the 1 stars also got their books given to them for free. Apparently the author is a self publisher who spend like thousands giving away their books, as it's also a hardcover. Don't know if there's more to the story.
The book is "Wild Animus" by Rich Shapero
Oh god, Rich Shapiro strikes again. He did that at my university with “Arms of the Sea”, which, IIRC, had softcore tentacle p*rn
Some people have also speculated that she was the author of My Immortal (The MCR/HarryPotter/Supa Goffik fanfiction) because of the similar writing style
GeneralPooky, KrimsonRogue and Jenny Trout are literally how I've endured this trash fire.
so don’t buy my way to the top of the bestseller list, tell people my book was there for 23 hours, and also don’t star in the movie based on my book. got it :)
If she wanted to make a movie she should have just written a movie script 😂
This is so asinine. What the hell?
Glad you made it through Ian. That was definitely the worst hurricane I've experienced, especially since moving to Central Florida in 2020, but we still came through with minimal damage in my neighborhood. A few neighbors with roof damage and broken privacy fences, but we only lost our cosmos in the garden.
came into this video thinking i already knew everything about this situation, but the jackson rathbone thing threw me lmao
Lol I love that I could bring in some new “wtf” knowledge for you on the subject
Honestly, I want to see her write more books and make this movie just so I can laugh at them.
Oh my goodness what a PR Dumpster Fire. On a happier note, I'm glad you and your family are safe and back home, take all the time you need to rest and recuperate! 💖
Glad to hear you made it through Ian safely and hope you didn’t have too much damage!
That horrible sign has very 'graphic design is my passion' energy 😂😂 as an actual graphic designer, it pains my soul
I'm glad someone is bringing up the fact that the cover of the book is stolen art, i have a print of "The Knife Thrower" which is the name of the piece in my house given to us by Gill a few years back. However it should be brought up that Gill had Alzheimer's and has recently passed away without ever being credited to my knowledge. If you like the painting I'd highly recommend checking out some of her other works, as she was a truly talented woman.
The fact that the character on the cover has the exact same hairstyle as her is pretty telling.
I watched this happen live. Man what a messy tea sipping few days. Thanks for bringing me back to that time.
imagine having the wherewithal to scam your way into a bestseller list for your self-insert "magick" au bandfic. the cover art when compared to the author photo made me want to crawl out of my own skin with secondhand embarrassment.
there is such a thing as being too cringe and too free.
I swear if I finish and publish any of my stories, I will NEVER say anything public and end up on Rachel’s Authors Behaving Badly series.
Objectively, I understand why someone would want to be on the New York Times Bestseller list. It's like an "I made it as a successful author!" award and gives you that big dopamine hit. Practically, I find it useless. Since not all bookstores report to the NYT, it's not indicative of how popular or how well a book actually sold. Especially because Amazon, the huge book juggernaut, doesn't report to them. Just like the Nielson Ratings for television. Not everyone has a box in their house. Sarem went about this all wrong. The NYT Bestseller list doesn't mean squat.
I remember talking about this event when it happened and now it's faded into semi-obscurity and people deny it really happened because of how wild it is. I will never not tell the tale.
Not the autor dying her hair the same as the protagonist in a poorly executed attempt to be like "look, I'm an actress! And i look like the younger protagonist!! What are the odds!? You should give me the leading role in a movie!!!" 🤡
Watched this happen live, it was hilarious, and the book is hilarious...ly awful!
I love reading reviews of it 🤣
I saw this lady sell her book at fan expo in Toronto a couple of years ago… needless to say no one was buying it
Yay, new video! Just want to say I've recently come across your channel and am binging your videos lol I am surprised you haven't talked about Norman Boutin and Empress Theresa, though. It's a weird rabbit hole to fall into, but I think he would fit into this series. Just throwing this out there in case you weren't aware.
Love your content! ❤
I JUST had a patron ask me a few days ago to do a video on the Empress Theresa debacle. It's coming! Thanks for binging :)
Makes Lightlark look like high literature but never as good a romance as Twilight
if blues traveler dragged me publicly like that I think I'd just go into hiding
When the drama around the book was more entertaining than the book itself 💀👌
Imagine spending so much money to bulk buy your books instead of using that to pay for writing classes to actually make it to the top of the best seller list.
Huh, I actually recognize this cover from a free book site once. I judged it by the cover and ignored the book without reading what it was about, but it looks like the kind of stuff pre-teen me would have liked to read, even if it wouldn't have been life changing or anything. It's just very weird that she had to sham her way into (in)fame with what looked like a sellable book for kids (I'm assuming the writing wasn't so bad, even a pre-teen would put it away).
This was a WILD few weeks on the Bird Site, for sure
Everybody points out the magic vs. magick thing, and sadly enough, this seems to be the only detail that had any thought put into it. When I was in college - Undergrad degree in Journalism - I interviewed several members of pagan faiths: druids, wiccans, witches etc., and many of them said that the 'k' spelling indicates their practices, while the "normal" 'c' spelling indicates "Houdini/rabbit out of a hat/prestidigitation magic." Don't get me wrong the author is a shallow, talentless, arrogant thief who has only continued to lie about the entire situation but, that detail is weirdly accurate.
At my last job I was cleaning our front desk looking for something and found a SIGNED PERSONALIZED copy of this book and the note seemed like my bosses knew her. It was really soon after seeing a video on this book so it was wild to say the least. I never got the full story and I left that job a year ago (thank god) but my bosses were odd and a little sus so them knowing her isn’t….surprising?
I heard about this book and its drama before but didn't have any idea Thomas Ian Nicholas was involved in it! I remember him from several movies from my childhood: Rookie of the Year, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and American Pie. I'm disappointed in him now. 😔
Ditto. Not Henry Rowengartner!
Glad you're ok after the hurricane! And LMFAO like each time you said something it got funnier and funnier
Krimson Rogue did a review on this. He even dug up the dvd of trailer park shark. The book is a disaster but the videos are FUN to watch.
I recommend Krimson Rogue's review and Generally Pooky's, absolutely batshit hilarious, reaction/read through of the book.
I wanna watch them so bad but I was commissioned to read the book and I have to wait until after I finish it and review it!
Just started watching your videos (love them btw) and I’m so happy you did a video about Lani she’s gotta be my favorite case of book drama (mostly because she’s loosely related to My Immortal which is my absolute favorite piece of internet lore). Great video!!
Was delighted to see you post, but don't push yourself too much! There's definitely been a lot going on lately, and you deserve to take the time you need
Thank you so much!!