Sometimes I wonder about the combination of celebrities and fundraisers. One such instance is the fundraiser held on ebay recently by The First Amendment Project. I've never heard of this particular group, but according to an article in USA Today, they are "a non-profit that provides free legal services related to free speech and free press issues."
The fundraiser consisted of 19 novelists who gave their fans a chance to see their own names appear in a future novel. All their fans had to do was be the highest bidder. One woman bid $25,100 to see her name appear in a Stephen King novel. If a woman is willing to write a check for that amount for such a thing, more power to her. But couldn't Stephen King just as easily have written a check for that amount if he really believed in the cause?
Why appeal to a fan base, the vast majority of whom makes considerably less money than the novelist, to support causes that the novelist is passionate about? Why not just support it yourself?
