Self created Uberstar
Whatever else might be said about Vaughn Alaine-Marshall, he’s got guts.
The 27-year-old Sydney-sider had just launched his first novel Uberstar about a reality TV show where contestants vie for the chance to star in a movie.
He has also started a publishing company, finished a global publicity tour and is now preparing to relocate to Portugal – a country he visited for the first time a couple of weeks ago and where he now intends to write his second novel.
“There is no logical explanation for me choosing there, it was a feeling. I just knew I had to be there,” he said.
Mr Alaine-Marshall had studied to be a chiropractor but after graduating from Macquarie University and then practising for “four and a half” days he retired to his bedroom to finish working on his Uberstar manuscript.
He told CareerOne that there was no shortage of real life former reality TV insiders willing to share their tales from behind or in front of the camera, which helped provide so much of the detail in the book.
“What they told me flawed me and once that [first] person came on board word started to spread and others came out of the woodwork to tell their story in the UK and US.”
“Uberstar is a black comedy set in a reality television show,” he explains. “The format of the show is similar to that of Idol, however, instead of the [contestants] being singers they’re actors and each week they perform a new stage play and are subjected to the same public vote.”
“The book takes you behind the scenes of production and publicity. The contestants aspirations and flaws and the public’s take on the final product.”
“The reason why I wrote the book is because at the end of the day people are getting hurt.”
“Put yourself in the idol’s shoes. You’re 19 nothing much has happened in your life, you’ve been singing in your garage or bedroom. All of a sudden you’re on national television singing chorus lines from well recognised songs.
“You’re on it for six months, you’ve got [access] to girls, drugs and whatever it is you want to do, then all of a sudden it goes over night.
“This is where they lose it and do not recover and this is the deeper darker side of Uberstar. It reveals what no one knows about because these people have signed confidentiality agreements and can’t talk about it,” he explained.
“This industry is conniving, contrived and calculating. There are causalities here, and people’s lives are being destroyed.”
Despite not having any formal training as a writer, Mr Alaine-Marshall took his idea to book agents but found the experience disappointing.
“When you’re a first time [author] it’s hard to break in because these days everyone is following the path of least resistance, so if you’re not ‘a name’ then ‘sorry’.”
The knock backs didn’t put him off.
“I’d done my research. I’d handed out a dozen manuscript copies to target people - friends of friends, sisters of friends, brothers of friends from 18 through to about 45, the target demographic.
“The response was overwhelming, unsolicited and incredibly encouraging,” he explained.
With no prior business experience or knowledge of the publishing industry he set up Hendlin books. The name Hendlin pays homage to his “two greatest artistic influences, Jimmy Hendrix and Charlie Chaplin.”
Apart from allowing him to publish Uberstar he says the aim of Hendlin is to take on the established publishing houses by providing a “unique” approach to marketing by getting authors to promote the book up front.
“What I see as a fundamental flaw in the industry is that authors themselves aren’t marketable commodities. I mean half the time you wouldn’t know if Stephen King introduced himself or Bryce Courtney kicked you in the shins.”
“We want to get people out there front and centre. The film industry and music industry have been doing it for years and so why not the publishing industry,” he said.
Mr Alaine-Marshall has a big task ahead of him and new dreams to pursue once he gets the book off the ground. He has added “television writer” to his list of dreams if Uberstar and its sequel are turned into a television show come true.
For now, he is off to Portugal and a future of possibilities.
