hatersaurusrex t1_j8zassh wrote on February 18, 2023 at 12:53 AM

Reply to comment by hate_mail in Why Stephen King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman? by Beneficial_Daikon886

You're not wrong - he did say that somewhere, either in his memoir or in the foreword to The Bachman Books. I distinctly remember him saying his agent told him 'Steve, you could publish your grocery list and it would sell a million copies' and King wanted to prove him wrong.

All the copies of the books got remaindered and sent back, so his agent was right in the end. He formed a band at some point with some other authors called 'The Rock Bottom Remainders' and I think maybe the bit about the Bachman bet was in that.

I don't remember where I read it, but I definitely did.

GhostMug t1_j8ztrno wrote on February 18, 2023 at 3:31 AM

This is actually kind of interesting because you don't get to the point where your grocery list would sell a million copies without being a good writer who people love. So the fact that he was at that level and still wanted to "prove" he was a good writer just goes to show how even the greats aren't immune to imposter syndrome.

FoodBabyBaby t1_j94r2pc wrote on February 19, 2023 at 5:50 AM

The band was great. I was a huge Stephen King fan in elementary school and got to go see his band and watch him sing ‘Stand by Me’ with the likes of Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Ann Rice & some others I can’t remember/didn’t know.

Saw him perform a few times over the years with different writers. He was decent and very nice.