That time a guy's cat photo got him a book deal still makes me laugh

I saw this story about a dude from Austin, Texas, who posted a picture of his cat making a weird face last February. It got like 500k shares in two days. Then out of nowhere a publisher offered him $15,000 for a photo book of the cat. It came out six months later and sold maybe 200 copies on Amazon. Has anyone else seen a viral moment turn into a weird career?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancygrant1mo ago

It was actually like 200,000 shares, not 500,000.

grace_bailey1mo ago

and honestly i bet the cat coulda done better with a youtube channel instead lol. i remember when that one kid's video of him falling off his bike got him on a talk show and then he just ended up back in middle school with everyone making fun of him. viral fame is like winning a weird lottery where the prize is a slightly more awkward version of your old life. my own fifteen minutes was a tweet about a burnt grilled cheese that got shared a bunch and i was like "cool, guess im the burnt sandwich person now." glad that blew over before anyone offered me money to make a cookbook.