Stephanie Land, author who wrote bestseller about her life as a maid that became Netflix hit says greedy charity and friends begged her for cash – and fan disapproved of the sight of her in first class on flight [Video]

11:19 EST 05 Nov 2023 , updated 11:52 EST 05 Nov 2023

The author of bestselling memoir Maid has revealed that her literary success and subsequent deal with Netflix has not made her rich. 

Stephanie Land, 45, said she has had to turn down charity donation requests and friends asking for loans after she shot to fame with the 2019 novel based on her own experience as a single mom working as a cleaner for wealthy families in Seattle. 

Maid became a surprise bestseller just before the pandemic, and it was adapted into a highly-popular 10-episode Netflix series starring Margaret Qualley in 2021, with a $10 million budget.

But Alaska-born Land said her success came with the assumption that she was now wealthy – telling the New York Times that an unnamed charity asked for a donation of $30,000, which she politely declined. 

The writer revealed that when she got her first book payment, she had to forgo much of it on …