Comments | barbarienne: Oh, hello there.

barbarienne

Oh, hello there.

Oct 28, 2013 13:21

Obviously, I have been ignoring LJ for a while. This is sad-making. The main reason is Dayjob, as it so often is. Pretty much I get home and the last thing I want to do is be on the internet. My writing computer is not hooked up to the net (yes, everything gets backed up by hand ( Read more... )

writing fantasy, writing, writing process, writer's block, writing progress

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clarentine October 29 2013, 13:34:16 UTC

I am hoping, at least, that the critical mass necessary to really catch and hold an audience can be achieved (via self- or e-pubbing, anyway) with something other than quick production--readily available backlist, maybe?--because I am so in your boat re slooow writing process. There is no way I could ever produce a book a year. (Sorry, Agent.) There's just too much life in the way of getting those words on paper, and I don't think that's a flaw.

barbarienne October 29 2013, 15:24:10 UTC

That's sort of my plan. When I have some critical mass (oh, all 5 books...) written, I'll see about getting it published by a real publisher, and if they're not interested, then what the hell, it won't hurt to self/e-pub.

barbarienne October 29 2013, 15:34:59 UTC

Though I should note that guys like GRRM, Pat Rothfuss, and Scott Lynch demonstrate the opposite. Under certain circumstances, a writer can take 5 years between books and it just creates pent-up demand that shoots their book onto the bestseller list when it finally comes out.

clarentine October 29 2013, 15:47:34 UTC

When did the publishing industry start pushing authors towards the book-a-year diet, do you know? I don't think it used to be like that.

barbarienne October 29 2013, 16:33:59 UTC

It didn't, but it's been like that for some while. I think it came out of the genres, though, rather than the "mainstream" wing. The plan at my original employer was the "build an audience" for genre writers (mystery, romance, SFF) by keeping their name in the public eye.

If their sales increased each year, they would get moved up the list, gaining additional promotion, fancier packaging, advertising and such. If they were doing well, once they had a bit of backlist, that would get promoted along with the new book. Sometimes the package design would be changed, trying to bring in a new audience, and so the backlist would also be repackaged to go with the new book.

I suspect nowadays it has a lot to do with whether the author is being put out in paperback originals / mass-market sales planning, or if they debut in hardcover and get more of a broad audience. I will note that GRRM, Rothfuss, and Lynch were all hardcover debuts of their bestselling series.

kateelliott October 29 2013, 18:15:31 UTC

barbarienne October 29 2013, 19:20:24 UTC

Definitely. Obviously part of what makes it possible for them is a serious following. But it's interesting to me that GRRM, who had written many, many books, didn't get this position until the current series. And Rothfuss and Lynch each got there with the first or second book in the very first series they published.I haven't read Game of Thrones et al., but I've read the first Rothfuss and first two Lynch books (and have Rothfuss#2 and Lynch#3 at home, waiting for me to read them). They are, indeed, markedly engrossing and "better" in some ineffable way than 99% of what's out there. Rowling had a similar magic in the Harry Potter books, where many readers were invested in the characters and story and world, and felt compelled to read the next one. (Rowling could have taken 5 years between the later books and still sold like that, I'm sure ( ... )

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