MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - In the E-Reader Era, a Book a Year Is Slacking

haydnfan · 05-19-2012, 08:58 AM

I think that a book a year is not unreasonable. Those that are talking about words per day are missing the bigger picture. You have to not only write it but revise it several times. It must be submitted to an editor for markup and then even more revisions. It must be carefully typeset, cover art must be designed, the book needs to be marketed.

My experience is that authors who publish more frequently have a drop in quality as compared to slower writers. I think that a 300-500 page book-- once a year is fine. Those 1,000 page tomes-- give 'em a year and a half to two years. Those involved fantasy epics need to also carefully maintain continuity in many plot threads and characters and the author needs to map out how to transform them into what they need to be in subsequent volumes. With that kind of work I think that 2-3 years per volume is reasonable.

Since the fantasy epic is under discussion, I think that Robert Jordan's series was overly long and really sagged in the middle, but his publication pacing was fine. Erikson's series is rushed with a tome every year, and Martin's series is too slow.

Erikson did have the right approach to the epic though-- he had a resolution to the conflict of that novel, but continued on other aspects of the story from volume to volume. I think the worst approach is Jordan's who has beginnings and endings of volumes with no closure, they just meander along without any sense of tight pacing.

05-19-2012, 08:58 AM	#29
haydnfan Guru Posts: 650 Karma: 5632364 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: Kindle PW 4, Oasis 2	I think that a book a year is not unreasonable. Those that are talking about words per day are missing the bigger picture. You have to not only write it but revise it several times. It must be submitted to an editor for markup and then even more revisions. It must be carefully typeset, cover art must be designed, the book needs to be marketed. My experience is that authors who publish more frequently have a drop in quality as compared to slower writers. I think that a 300-500 page book-- once a year is fine. Those 1,000 page tomes-- give 'em a year and a half to two years. Those involved fantasy epics need to also carefully maintain continuity in many plot threads and characters and the author needs to map out how to transform them into what they need to be in subsequent volumes. With that kind of work I think that 2-3 years per volume is reasonable. Since the fantasy epic is under discussion, I think that Robert Jordan's series was overly long and really sagged in the middle, but his publication pacing was fine. Erikson's series is rushed with a tome every year, and Martin's series is too slow. Erikson did have the right approach to the epic though-- he had a resolution to the conflict of that novel, but continued on other aspects of the story from volume to volume. I think the worst approach is Jordan's who has beginnings and endings of volumes with no closure, they just meander along without any sense of tight pacing.