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

ProfCrash · 05-25-2012, 03:14 PM

Clancy and Patterson supposidly write outlines for others to use to write the book. The book is then advertised as a Tom Clancy book with the co-author in small print.

It is clearly a way of selling books on Clancy's name even though he has little to do with the book. I have not read any of these books but I suspect that they are no where near as good as Hunt for Red October and other novels actually written by Clancy. Looking at Wikipedia, he has not written a book on his own since 2003. He started doing this in the mid 1990's.

My point? People become so enthralled with an author that they continue buying a series because they are invested in it or buy everything written by a particular author. Clancy and Patterson have taken it to a new level by putting their names on books written by other authors to encourage his fans to read the books. And some folks buy into it.

Personally, I think that is what happened with Wheel of Time. Robert Jodan was allowed to write books that did not advance the plot line because he and his Publisher knew that he had an audience that wanted to see the series finished and would buy the books no matter what. I think that is happening with GRR Martin. There are people hoping that he returns to the form of the the first few books and just have to know what happens in the world that he built. So they put up with the delays and the longer books with less substance. I think that is happening with Dresden and Sookie Stackhouse. People are invested in the series and want to see it end.

That is not to say that there are not people who love everythign written by a particular author and will buy it no matter what. I am sure that there are plenty of folks who enjoy every book in the above mentioned series and think I am nuts. Then I read the reviews at Amazon and see that the average score is dropping off and that there are more and more people saying the same thing that I am and I feel like I am not alone. That does not mean that the people who love Martin, Jordan, and Butcher are wrong to like them. It means they have different tastes then I do and a different tolerance level then I do.

When it comes to writing a series there is a balance between how quickly you publish, how long the story is, and how invested the public is. It seems to me that if you develop a strong enough fan base, they will excuse just about anything you do.

This is not only the case with authors, it happens in all the fields of entertainment.

I just read that the next book in the Dresden series is going to be released soon. I will not be buying it.

Heck, book 12 in the Sookie Stackhouse series was released this month and I was clueless.

05-25-2012, 03:14 PM	#71
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	Clancy and Patterson supposidly write outlines for others to use to write the book. The book is then advertised as a Tom Clancy book with the co-author in small print. It is clearly a way of selling books on Clancy's name even though he has little to do with the book. I have not read any of these books but I suspect that they are no where near as good as Hunt for Red October and other novels actually written by Clancy. Looking at Wikipedia, he has not written a book on his own since 2003. He started doing this in the mid 1990's. My point? People become so enthralled with an author that they continue buying a series because they are invested in it or buy everything written by a particular author. Clancy and Patterson have taken it to a new level by putting their names on books written by other authors to encourage his fans to read the books. And some folks buy into it. Personally, I think that is what happened with Wheel of Time. Robert Jodan was allowed to write books that did not advance the plot line because he and his Publisher knew that he had an audience that wanted to see the series finished and would buy the books no matter what. I think that is happening with GRR Martin. There are people hoping that he returns to the form of the the first few books and just have to know what happens in the world that he built. So they put up with the delays and the longer books with less substance. I think that is happening with Dresden and Sookie Stackhouse. People are invested in the series and want to see it end. That is not to say that there are not people who love everythign written by a particular author and will buy it no matter what. I am sure that there are plenty of folks who enjoy every book in the above mentioned series and think I am nuts. Then I read the reviews at Amazon and see that the average score is dropping off and that there are more and more people saying the same thing that I am and I feel like I am not alone. That does not mean that the people who love Martin, Jordan, and Butcher are wrong to like them. It means they have different tastes then I do and a different tolerance level then I do. When it comes to writing a series there is a balance between how quickly you publish, how long the story is, and how invested the public is. It seems to me that if you develop a strong enough fan base, they will excuse just about anything you do. This is not only the case with authors, it happens in all the fields of entertainment. I just read that the next book in the Dresden series is going to be released soon. I will not be buying it. Heck, book 12 in the Sookie Stackhouse series was released this month and I was clueless. Last edited by ProfCrash; 05-25-2012 at 03:18 PM.