Quote:
Originally Posted by DNSB
A more modern problem is the author who churns out the first books of a series, looks at the feedback from sales and realizes his/her time would be better spent collecting refundable bottles on the street so the final book in the series never gets written.
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I think you're unfairly pinning the blame on the author. I've asked several SF authors about their incomplete series, and in every case, the publisher of the original series chose not to buy the next book in the series, and they were unable to find a new publisher for the series. Finding a new publisher for an incomplete series is really hard if the rights haven't reverted back to the author, and even if the rights have reverted, it's still hard.
Perhaps in the modern age of self-publishing, there is enough potential sales for authors to finish their series as self-published (e)books, especially if they get the rights back for the rest of the series, but a lot of mid-list published authors only write the books for which they get an contract and an advance because it's a guaranteed income. I think authors earning a decent living via self-publishing is a recent development, though, and it's probably harder to do than making the same amount by selling their books to a publisher.
BTW, in a recent twitter exchange from Ursula Vernon, when asked about a possible sequel to her children's fantasy novel
Castle Hangnail, replied "I'd love to, but the publisher didn't buy it!"