In the E-Reader Era, a Book a Year Is Slacking

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Butcher knows how to wrap upa series. Codex Alera was great and only 6 books. For some reason he has not done the same with Dresden.

I'll have to check those out.

[Kirtai]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

Exactly. Lois has said that she's said everything she wants to say about Miles. I think the Ivan wrapup is only because fans felt Ivan deserved a happy ending, too.

Possibly, though there's no reason she can't write more books in that setting without Miles being involved. e.g. a follow up to Falling Free. What can I say, I like the quaddies and even Miles can't interfere 200+ years before he's born

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

whatever it is, I'm going to read it.

Same

[tompe]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

There's nothing strange about it. Asimov was an incredibly prolific writer who wrote books that people wanted to read.

But that people want to read them is not the same things as them being good. Or being as good as they can be with some additional work.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

It's science fiction. Have you read science non-fiction?

Yes, it is science fiction. But so what? Why is that relevant? I do not expect my science fiction to be sub-standard. Or what do you mean?

[HomeInMyShoes]

Ummm....there were something like 288,000 new titles and editions published in the United States last year. I'm sure people can find something to read and wait a bit longer for a better quality product coming out of their favourite authors.

I've only read five books this year that are newer than 2010.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Why would this be the more likely scenario? I would think that it is more likely that an author's first book would be of a lower quality, so if you are right and a slower writing speed is necessary you would have more authors starting at a lower quality, then slowing their writing speed and gaining quality than authors starting with high quality starting to write faster and losing quality.


According to this logic an author's first book would be the best book they ever write.

This is true since a lot of authors only publish one book. The second book is usually the hardest book to write and is most often not as good as the first book.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by tompe

Yes, it is science fiction. But so what? Why is that relevant? I do not expect my science fiction to be sub-standard. Or what do you mean?

The point is any people think that Asimov wrote some great science fiction. Your taste does not speak for the masses. Just like my strong feelings about GRR Martin differs from the masses.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

The point is any people think that Asimov wrote some great science fiction. Your taste does not speak for the masses. Just like my strong feelings about GRR Martin differs from the masses.

This thread is not about popularity. It is about writing good books and the time it takes to write good books. Yes, he wrote some interesting science fiction and things that at the time was new. By today's standard most of what he wrote is sub-standard.

[ProfCrash]

You differ from the masses in thinking he turned out books to quickly and the quality suffered. Most people think that his books were excellent and that they did not suffer from being written quickly.

Just as my opinion of Dresden differs from folks.

You are posting as if your opinion is fact in regards to Asimov. It is not. It is an opinion.

[speakingtohe]

I am convinced most authors will write as many books as they are able to unless they don't want to.

If they are unable to write or don't want to write, in a free world who am I to say that they should.

Helen

[Synamon]

On a different note, technology speeds up many stages of writing, from research through editing, formatting, cover art, and release of the book which should certainly allow authors to publish at a faster rate in this era of ebooks.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

orlok said James Patterson, but considering that many people choose as their favorite book by JP one of the books written after he started mass production I don't see how this example validates your claim.

Were are the several examples again?

How much Patterson have you read? I'll give you a couple of examples. London Bridges, one of the Alex Cross series which he purportedly still writes himself, is so bad that I gave up reading the series there and then. And his The Murder of King Tut, which was admittedly a collaboration but according to Patterson was a labour of love and obsession, was risible. Patterson is a clear example of overproduction damaging the quality of the output.

And maybe the one you refer to (Title???) is one he took longer over. Can't comment without a reference.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

You differ from the masses in thinking he turned out books to quickly and the quality suffered. Most people think that his books were excellent and that they did not suffer from being written quickly.

Just as my opinion of Dresden differs from folks.

You are posting as if your opinion is fact in regards to Asimov. It is not. It is an opinion.

No, I do not differ from the masses of SF fans. And I claimed something that was not subjective. Compared to what is expected from a science fiction book today Asimov's books lacks in many respects. Nowadays for example good characterisation is expected and Asomiv did not have that. You can argue if it is needed and when his books was published it was not considered to be needed. Nowadays it is.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

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.

We were talking about the quality vs. speed-of-writing. If the books aren't written by the same person you can't compare them.

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Butcher knows how to wrap upa series. Codex Alera was great and only 6 books. For some reason he has not done the same with Dresden.

I think the issue here is character development. When you start with a kid, there is puberty, which makes things happen at a fast pace, and the series ends when the child becomes an adult.

If you start with an adult, you usually get phases. You have the first few books describing the character's personality and mental state. Then something happens that starts affecting the mental state (in another few books) which leads to changes in personality (in another few books). This new personality is usually unbalanced, and it takes another few books to get the character back to something normal.

The child to adult transition is a natural one. Growing up is difficult but it is inevitable. In the case of the adult, if you like the character at the beginning you might not like the change (the process or the result).

Originally Posted by tompe

Yes, it is science fiction. But so what? Why is that relevant? I do not expect my science fiction to be sub-standard. Or what do you mean?

I mean for me this is science fiction, the quintessence of it, and I don't think that you like the genre. The SF books that you might like I probably wouldn't consider SF.

Originally Posted by orlok

How much Patterson have you read? I'll give you a couple of examples. London Bridges, one of the Alex Cross series which he purportedly still writes himself, is so bad that I gave up reading the series there and then. And his The Murder of King Tut, which was admittedly a collaboration but according to Patterson was a labour of love and obsession, was risible. Patterson is a clear example of overproduction damaging the quality of the output.

And maybe the one you refer to (Title???) is one he took longer over. Can't comment without a reference.

I haven't read anything of his. I googled "best Patterson book" and except on Amazon, the preference was not going towards the first titles. His fans seem to easily find their favorite book among those written during mass production.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I haven't read anything of his. I googled "best Patterson book" and except on Amazon, the preference was not going towards the first titles. His fans seem to easily find their favorite book among those written during mass production.

Well I disagree. It is generally acknowledged that his best works are the early Alex Cross books, when he was putting them out at less than one a year on average.