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#196 |
"Assume a can opener..."
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I'm sorry, but Heinlein is as well-known in SF circles (and in the US generally) as JK Rowling is worldwide. How is this an example of a middle-of-the-road, writer?
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#197 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Heinlein is not "most authors". As I understand it it has always been the case that most authors cannot live only from their writing.
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#198 |
Provocateur
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You're missing the point. Heinlein wasn't an established author when he started! He wrote his first short story for a $50 contest, but wound up selling it to another magazine for $70. That was 1939. That's equivalent to $1085 in 2008. That's for 7,000 words. You would be lucky to get that today for an unsolicited submission; chances are you'd get close to half that.
Yes, most authors cannot live only from their writing. My point is the number of authors who can is becoming fewer and fewer, because sales are down. Because sales are down, it's even harder for new authors to break into the business, much less making a living at it. |
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#199 | |
"Assume a can opener..."
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#200 | |
Provocateur
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http://www.publishersweekly.com/arti...dustryid=47152
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#201 | ||
"Assume a can opener..."
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Off-topic: From The Teaching Company's Great American Bestsellers: The Books That Shaped America Quote:
Last edited by zerospinboson; 04-20-2009 at 08:27 AM. |
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#202 |
Provocateur
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Oh, there are probably more books sold today than in the 50s, yes. (You know Heinlein wrote all the way into the 80s, right?) Again, getting back to the main point, times are tough, authors aren't making what they used to, and ebooks don't fully solve that problem.
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#203 | |
"Assume a can opener..."
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If you look at that list, you'll see that the heaviest drops occurred in the most expensive sections, and that it was, at least in the kid's book section, offset by a substantial increase in pback/mmp sales, so the total volume isn't down, just the number of sales with the highest margins. (and audiobooks aren't books :P) I wonder why the "other" category grew so much, though. Last edited by zerospinboson; 04-20-2009 at 08:46 AM. |
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#204 |
Banned
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Heinlein, as with a lot of those authors, was under a form of patronage that you don't see occur any longer. The editors at the short story magazines and the publishing imprints were a much more selective and pro-active bunch back when Heinlein began his career. If they liked an authors work they would actively push that work, no matter the generated sales. That doesn't happen now, or at least, not quite as often.
I remember talking to an agent, and this wasn't that long ago, at a bar in London (can't remember how that all came about). We were discussing what it takes to get representation, and she said without any irony: "There's only three ways to break in. You either know someone, you're known, or you copy something that's already well known." It explained a lot to me about what book publishing is about, and why it's so cutthroat. They're not selling hearty meals here, they're selling Pot Noodles. Some celebrity jackass will get a million pound advance on a ghost written book about what they eat for breakfast that morning. If you're the nephew of the cousin of the publisher, you've also got a good chance too. And if all else fails, just buy a James Patterson novel and copy that. EDIT: and on the subject of having representation. I seem to recall that there are 8,000 publishers in the continental United States, only 12 of them insist on you having an agent. (My memory might be fuzzy, but the figures are in the ballpark). Last edited by Moejoe; 04-20-2009 at 09:18 AM. |
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#205 |
Grand Sorcerer
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My point is that while there are more people to read, there is less aggregate time to read in. TV, videogames, surfing the Web (like what we're doing now), more available music, more available movies, ect., all cut into an individual's reading time. In 1939, most of those didn't exist. Reading was the prime entertainment. Now is way back in the pack, in aggregate. That's why newspapers are dying in the US.
When the market was larger, more money (in constant dollars) went into acquiring product, which led to better pay for writers.... |
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#206 | |
Apeist
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But you know, that's progress for you. I imagine the troubadours felt similarly about the printing press and raising literacy.... On the other hand, for SOME authors, it isn't all bad. J. K. Rowling made it to Forbes' billionaires list on seven books. And look at all the interest in LOTR's e-edition. For good stuff, there will still be a market for the foreseeable future, regardless of the format. |
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#207 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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In addition, people in general have more free time than they did 50+ years ago... more time to be entertained, because work doesn't occupy as much of their lives as it used to. Hey, there are almost 7 billion potential readers out there! If books aren't as popular today, I submit it's because a lot of content isn't compelling enough to people, and what is out there isn't being marketed well (if at all)... not because readers are too distracted. Publishers spent too many years operating either as detached elites, or as lazy mass-market pushers, instead of really trying to develop the business to keep up with the times. If publishers had kept up, and were consequently better at modern production and marketing (which includes e-books), reading could be more popular than TV today (how much broadcast drek do you watch? Really?). |
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#208 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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Agreed. I'm talking aggreagates, not individuals. For the majority of writers, they have been steadily squeezed for many years... |
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#209 |
Guru
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People might have more free time, and similar distractions than 50 years ago - but take into account that there's so many books now. All those titles written and released long ago still compete with today's novels.
I haven't read a book written after 1960 for 2 years now. I like to read classics of book genres, books which made the genres what they are today. Mystery classics, science-fiction classics, lovecraftian horror classics, first vampire stories, original pulp fiction. Maybe new novels can compete with them in a bookstore, when they're lying on the bestsellers table, and classics are nowhere to be seen - but not on the Internet. If I do my research, why should I choose a new name over Zelazny, Heinlein, Christie, Conan-Doyle, Jordan, if I haven't read them all yet? I think this factor should be taken into account. |
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#210 |
Karmaniac
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So the verdict is out but TPB is still up and running?
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