Harry Turtledove: One class act

[Darqref]

Originally Posted by frahse

Should an author be a public person beyond publishing their books?

Should an author give advance drafts to the dying and in fact do so very publicly?
Should an author take ill fans to dinner, to a dance, to gala author events? (Yes there are a few. Conventions, dinners, award functions and the like.)

I say that an author can do those things if they wish, but sometimes an author's personality is such that doing those things may not only be difficult, but in fact may harm their capacity for work and in the end be detrimental.

Depends on the author, their personality, and their writing style. I know an author who can't be around people who dig up (future) details about her book's characters, because it interrupts her writing thoughts. If plots are speculated on in too much detail, then that plotline tends to get deleted or altered. She writes too slow anyway, so I don't want to make it any worse!

Another author (David Weber, from Baen books) will happily talk about future plot details, but only if you meet him live at a convention. Then, his policy is that you will not post such details on any public forum - the idea is that any reader who wished NOT to learn such details before reading the story will not be forced to learn them. (and sometimes those "future" plot points changed anyway....) This is the origination of the Baen term "snerking" which is taunting someone with parts of plots which are not yet published/public knowledge. (from "sneaky smirk")

All of this is different from posting a "snippet" of a work that is already written but not yet published. that's just advertising, in my opinion.