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Not my Bitch, but also Not my Duty.
Apr. 3rd, 2018 07:45 am"(author x) is not your Bitch" is the go-to response to any complaint that a book hasn't been released. And I understand why Neil Gaiman wrote that. From the author's perspective, it's totally true - readers do not have a claim on authors.
But. Brent Weeks, a mid-B-lister author, wrote something a few years back that stuck with me. He pointed out that A-listers are generally going to have their audience regardless of when they write. If GRRM were to ever write another Game of Thrones book - which I personally doubt, but I've been wrong before - it'd be a bestseller. Perhaps less so since the TV series, but still. Gaiman can sell as many books as he can write, and it doesn't matter how long it is between releases.
Weeks was apologizing for reworking the third book in a trilogy (which ended up as, so far, a five-parter) and delaying publication. His fear is that B-listers like himself don't have that guaranteed audience. If they don't maintain their fanbase and mindshare, the readers will simply go someplace else to read what is being published. And maybe they don't come back.
That's what I've done with GRRM, actually. I devoured the first two books, instantly bought the third and fourth when they came out, and eagerly awaited the next. And then less so. And now... I might get it from the library but I really don't care anymore. I'm no longer invested. That never would have happened had the books come out on some vague schedule.
I'm not arguing that authors should constantly pump out dreck solely to publish, Piers Anthony-style. I am saying that the reader's side also matters.
But. Brent Weeks, a mid-B-lister author, wrote something a few years back that stuck with me. He pointed out that A-listers are generally going to have their audience regardless of when they write. If GRRM were to ever write another Game of Thrones book - which I personally doubt, but I've been wrong before - it'd be a bestseller. Perhaps less so since the TV series, but still. Gaiman can sell as many books as he can write, and it doesn't matter how long it is between releases.
Weeks was apologizing for reworking the third book in a trilogy (which ended up as, so far, a five-parter) and delaying publication. His fear is that B-listers like himself don't have that guaranteed audience. If they don't maintain their fanbase and mindshare, the readers will simply go someplace else to read what is being published. And maybe they don't come back.
That's what I've done with GRRM, actually. I devoured the first two books, instantly bought the third and fourth when they came out, and eagerly awaited the next. And then less so. And now... I might get it from the library but I really don't care anymore. I'm no longer invested. That never would have happened had the books come out on some vague schedule.
I'm not arguing that authors should constantly pump out dreck solely to publish, Piers Anthony-style. I am saying that the reader's side also matters.
