Mmm, it's that kind of morning. The kind where I look at my sweatpants and hear them crooning "Come to me," ever so softly.
Let's see, what can I tell you this morning? The last words I wrote last night were "You've got to be kidding me." Thus spake the heroine of Taming the Dragon, Tess McGarry, who is about to have her socks (and various other articles of clothing) knocked off by one ornery dragon shifter.
I read an article that was all over Twitter yesterday about how writers are expected to produce more than ever before now. Even the incredibly super famous authors are feeling the pressure. It sounded right to me, as in, we (writers in general) hear this a lot. "More! Faster! Harder! Now!" in the least fun way you might imagine, ha ha. The article is HERE. I'd be interested to hear what my readers think. How many books a year, realistically, are enough to keep you interested in an author? What do you like/expect to see from us? I worry sometimes. I'm probably in the middle as far as writing speed goes, and I'll have three releases this year (January-July-August) and have two definitely on for next year so far, hopefully three. That's sort of the limit of my capability, and I rarely take a break. I am, however, available to harass through the major forms of social media...hopefully that counts for something!
In housekeeping-related business here at ye olde blog, I'm also interested in what you all might like to see here. I will happily post a weekly excerpt of some sort, and I plan to reinstitute Mantastic Mondays, so if there's a hunk you want to see, let me know and I'll go hunting online...one of my favorite pastimes:) Beyond that, you're going to get babble, but I'm open to suggestions.
Okay, time for another cup of Chai. I'll leave you with a song that I heard on the radio this morning, which is good because I had already decided I was going to be supremely pissed off if AltNation didn't play it while I was in the car. I suck at mornings. But I do love this song.
Wow that is an interesting article. As a consumer of course I want my books now, but I also realize these books take time and for them to be quality vs quantity I would rather wait for an amazing book then a mediocre book. I always assume that many new series are going to be published 1x yr, don't like it because I want the story now, but I can wait. I have many more amazing books to keep me occupied till then.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you say that! I had a (well intentioned) reviewer say, when MR came out, that I needed to make the books closer together because the wait was too long (it had been 5 months), and I sort of threw up my hands over it like "I can't write that fast!" And of course, the scheduling is out of my hands, though GCP has been wonderful about getting me two releases a year. I just worry that quality is going to suffer for quantity if everything continues to be "Faster! Faster! Faster!" You're right, there are a LOT of books out there to keep readers occupied, now more than ever. And that's the flip side...we all worry about getting lost in the shuffle!
ReplyDeleteYo Kendra...No worries sweet pea. One to three books a year is just fine as long as they are quality reads. Seriously...keep writing really good books and your fan base will stick with you.
ReplyDeleteFavored authors do not get lost in the shuffle. Remember that serious readers carry very large TBB list that are filled with their favorite authors listing the next title and date it's out.
It's impossible for any one author to keep up with a voracious reader and if the quality drops, so will they drop an author. The up side is that readers also get very attached to their favorite authors and they're loyal. Fans also love interacting with authors so your socializing most definitely counts.
(You know there are some well loved authors who don't write more than one book a year, don't you? Of course the one book better damn sight be excellent but you know what I'm saying.)
You know I'm pretty much a book a day reader and even I'm finding the sheer number of choices overwhelming so basically I stick to and follow the authors I love and try the occasional new to me one. I have a number of favorite authors in each genre so it's actually hard to keep up with even 1 to 3 books a year. Readers know in a heart beat when a new book fails to meet the expectations of a favored author.
I read lots of genres and sub-genres and read according to mood so what this means is that in one week I can easily read historical, romance suspense, paranormal, western or contemporary and so on (all with heat by the by). If I get more than two mediocre books from a favorite author, I stop buying their work. I'll use my time and book dollars on the other 49 (or so) favorite authors.
The other day I bought 6 books in print because I refuse to be gouged by publishers trying to push ebooks at the same cost of print. It makes me really angry. I won't give up a favorite author for this reason alone...I'll buy print even if I'm out of storage space or I'll buy used if necessary.
I love the randomness of your blog and babble. Good stuff that's real:) And, hot man candy is always, always welcome.
Midnight Reckoning (just like Dark Awakening) was a great read and I did mention that somewhere on facebook. It was one of those 6 books I bought this past week. Later, grasshopper!
Thanks for this, Nancy! I know this is how I'VE always felt as a reader, but there's so much pressure to produce right now on this end. There's a balance there somewhere, and everyone is trying to find it in the deluge of books since self-pubbing became such a thing. The article pretty well articulates what writers are hearing and seeing. I'm lucky in that my current editor/publishing house is more concerned with quality than quantity, but still, it's pretty generally acknowledged that you just can't build an author with one book a year anymore. The biggies can totally get away with it, but things have changed for the rest of us trying to work our way up. It's...stressful, to say the least!:) Your perspective is very comforting to me. And I totally hear you on the e-book prices. That, I imagine, will change too. SO glad you enjoyed Midnight Reckoning! That book gave me fits while I was writing it (this is actually a major understatement), but I love the way it turned out. Every once in a while, a book comes along that tries to kill you while you're writing it. That was one. *shudder* Glad you stopped by!
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