Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Interesting...

I spend a lot of time on various message boards around the net that discuss SFF books. One rather common discussion/rant is that of authors who are late with their manuscripts. Whether this is the notorious GRRM or relative newcomers like Lynch and Rothfuss, these discussions can get really heated due to justifiably upset fans and equally justifiably steadfast supporters.

I learned years ago to not let these sorts of things bother me – I’ve simply got too many good books on The Stack to worry about it. However, this blog post came up today over at Suvudu, which is the ‘official’ SFF blog of Random House and their SFF imprints (like Del Rey). The blog post itself is rather unremarkable and I think very in complete as a post with the aim of point to series to read while waiting. But I did find it very interesting to see a post like at a publisher’s blog (especially since two out of the three late authors they feature are published by Random House).

That’s it really – am I the only one that finds this an interesting juxtaposition?

3 comments:

Neil Richard said...

I didn't see it as a "we've got you over the barrel" kind of post, so I wasn't upset. I've known Rothfuss (the only one of the three I care about) schedule has been pushed back yet again and I'm dealing with it.

I think what's odd is that companies like this can tell you when their product is expected to be released. And can even delay it beyond that. And not get in trouble.

I bring this up because the company I work for (which I won't name for personal reasons) has recently hammered home to their employees that we are not allowed to disclose release dates. We publish a product (but not books, think technology) and have release dates that we abide by internally. Yet due to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX for short), we can't do it anymore.

To me, that's the juxtaposition.

Anonymous said...

Yes ... interesting; especially as it is almost an underhand apology, yet also a marketing piece for alternative authors.

I knew Rothfuss's book was delayed, and have read many comments about GRRM. Same thing happens with game or film delays (HP6 for instance). I personally don't get on a soapbox either way because there is always plenty more stuff to read than I'll ever have time to read in my lifetime.

In all fairness, it's easy to see both sides of the equation. I back the author in view of them doing a great job instead of a mediocre rushed one. Yet, I back the reader because it means skimming the first novel/s again if a large time gap ... some of us aren't sponges alas. Hence, the instant (or nearly) gratification of Brent Weeks novels is doing well, and one highlighted in the Random House blog.

Don't forget that booksellers get it in the neck when their customers don't believe them too. They don't know the release date is not always set in stone; I've had books way early on times too.

Still, interesting Random House blog. Thanks :o)

Neth said...

-wendy

It does seem like some sort of apology as well as marketing. again, it's interesting that some of the recs were not Random House titles. I find that refreshing.

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