Curious how it is in its many forms, doing well can sometimes be difficult. I’ve just seen Pat Rothfuss’ blog post about the delay to book 2 and all the abuse he’s had with it, abuse that Grrr Martin has also had to take. It’s a strange thing, dealing with other people’s expectations and having to explain how, it takes a year to write a book and then four or five months after to get it published in the UK. Because I have a job, my deadlines are at 18 months, that means it could take two years from start to finish, although some of that happens before the last book actually comes out.
In Pat’s blog he mentions that he’s been massively successful, because he has. 27 publishers around the world and sales like he’s seen means massively successful. Because of that, there are a lot of people demanding his time and like Grrr (I don’t know why I call him that either, except it makes me smile) Martin, that adds to the massive pressure he’s under.
By contrast, I’m really not doing as well. Make no mistake, both I and my publisher are very happy with how I’m doing – it’s well in excess of most debuts and it means I only have to work part-time which had changed my stress levels massively, but I’m not at Pat’s level of success. Paying the bills is good for a writer, buying a house outright is something you can’t expect, only dream for. However, I find it interesting to see that he’s hugely stressed and sound rather depressed with all the attention (cos like me, he just wants to sit around at home and make stuff up, rather than be international writing hero) – with my far more modest success and the other things going on my life, I’ve never been happier. Life rocks, even if I do have to argue with literary agents every day, most of the responses I get about my books rock, my friends rock, and I lack the words to say how much my fiancee rocks, but it’s like, a lot!
Terrible things in the economy, jobs being lost everywhere, I almost feel a bit guilty about the fact I’m not working as hard as I used to, earning more, loving my life and things have never been better. If the abuse and stress Pat Rothfuss gets is the price of success, I’m not sure I really want it.
An addition
Long post by John Scalzi that says a lot about the wait for books to be published: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/02/26/10-things-to-remember-about-authors/
An addition
Long post by John Scalzi that says a lot about the wait for books to be published: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/02/26/10-things-to-remember-about-authors/
Go, you! Nice to see you’re doing so great.
Charlie Stross also has some useful stuff to say: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2009/02/the_art_of_being_late.html
I find it amazing and disturbing that fans develop such an extraordinary sense of entitlement that they will go and abuse, hassle, and badmouth the authors they proclaim to admire so much. I’ve been so angry, especially at posters who comment with “but GRRM promised, so he doesn’t get a free pass here”, that I couldn’t even bring myself to write a civil response along the lines of “he did not promise anything, read the words”. And even if he did, that doesn’t mean—
No, I’m getting angry again. Here’s hoping your fans will never take this approach, should you, Gods forbid, ever miss a deadline. :)
Go, you! Nice to see you’re doing so great.
Charlie Stross also has some useful stuff to say: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2009/02/the_art_of_being_late.html
I find it amazing and disturbing that fans develop such an extraordinary sense of entitlement that they will go and abuse, hassle, and badmouth the authors they proclaim to admire so much. I’ve been so angry, especially at posters who comment with “but GRRM promised, so he doesn’t get a free pass here”, that I couldn’t even bring myself to write a civil response along the lines of “he did not promise anything, read the words”. And even if he did, that doesn’t mean—
No, I’m getting angry again. Here’s hoping your fans will never take this approach, should you, Gods forbid, ever miss a deadline. :)
It irks me – it really does. As an avid reader and a fan of several authors whose work I obsessively buy as soon as they are published, it boggles the mind that so-called fans are derogatory and mean to the people whom they profess to enjoy reading? I was bemused when I saw the GRRM stuff going around and honestly, the man is allowed to slow down a bit – have you SEEN the body of his work? Similarly, if you are that keen for the new book, re-read the old ones or try new authors – move on and when the new book is published, talk about!
Pat’s lovely and I do feel for him – I can only imagine the same sort of thing will soon be happening to Scott Lynch.
Tom – I don’t think you should feel guilty about your success or the fact that you are happy. The work that you have put out is of excellent quality and you have a strong fanbase. Remember that writing is a real job and the fact that you are working part time AND still dealing with Real Life, whilst being a writer, well, you know – it is pretty damn impressive. It’s inspirational stuff and I’m pretty sure there are a lot of people – me inlcuded – who admire what you have done.
So, no negativity from Casa Lloyd – it is not allowed!
Yeah. Have been told that Scott’s delivered so with luck he’ll not be too hassled. But don’t worry, I’m not feeling too guilty about it all, enjoying myself too much! ;0)
It irks me – it really does. As an avid reader and a fan of several authors whose work I obsessively buy as soon as they are published, it boggles the mind that so-called fans are derogatory and mean to the people whom they profess to enjoy reading? I was bemused when I saw the GRRM stuff going around and honestly, the man is allowed to slow down a bit – have you SEEN the body of his work? Similarly, if you are that keen for the new book, re-read the old ones or try new authors – move on and when the new book is published, talk about!
Pat’s lovely and I do feel for him – I can only imagine the same sort of thing will soon be happening to Scott Lynch.
Tom – I don’t think you should feel guilty about your success or the fact that you are happy. The work that you have put out is of excellent quality and you have a strong fanbase. Remember that writing is a real job and the fact that you are working part time AND still dealing with Real Life, whilst being a writer, well, you know – it is pretty damn impressive. It’s inspirational stuff and I’m pretty sure there are a lot of people – me inlcuded – who admire what you have done.
So, no negativity from Casa Lloyd – it is not allowed!
Yeah. Have been told that Scott’s delivered so with luck he’ll not be too hassled. But don’t worry, I’m not feeling too guilty about it all, enjoying myself too much! ;0)