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  #1  
Old July 16th, 2008, 08:36 AM

nordlys nordlys is offline
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Default Re: the average publisher isn\'t much better th

Quote:
Wrana said:
The girl who'd written Curse of Asure Bonds isn't bad, but her name slips me and it's not very good by itself.
Kate Novak. Along with Jeff Grubb.

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Just not bland and not foolish, which is more than can be said about most "dice rolling" fantasy. It's also probably out of print by now.
Most people mistakenly treat gaming fiction as literature. It was never supposed to be one. Gaming fiction = in-character gaming accessory. Embrace this fact, and TSR novels become highly enjoyable, no matter how boring the stories, bland the characters and mediocre the writing are.
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Old July 7th, 2008, 04:16 PM
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Default Re: Why the average publisher isn\'t much better th

Not really. Typing is typing. The difference is in what sells, and the bigger, thicker books carry-literally-more weight than short stories, and therefore more emphasis for the readers to empathise with the story/characters/plot, and want more of the same.
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Old July 8th, 2008, 12:22 AM
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Default Re: Why the average publisher isn\'t much better th

And as has been pointed out in reference with the Wheel of Time, a reduced sense of obligation. Once the decision is made to NOT end on a third book, you can keep stringing people along forever. Even if the author dies early (not to make light of that per se, or to blame him for dying) or sales eventually fall off because the writing has gotten so bad, and so irrelevant, you have still conned 10 million people into paying 20$, 30$, maybe $50 for this stuff. If combined sales of a series top $100 million for unsatisfying junk, then what is the incentive for the publisher to find some brilliantly written, but short and controversial (AND unorthodox) story, that won't even hit best seller lists, let alone break $1 million in sales? They do not want quality, they don't care if in 20 or 30 years a book is considered a classic, and a revolutionary writing - they're making decisions to make themselves wealthy NOW, and nothing else, it's just business.

I can't believe this is still an argument.

(Also I can't believe I went to do something else, and this post sat here unsent for 5 or 6 hours. O.o)
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Old July 8th, 2008, 02:21 AM

MaxWilson MaxWilson is offline
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Default Re: Why the average publisher isn\'t much better th

Isn't that the way publishing has always been? The reason Dickens' novels are so interminably long is partly that he was paid by the word.

-Max
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Old July 8th, 2008, 04:05 AM
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Default Re: Why the average publisher isn\'t much better th

Oh and I loved the first Black Company book. Good voice and great use of battlefield magic! The part where the guy with the flying carpet is dropping these green strands down on the enemy, and the threads are cutting people up and leaving horrible, bright green wounds, that was honestly gruesome. I wish there had been more background on the original Taken, though.
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