4 ms·

I would like to push against this because it results in some very terrible market behavior. You are effectively selecting for less trilogies released because of

I would like to push against this because it results in some very terrible market behavior. You are effectively selecting for less trilogies released because of this, or only the people who publish trilogies are people with enough fan base (aka no debuts). What happens is actually the publisher drops the author! Rarely the author loses interest, more often the publisher sees the lack of sales and drops the author entirely, killing the series.

falcolas 5y ago
I'd argue that the stories should be released as one book then, not three. There's often no need to release a single story as a trilogy, other than to make money. As it stands, there's too many other good authors out there who do either follow through with their promises or release great stand-alone books to waste money and time on incomplete stories.
- SamoyedFurFluff 5y ago
  I’m sure the authors would also love to release their work together but, again, this is a gate on the publishers side. The publisher is the one that refuses to invest in authors, resulting in situations where authors who could write amazing trilogies and multi book series are gated or dropped too early before their careers can really take off. Writing a stand-alone is different skill than writing a series.
  - falcolas 5y ago
    Authors are, in this day and age, no longer bound to their publishers. Self publishing is both easy and widely practiced. Perhaps not ironically, my current favorite authors (Forthright, Travis Baldree, Honor Raconteur) do not go through traditional publishers. They also don't drop series in the middle of the story because of market forces.
    - SamoyedFurFluff 5y ago
      > Self publishing is both easy Self publishing is not at all easy. It’s a completely different thing with very different necessary skills to succeed. An author may not have the skills nor time necessary to successfully self publish. (Off the top of my head- just keeping track of sales/sale trends, reaching out to booksellers, organizing your own marketing campaign, editor, cover art, rights management, etc.)
      - falcolas 5y ago
        FWIW, most of the books published today have been self published. The books handled by publishers are just the tip of the iceberg. As for those skills - these are skills common to every entrepreneur, including authors who work with publishers (they still need to do their own promotions and market research - they are the ones who propose new series to the publishers, after all).
the_af 5y ago
> You are effectively selecting for less trilogies released because of this I'm ok with this. I wish they made more single-novel SF&F stories. It seems everything wants to be a trilogy or a saga, with an eye to a Netflix/HBO adaptation.
ubermonkey 5y ago
I personally do not see the problem. Write a whole story. I'll buy it. Try to hook me with part of a story you may never finish? No thanks.

falcolas 5y ago

I'd argue that the stories should be released as one book then, not three. There's often no need to release a single story as a trilogy, other than to make money. As it stands, there's too many other good authors out there who do either follow through with their promises or release great stand-alone books to waste money and time on incomplete stories.

SamoyedFurFluff 5y ago
I’m sure the authors would also love to release their work together but, again, this is a gate on the publishers side. The publisher is the one that refuses to invest in authors, resulting in situations where authors who could write amazing trilogies and multi book series are gated or dropped too early before their careers can really take off. Writing a stand-alone is different skill than writing a series.
- falcolas 5y ago
  Authors are, in this day and age, no longer bound to their publishers. Self publishing is both easy and widely practiced. Perhaps not ironically, my current favorite authors (Forthright, Travis Baldree, Honor Raconteur) do not go through traditional publishers. They also don't drop series in the middle of the story because of market forces.
  - SamoyedFurFluff 5y ago
    > Self publishing is both easy Self publishing is not at all easy. It’s a completely different thing with very different necessary skills to succeed. An author may not have the skills nor time necessary to successfully self publish. (Off the top of my head- just keeping track of sales/sale trends, reaching out to booksellers, organizing your own marketing campaign, editor, cover art, rights management, etc.)
    - falcolas 5y ago
      FWIW, most of the books published today have been self published. The books handled by publishers are just the tip of the iceberg. As for those skills - these are skills common to every entrepreneur, including authors who work with publishers (they still need to do their own promotions and market research - they are the ones who propose new series to the publishers, after all).

the_af 5y ago

> You are effectively selecting for less trilogies released because of this I'm ok with this. I wish they made more single-novel SF&F stories. It seems everything wants to be a trilogy or a saga, with an eye to a Netflix/HBO adaptation.

ubermonkey 5y ago

I personally do not see the problem. Write a whole story. I'll buy it. Try to hook me with part of a story you may never finish? No thanks.