In Which I Reflect on Bottom Lines …
On Monday, in my interview with Mary Victoria, commenter Blue Rose said:
“Is the series going to stop at 3 books or is there room in it for more? I really liked the concept of the world as giant trees, that was a very original and yet believable idea, and I struggle to find originality these days…”
In reply, Mary made the observation that: “…the publisher, at their end, has indicated willingness in principle but can’t justify more actual contracts until the books sell. So the way to have more Chronicles of the Tree books is, well, to buy Chronicles of the Trees books.”
I have been reflecting on this, and have come to the conclusion that there is no way in which Mary is overstating the case. Much as we all love the magic of stories, book publishing is a business and like all businesses looks to its bottom lines—and in the end, the continuance of a series, whether based around a world or a character, is totally dependent on whether the books about that world/character sell. End of story.
Only this week I have been told of a writer in another genre who has developed a great character and had her books nominated for serious awards etc — but the publisher has just pulled the plug. The books aren’t selling enough copies — so no more character, and in the short term at least, no more author.
Believe me, dear readers, at the end of the day, the bottom line is the only measure of writing success—and if the bottom line isn’t good, then the reviews and the awards pretty much count for nothing.
Of course, in order to have a bottom line at all, whether good or bad, you first need outlets where people can buy your books, something that’s suddenly looking a lot more … interesting … in Australia and New Zealand with REDgroup’s combination of Borders, Angus & Robertson (Aus) and Whitcoulls (NZ) going into statutory administration.
Very “interesting times” indeed—and wishing that someone might live in them is, I believe, traditionally a curse.
All very nerve-wracking, isn’t it? I just discussed this issue with my writer’s group yesterday. One of my favorite books I’ve ever read was published in the eighties. I hadn’t heard of her then, and I haven’t heard of her since. No more books.
Plus, on a whim, I just picked up an unknown debut YA Paranormal (my genre) to read and am enjoying it significantly more than many of the bestsellers I’ve read in the genre recently. The writing is better, the story is more compelling, the world richer…
It’s a scary world for writers out there. Perhaps that Marketing Fairy really does have more to do with ‘success’ than I thought… *Shiver*
Aimee, There may be some more ‘reflections’ from me in the near future, but I do think that many people have an idealised, even romantic, view of what it means to be a writer. The reality is someting quite other, as is so often the way …
So often I get comments from people assuming automatic success, monetary and otherwise on publication… I’ve stopped arguing, because it feels like I’m being a naysayer! BUT alas all you say is true. The reviews, the awards, even a small but dedicated readership… none of that matters faced with a jittery market.
It’s sad because books take time to register in the public consciousness. It seems to me that the grace period given to a particular series to ‘make its mark’ is growing shorter by the second (as are publishing schedules.)
Where do we go from here?
Just reaching for the crystal ball [grins] … But as well as interesting, we also live in uncertain times. I think the first step though is to be sure about who we are and why we are doing what we do–a different form of bottom line. The second is as much as possible to educate ourselves about an industry that is our business, too, and try to make smart choices. Given that we’re effectively entrepreneuers though, I suspect sometimes we may fall on our faces …
As Terri Garey of the Supernatural Underground said recently: “And when I started out I thought all I had to do was write the books!”