Author Topic: This week at Worldcon: "Rolling up the Wheel of Time" panel with Sanderson, etc.  (Read 10754 times)

Inkthinker

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That's possible to publish: See a Storm of Swords by GRRM.


I think you mean A Feast For Crows (the second half of which would be A Dance With Dragons).

Skar

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It is alll about the money the story will be able to generate. Sadly in this world it usually does come down to money.

I'm honestly mystified by this attitude.  Publishers shouldn't make money?  They should maybe publish books for free out of the goodness of their hearts?  Give me a break.

If they were talking about splitting a 120,000 word book into two parts then you'd have something to gripe about, but a 600K work?  Please, that's perfectly reasonable.
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bhthomas

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I don't think it matters if they split it or not cause I know every one here will go buy it anyways. I'm sorry  I didn't see this thread earlier but was anything mentioned about the graphic novels and when they might start production on those.

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Oh I remembered another question that i doubt got asked. Did Mr. Jordan ever get to read Brandon's books and did he like them.

Miyabi

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It is alll about the money the story will be able to generate. Sadly in this world it usually does come down to money.

I'm honestly mystified by this attitude.  Publishers shouldn't make money?  They should maybe publish books for free out of the goodness of their hearts?  Give me a break.

If they were talking about splitting a 120,000 word book into two parts then you'd have something to gripe about, but a 600K work?  Please, that's perfectly reasonable.

I know right?

I first read that post and didn't even have a response to it besides 'You're a nOOb at life.' and I felt even that wasn't enough. ha ha.

But honestly, they have to feed their children too.
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Miyabi

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Oh I remembered another question that i doubt got asked. Did Mr. Jordan ever get to read Brandon's books and did he like them.
I think it was Harriet that made the decision.  RJ didn't want anything to do with picking who wrote the last book, so even if he DID read EUOL's books. . . it wouldn't have mattered.

EDIT: Sorry for the DP.
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Comfortable Madness

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It is alll about the money the story will be able to generate. Sadly in this world it usually does come down to money.

I'm honestly mystified by this attitude.  Publishers shouldn't make money?  They should maybe publish books for free out of the goodness of their hearts?  Give me a break.

If they were talking about splitting a 120,000 word book into two parts then you'd have something to gripe about, but a 600K work?  Please, that's perfectly reasonable.




Give you a break??? Really???? Oh and Myabi, "noob at life", what are you five? You both missed the point completely. I never said anything about them not making any money. My point was that it was sad that they would bypass  RJ's wish only to make a little extra money. They are going to make money whether it comes out in 1 book or a series of books. So, I'm not asking for a free book here I'm asking for a little honor that the world lacks. I'm not naive, or a "noob at life" I know that world doesn't work that way that doesn't make it a good thing though. This was a mans life work and he wanted it done a certain way and now that he is gone it's up to those left here to make that happen and if the publisher looks past that to fatten his pockets it is a shame. I never griped about paying for two books. In the beginning of my post I stated that I am willing to pay a high price for up to 100 books just to read this final installment on one hell of a series. I am just pointing out how that it is an absolute shame that money overrules everything in this world.
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Miyabi

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It is alll about the money the story will be able to generate. Sadly in this world it usually does come down to money.

I'm honestly mystified by this attitude.  Publishers shouldn't make money?  They should maybe publish books for free out of the goodness of their hearts?  Give me a break.

If they were talking about splitting a 120,000 word book into two parts then you'd have something to gripe about, but a 600K work?  Please, that's perfectly reasonable.




Give you a break??? Really???? Oh and Myabi, "noob at life", what are you five? You both missed the point completely. I never said anything about them not making any money. My point was that it was sad that they would bypass  RJ's wish only to make a little extra money. They are going to make money whether it comes out in 1 book or a series of books. So, I'm not asking for a free book here I'm asking for a little honor that the world lacks. I'm not naive, or a "noob at life" I know that world doesn't work that way that doesn't make it a good thing though. This was a mans life work and he wanted it done a certain way and now that he is gone it's up to those left here to make that happen and if the publisher looks past that to fatten his pockets it is a shame. I never griped about paying for two books. In the beginning of my post I stated that I am willing to pay a high price for up to 100 books just to read this final installment on one hell of a series. I am just pointing out how that it is an absolute shame that money overrules everything in this world.
But you AREN'T seeing the point.  It wouldn't be divided in a way JUST to make extra money.  I mean honestly could imagine carrying around a 600K WORD BOOK!?!?!?!  That thing would be HUGE!  It's about what will be easiest for the reader and so it will look nicer on your shelf.
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VegasDev

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I think people also have to take what RJ says in a QA session at face value. We don't know what kind of agreements RJ had with his publisher in the end and with Harriet being executive editor with Tor, I doubt they would do anything against his (or Harriet's) wishes.
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Skar

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If they were talking about splitting a 120,000 word book into two parts then you'd have something to gripe about, but a 600K work?  Please, that's perfectly reasonable.

If Jordan were alive and turned in a 600K book, they'd split it into two for practical reasons.  Why should it be any different now that he's dead?

On another note, I don't think Brandon is going to hand in a 600K work.  I don't have any special knowledge, I just doubt it's going to be that long.  He and Jordan both have tighter writing styles than that.  Most of this 600K speculation comes from differing off the cuff estimates of how much he's got done now.  It's never a good idea to make plans based on WAGs.
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Peter Ahlstrom

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Isabel was saying that A Storm of Swords was 600,000 words and it was printed in one volume with no apparent problem. (I do not personally know if this word count is accurate.)
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VegasDev

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Isabel was saying that A Storm of Swords was 600,000 words and it was printed in one volume with no apparent problem. (I do not personally know if this word count is accurate.)

The only stat I could find was that it was 422,842 words....still looking though.
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Isabel

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I don't think I said that it was 600.000 words, but only that it was a 1000 pages.
So taking the same setting as a Shadow Rising, a hardcover can be a 1000 pages, same as A storm for Swords ;)
That is the biggest GRRM book.

Andrew the Great

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I understand the desire to respect RJ's wishes, however, he said the rest of the story would be one book, not that it would be published in one volume. Regardless of whether it's published in one part or two, it will still be one book. If RJ had handed in a 600k novel, it would have been split, the same way a feast for crows was split into two parts. I can see the reasoning, and as long as they don't start another book, I'll be ok with it.
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Peter Ahlstrom

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Oh, right, sorry, you were talking about page count.

My parents have a copy of Les Miserables that's 1492 pages in a single volume. So, technically, it can be done somehow. There may be other technical considerations, though. The machines Tor's contracted printing house uses for binding may have a maximum size less than 1000 pages, for example, necessitating a switch to a more expensive printing house. There would be a point at which printing two books is more economical.

Ultimately, yes, it's a question of economics. And Harriet, with her publishing experience, may be more pragmatic in regards to the practical concerns of the publisher than Jim was and may have been planning to ultimately convince him to allow a split. And regardless of Jim's statements on the matter, it's difficult to say he never would have been convinced. However, this is all moot. Jim has gone, and the moral force with which he may have stood up to publishing demands can no longer be brought to bear. The book won't be split without Harriet's permission, that's for sure, but how she will weigh in on the matter is currently unknown.
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