Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Books => Topic started by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on July 01, 2005, 01:34:47 PM
-
reference: http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1097
thankya, thankya vahry muhch.
-
Please, please, no Elvis.
I still wonder how many people who buy the bestsellers actually read them. So many later end up on DI shelves.
-
Anyone who asks for no elvis is clearly insane
-
Please hold the Elvis. The after-taste lingers too long.
I agree that science fiction, fantasy, and mystery readers are much more loyal than those who read the bestsellers and so-called literary novels.
-
Sometimes too loyal. As in, not discerning. I can think of a few series fans I've spoken to recently in particular (Robert Jordan, anyone?). Sometimes it just has to have an established author's name on it and they'll buy it. Which makes me sad, because then they're not held to the same high standard as an unknown.
-
see, I wonder about this. After speaking with Dave about it, and looking at what comic-buyers do, I'm not sure that "Author" necessarily has anything to do with it.
How many people buy "Spider-Man" or "Batman" comics? It doesn't matter who's writing. Others buy every Star Trek/Star Wars/Robotech/Buffy/D&D novel. I think SFF fans have brand loyalty more than anything else. It looks like Author-loyalty because in something like Wheel of Time or Shannara, one author has written all of 'em.
Now, I'm not saying there's NO author-loyalty. Asimov's success would directly contradict that, I'd think. And many people tried Magic Kingdom: For Sale because they had read Shannara. But I think they're, as a whole, more interested in a character/setting than they are in a writer.
Which leads to my dreaded "that's cool" phenomenon. THe more over-the-top and implausible, the cooler it is. "He blew up the entire planet," said with wide eyes and a racing voice.
And actually, this last part, while too often taken too far, is a development from a good trait: The fans are interested in the dieas, not what others are reading. If they're interested in ideas, then they're reading more avidly, and actually exploring. And that's good.
-
I guess when I choose not to be discerning about a author or book-line, it's because I trust that the editors are being discerning for me. Unfortunately, the desire to turn a profit does always give the editors that sort of luxery.
-
I've been slogging through a few D&D novels recently, thanks to the everwelling fountain of them that springs forth from my mailbox, and most of them are so frickin' bad...and then they sent me a Salvatore, and I was amazed how much better it was. So my loyalty to D&D books is based rather heavily on author, not on brand, though I can certainly see your point.
-
I"m not trying to make a universal statement. Just tendencies.