"The Killing God" news

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SkurjMaster
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"The Killing God" news

Post by SkurjMaster »

I just visited SRD's page and was surprised to read about the editorial trouble he is having. My question is how do Brandon Sanderson and Terry Brooks keep getting published and SRD's book sales are dropping?

I don't get it. Terry Brooks can retread an Elfstone or Ellcrys storyline and it gets published. After reading Sandersen's butchering of Robert Jordan's masterwork I won't even try one of his books.

There are very few that achieve the caliber of SRD. GRRM, Brian Stavely, Steven Erikson, Katherine Kurtz, Modesitt. Not many others.

I'm afraid the Harry Potter and teen fiction movements have killed it for writers like SRD.
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I for one didn't think Sanderson did a bad job on WoT...would have been hard to be worse than the disaster that was book 10, although I will grant he seemed to come to his senses for book 11, albeit it sadly too late...

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Post by StevieG »

This is pretty crap:
From SRD's website News - wrote:"The Killing God": bad news

My agent has submitted the book to my editor at Berkley. Without reading it (!), my editor informed me that Berkley will not consider publishing the book until I cut 100,000 words. Roughly 35% of the text. On the assumption that I will not do such violence to my own work, Berkley has removed the book from their publication schedule.

Their assumption is correct. At this stage, I routinely prune my manuscripts by 10%. I may conceivably be able to go as far as 15%. But whether or not anyone likes my characters and how I handle them, my stories are very tightly plotted. Each piece relies on--and is implied by--what came before it. I can't mutilate Book Three without making the entire trilogy incoherent.

My agent believes that where we stand now is not the end of "The Killing God." (Never mind of my career.) He has persuaded my editor to go ahead and read the book. He hopes that seeing how strongly Book Three caps Books One and Two (which she loved) will persuade her to rethink her position. I have my doubts. I suspect that her position is corporate rather than editorial: my books no longer earn enough to make them worth publishing regardless of their intrinsic merits. Naturally, I hope I'm wrong.

When I have more news, I'll post it here. I don't expect to hear anything until sometime in January.

12/6/20
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Post by mmurphy1968 »

I hope everything works out. I have bought, but not yet read, the first two books and was waiting for all of them to be read together. I have been really excited to read these and hope I still can.
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Post by Niftium »

mmurphy1968 wrote:I hope everything works out. I have bought, but not yet read, the first two books and was waiting for all of them to be read together. I have been really excited to read these and hope I still can.
I'm in the same place. I'm assuming that the silence through Jan/Feb is a good thing - if he'd been shot down again immediately after the editor's read-through, I imagine we would have heard about it. So my guess (my hope) is that they're in the bargaining phase.

Most of all, I hope Berkley doesn't pull a VG/Redick and refuse to publish TKG in hardcover. (Redick's 4th Chathrand book got that shitty treatment from Gollancz.)
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Post by High Lord Tolkien »

my books no longer earn enough to make them worth publishing
Can someone explain this to me like I'm 5 years old?

Is this the state of all book publishing now?
I have no idea.
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Post by Niftium »

High Lord Tolkien wrote:
my books no longer earn enough to make them worth publishing
Can someone explain this to me like I'm 5 years old?

Is this the state of all book publishing now?
I have no idea.
Someone shared an article somewhere recently about this, I want to say on FB, so that means there's no chance I'll find it again. But basically big publishers have gobbled up almost all of the medium sized publishers. The big houses only want bestsellers and are growing more and more willing to cut out anyone who can't make oodles of money for them. The flip side to the modern ability of literally anyone being able to get published means that established publishing houses can pick and choose those authors who sell best and cut the rest by telling them "Hey, you're a niche product, go self-publish."

Slightly opinionated addendum: Publishing used to be able to at least pretend that they cared about quality. These days they don't even pretend.
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Post by High Lord Tolkien »

Niftium wrote:
High Lord Tolkien wrote:
my books no longer earn enough to make them worth publishing
Can someone explain this to me like I'm 5 years old?

Is this the state of all book publishing now?
I have no idea.
Someone shared an article somewhere recently about this, I want to say on FB, so that means there's no chance I'll find it again. But basically big publishers have gobbled up almost all of the medium sized publishers. The big houses only want bestsellers and are growing more and more willing to cut out anyone who can't make oodles of money for them. The flip side to the modern ability of literally anyone being able to get published means that established publishing houses can pick and choose those authors who sell best and cut the rest by telling them "Hey, you're a niche product, go self-publish."

Slightly opinionated addendum: Publishing used to be able to at least pretend that they cared about quality. These days they don't even pretend.
Thank you!
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Post by mmurphy1968 »

Niftium wrote:
High Lord Tolkien wrote:
my books no longer earn enough to make them worth publishing
Can someone explain this to me like I'm 5 years old?

Is this the state of all book publishing now?
I have no idea.
Someone shared an article somewhere recently about this, I want to say on FB, so that means there's no chance I'll find it again. But basically big publishers have gobbled up almost all of the medium sized publishers. The big houses only want bestsellers and are growing more and more willing to cut out anyone who can't make oodles of money for them. The flip side to the modern ability of literally anyone being able to get published means that established publishing houses can pick and choose those authors who sell best and cut the rest by telling them "Hey, you're a niche product, go self-publish."

Slightly opinionated addendum: Publishing used to be able to at least pretend that they cared about quality. These days they don't even pretend.
That's too bad. While I have read some really good self published stuff most of what I have read was bad. Quality of the writing aside, it seems like most of the self published authors I have read really need a good editor and trying to slog through a bunch of bad books for the occasional gem just isn't worth it to me.
Last edited by mmurphy1968 on Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by StevieG »

Unfortunately StevieD (SRD :D) has been on the outer re popularity - even on this forum he's been slammed. Even if you're a wonderful writer, as with many aspects of life, it seems that perception is more important than anything (sounds a bit like The Real Story).

Quality has nothing to do with it. The Great Gods War has been a cracking read so far and I'm eagerly anticipating the final book. I hope he can publish it without severe cuts.
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Post by Niftium »

mmurphy1968 wrote:That's too bad. While I have read some really good self published stuff most of what I have read was bad. Quality of the writing aside, it seems like most self of the published authors I have read really need a good editor and trying to slog through a bunch of bad books for the occasional gem just isn't worth it to me.
Agreed.

I think there's something of an age-ist factor here too. They know damn well a guy like SRD isn't going to go through the hassle of self-publishing. It's a uselessly foreign concept at this point in his life/career. And they know it.
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Post by wayfriend »

In StephenRDonaldson News was wrote:"The Killing God": the long wait, phase two

People who would like to read "The Killing God," Book Three of "The Great God's War," have been waiting for a long time. Not me. I've been holding my feet to the fire continuously for at least six months, trying to mediate between my publisher's demands and my own standards. Now I've done what I can. My agent finally has the manuscript. When he's read it, he will deliver it to my publisher. At that point, the long wait will move on to phase three.

My publisher's issue has never been quality. Rather, it has been expense. To reduce the cost of publication, I've been told to cut 100,000 words. But my issue *is* quality. To that end, I've cut 59,000 words. An arduous task emotionally and artistically, but I'm prepared to stand by the results. Now we all wait to learn whether the quality is high enough to outweigh the expense.

My agent is remarkably effective when he believes in the book he represents, so his approval is important. But the final decision will be made "in house" at the publisher: a process which may involve some debate. Fortunately, my editor is likely to favor publication. After all, she loved the first two books--and refusing to publish the third book of a trilogy is a black mark for any publisher. Unfortunately, she doesn't have much clout.

Barring some unforeseen obstacle, I'll post more news when we move on to phase three.

7/23/21
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Post by mmurphy1968 »

Well, at least some progress is being made. I remain hopeful.
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Post by Cord Hurn »

I am hopeful, as well. I really enjoyed The War Within, and eagerly await the sequel. Till then, a reread of TWW is coming up.
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Post by wayfriend »

In StephenRDonaldson News was wrote:At long last, TKG is back in the hands of my editor. My agent is very happy with the new version. He made some useful suggestions (which, fortunately, required only a little extra work) and helped me clean up the text (typos, missing words, that sort of thing). Now my fate depends on whether the editor likes the book enough to push for it.

I have no idea how long I'll be forced to wait for a decision. In the short term, I need the rest. Beyond that, I'll go unquietly crazy.

8/5/21
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Thumbs held.

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Post by Niftium »

Given that he asked for (and received multiple extensions), I suspect he'll be unquietly crazy for a while. Maybe being a squeaky wheel will help!
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Post by wayfriend »

In StephenRDonaldson News was wrote:HOORAY! "The Killing God" has been accepted for US publication.

I've just received the good news from my editor. She describes my work on "The Killing God" as "heroic," "marvelous," and "very satisfying." (I swear I'm not making this up.) Berkley plans to publish in November '22. In audio (I assume), digital, and hardcover. I've also been given reason to believe that my UK publisher, Orion/Gollancz, will do the same. So spread the word! (I don't usually say things like that, but I'm feeling giddy.)

10/7/21
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Post by Seareach »

I'm getting too old to remember how to embed pictures in posts on the watch... but for anyone interested, there's a cover up for The Killing God on SRD's webpage/homepage.
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Well that's good news. :D I better get these. :D

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