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by D. J. Herda I read an article recently about how modern-day authors are suffering under the gun of firm book deadlines. “Not that writers are being explicitly harassed,” the article said, “but costly advance marketing plans are increasingly tied into the expectation that the most profitable authors will have a new book out at roughly the same time each year. In today's intensely competitive marketplace, readers will turn to another author if a writer fails to come through at the usual time, which could cost a publisher big bucks.” In many cases, publishers are picking up new authors only if they agree to write a book a year. "It's no problem, as long as you don't have a life," said Patricia Cornwell, the Massachusetts-based author of the enormously successful Kay Scarpetta crime thrillers. "The Scarpetta [manuscript] that's due out Oct. 7 is due in a few weeks, because they have to reserve the storefront real estate and pay for it. If I don't get the book turned in on time, they'll be freaking out. If I miss my deadline, I miss the entire year. Sometimes there's an overwhelming feeling of panic. It's like a rock 'n' roll concert, and what if I don't show up?" Cornwell isn't the only one to feel the pressure. "There's pressure to treat authors like Coca-Cola," said California thriller writer Brad Meltzer, who was asked to publish once a year but refused. "Every time you get a bunch of writers together, this is all they complain about. The trend is, 'How many books can you put out?' From building your reputation to get on the best-seller list, it's gone to trying to get to the tippy-top of the list. It's not worth it to me." New York literary agent Meg Ruley broke it down: "There's enormous pressure on writers to repeat at least annually, and some can do it more frequently. The rapid publishing sequence is a reality of the retail marketplace. In commercial fiction, it's crucial. This is what we have come to." Now, from my limited point of view, writing a book a year isn’t exactly the most challenging prospect a human being could ever face. In fact, I’ve written as many as seven or eight books in a year (kids’ books, but still…), and authors such as Judith Krantz and Stephen King have done likewise. Creative artists working with other media, such as Pablo Picasso and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, have similarly cranked out voluminous pieces of work annually. Why should it be any different today, and why with writers of commercial fiction? To get to the bottom of that question, I met with the immensely successful British author Sir Dustin Blackbored (he’s really Dusty to his friends), one of the most prolific writers of commercial fiction in history, at the Boar and Broad in London’s Piccadilly Square. Blackbored is the author, as you will recall, of the fantastically popular series of What’s in It for Me? novels, starring the charismatic femme fatale and part-time Irish traffic bobbie, Donnerley Nimblebucks. D. J.: I understand that a number of your contemporaries—most notably your cross-Atlantic cohorts—are upset with their American publishing houses requiring them to turn out a minimum of a novel a year. Is that a reasonable requirement, or are these publishers way out of line? Blackbored: Oh, they’re quite out of line, no doubt about it. D. J.: The publishers are being unreasonable, then? Blackbored: Quite. I would suggest that my peers all cancel their contracts immediately—and they can do that as easily as simply failing to produce the required number of books each year, regardless of their contractual requirements—and wait for another publisher to come along, one who requires no more than two or three books in a lifetime. That’s much more reasonable, shouldn’t you say? D. J.: But you turn out a book or more a year. In fact, according to one press release I read recently, you have written some 43 Donnerley Nimblebucks books in the past 22 months. What’s the difference? Blackbored: That’s easy, governor. I needed the quid. D. J.: But, looking at it from the publisher’s point-of-view, wouldn’t backing a writer who wrote only two or three books in a lifetime cut into that writer’s fan base and, ultimately, the publisher’s profitability? Blackbored: Perhaps, yes. But that’s the chance you take as a writer, now, isn’t it? D. J.: Are you contemplating cutting back on your own creative output then? Blackbored: Lord, no. Are you daft?? D. J.: Well, what happens to those writers who take you up on your advice if no other publishers come along to pick them up? What happens then? Blackbored:Their publishers know where to find me. D. J.: Wait a minute. Are you saying that you’re advising other writers to cut back on their output so that you can cash in on their misfortune? Blackbored: One man’s misfortune, I always say. Besides, do you realize how much money it takes to pay for three houses, a yacht, two lorries, a motorhome, a bird in a two-story flat in Manchester, and three ex-wives? D. J.: Except for the last part, no. Blackbored: Well, neither do I. But I’ll tell you one thing. It’s a lot. With all the money I make, I’m still struggling to get ahead. If a bunch of weenie authors out in Mikey Jacksonland want to play prima donna, I say let them. If they feel the need to squawk about the creative process of writing suffering at the hands of their publishers’ unreasonable demands, more the pity, I say. I’m not afraid of taking on more work. D. J.: But don’t you ever feel cheapened by the creative process under fire? Don’t you ever feel as if you’re being used and abused by your publisher? Blackbored: Never. Couldn’t afford it, gov’nor. D. J.: And you don’t feel that, by advising other writers to buck the trend and risk getting dumped by their publishers, you’re really only profiting at their expense? Blackbored: See? Now, ‘at’s the difference between me and you, now, ain’t it? Be a luv and pass me the chips, will you? And I…am D. J. Herda. # # #
D. J. Herda is President of the American Society of
Authors and Writers (http://amsaw.org),
an organization made up of authors, writers, editors, publishers, agents,
directors, producers, and other media professionals who rely upon the printed
word in the creation of quality literature and entertainment. He is
a member of the Author's Guild, a former member of the American Society of
Journalists and Authors, and a former member of the National Press Club.
He has published more than 80 books and several hundred thousand articles,
short stories, columns, interviews, plays, and scripts. |
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