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Tor: stop acting like clowns

Submitted by Abalieno on April 2, 2009 - 01:47.

A Memory of Light rant part 3.

Considering how things are going, an advice to Sanderson: just shut the fuck up. It's better.

After Tom Doherty "expressed his happiness" about how much it is cool to split a book in three (and multiply the cost for customers by the same number), and both him and Harriet tried to deceive and excuse the split by stating wrongfully that it couldn't be made, while avoiding to answer why it couldn't be split in two.

Now we got another blog from Sanderson explain how everyone should be grateful to Tor and Tom Doherty:

Tor is going to have to pay overtime at the printer in order to get it out in November.

SAINTS, I SAY!

How could I ever doubted of the fairness, moral integrity and dedication of a so great publisher -not publisher, SAINT- who's willingly to pay overtime at the printers so that they could deliver this precious book to us in November? How?

How could such an extraordinary feat be achieved? Delivering a book in, let's count, more than seven months?

I'll tell you how. This is from Martin:

I am trying to finish the book by June. I think I can do that. If I do, A DANCE WITH DRAGONS will likely be published in September or October.

If he finishes the book in June, he expects it to be in the shops for SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER. That's three or four months.

Erikson is in a similar situation. He's yet to finish the book and the publisher still aims for a release the first week of September.

INCREDIBLE! Two miracles!

Or maybe this is the kind of extraordinary feat is the norm in the industry as they are expected to do a good job, and not just a poor one. And surely those publishers aren't going around bragging about how they can publish a book in seven months. Because doing a good work is not extraordinary, but it's what you expect from an industry that doesn't try to aim for mediocrity.

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Re: Tor: stop acting like clowns

Hic (not verified) on April 3, 2009 - 00:00.

can people answer honestly, or you'll go on and delete comments that are articulate and deny each of your points? (like my last)

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Re: Tor: stop acting like clowns

Innsmouth on April 3, 2009 - 00:15.

I haven't deleted anything.

In the worst case you got caught in the spam filter but the logs show nothing being deleted.

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Re: Tor: stop acting like clowns

hic (not verified) on April 3, 2009 - 00:27.

Damn, sorry for the acusation then :\. I get it, it's your website, so it'd be natural if you deleted what you didn't want. Your place, your rules.

I'll type it up again later then.

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Re: Tor: stop acting like clowns

Innsmouth on April 3, 2009 - 01:46.

If you put there more than 2 links, it may be it.

Usually the filter refuses a post before it enters the database, so I may not be able to take it and publish it. But there's should be messages when this happen.

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Re: Tor: stop acting like clowns

Hic (not verified) on April 3, 2009 - 02:19.

Well, I'll be brief this time, to see if I don't trigger any of the nasty filters...

In a way, I think you're firing in too many directions. Criticizing the author, Jordan's late wife and Tor. But I do think only two persons are to blame - Hariet and the publisher.

Long before his death (or "long") Jordan said this would be the last book, even if it was gigantic (and if you read all the previous books, you'd know there is a LOT to be told still). But the thing is, Robert Jordan most likely would have been able to sell the big book to Tor. He had a reputation, he had leverage, name, even money I guess, so he could.

Brandon has no such things. He is a "small" author that was given this chance to finish the WoT series, and he's stepping on very carefully. Remember that his contract specified a 250k word book, that really would never be enough. And even though he only had to write 250k words, he wrote almost 4 times as much for the same pay! He didn't need to do that. Not even half of it. He just had to be the guy that co-wrote A Memory if Light to make a name for himself, he didn't have to loose 2 or 3 years of his career. Also, in his blog he states it is a monumental task to proof the script. First, because it won't be released like he planned to do it in the first place, cutting it down the first third, second, because it ain't his book! WoT is gigantic, it's almost impossible to keep track of everything and everyone if you're not the original author. Those are the two biggest reason for the delays, and in his case, I believe him.

Which brings me back to Tor and Hariet. They are the greedy ones. Hariet could obviously have sold the 2 book deal, and Tor could also have published it, even though it is true that the tendency for current fantasy series (not long established) is for smaller books but getting them out faster. It's, in a sense, revolting, but if it means MoL will be out sooner, I guess I can bare with it.

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