What Do Authors 'Owe' their Fans?

brokenfingers said:

A writer with that mindset will never attain or keep readers. If a writer doesn't care if readers enjoy his books, then he will not gain readers, and hence will wind up unpublished.

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Sorry but I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this one. Sort of. The writer should care about whether people enjoy their writing or not, but what Mori said is true, there is no obligation for a reader to enjoy a book. This is why I'm so hesitant when I buy books. Just because it looks like it'll be good, or sounds like it'll be good, doesn't mean it'll actually be a good book.

I like vampires, but I sure as heck hated Twilight.

So while a writer should care whether readers like his book, you can't get too wrapped up in that, because not everyone will. And readers should know that you won't necessarily like the book you buy, that is a risk you take when you purchase it.

As for GRRM...I got less than half-way through that first book in this series before I put it down for other things that I might actually enjoy reading. I'm not angry at him for writing a book I didn't enjoy, because lots of other people love this stuff. But I wasn't obligated to enjoy it, and I'm actually in his target audience. But even if I had enjoyed it, I'd still be waiting patiently for him to finish it, not only because I'm a writer and I understand that shit happens and you need more time to make the story work, but because even as a reader I don't feel I'm entitled to a story. He never had to write that story down, he never had to publish it. It wouldn't have killed him if he had kept it to himself. Plenty of people do that, it's why the world isn't filled with writers. As a reader, I am glad that there are people out there willing to share these stories with me. And there are plenty out there, so it's not like I can't just read something else while I'm waiting for a series to finish.

Jamesaritchie said:

His job is not to support the industry, it's to support himself. Period. His job is to write the books he wants to write, when he wants to write them. This is all any writer's job is. Writing is not factory work, we do not have an assembly line, and we do not have a quota.

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I've no reason at all to suspect GRRM is anything other than a lovely bloke. I have no negative feelings towards him.

This is a generalised comment, not about GRRM, and you're right that a writer's main priority is to put food on their own table, but all of us have a choice to live our lives either looking out for number one or seeing if we can help a little along the way.

My comment was simply that delivering good writing in a timely manner helps the industy....an industry most of us on this forum quite like and want to prosper. I didn't make any comment about battery farming my favourite authors.

My starting point for my initial comment was that decent people wouldn't want to make anyone's life difficult and shouldn't sink to the level of insults or harrassment. As a reader I'd rather support a writer I liked than one that gave the impression that once they'd been paid they stopped caring. I'm happy to defend GRRM and chip in by saying that his series is probably my favourite and I'll buy it whenever he finishes it. I'd probably drop the series if I didn't think he was a respectable person doing his best. I'd definately drop it if he went on record saying his only responsibility is to himself....and even though I respect him, he won't be able to sell me on the next series he writes until the last book is on the shelf.

Craig

There's more things to read or do then for fans to wait for a book in a series. This girl wanted to read the next Harry Potter book so she wrote her own.

I don’t write series, but write books in the same genre; I haven’t written a bestseller (yet) but my books have been well-received. Because of a publicity exercise organised by my publishers two to three years ago, I became reasonably well known in my locality.

Since then there have been numerous occasions when complete strangers have come up to me to ask when the next book is coming out. A lot of the time they have kindly asked me to hurry up and write the next one. I’m always flustered and stuck for words when it happens, and usually give a short reply that it’s on its way.

I enjoyed the flattery to start with, and even wrote a bit faster, but then crossed it all out because I had written hurried rubbish. A stubborn streak followed when I wasted a lot of time writing something different. I grew a moustache and a beard, and looked silly for a while. Finally, I got writers block.

When the numbers came through, they were no better than 15 years ago when I was walking along with total anonymity. I had finished another book in the same genre, but I held on to it for some reason, I was out of contract anyway.

I’m writing something else now, a complete change of genre, and I don’t know if it had anything to do with the hurry-up-and-write-next-one brigade, but I keep my head down when I’m out and have started going to new places for my morning shot of coffee.

If a writer doesn't want to finish a series, or can't finish a series, or finishes a series in a way a fan doesn't like, well, that's what fan fiction's for.

If I'm lucky enough to get a rabid (or even mildly dizzy) fan base for one of my series, I will make sure it's completed. If I can't complete it myself, or don't want to, I'll license someone else to do it for me. Maybe the fan-ficcer whose vision most closely matches mine and who seems to have the chops to go pro.

I had an original post. It swore, mocked, said derisive things about a culture of entitlement, and at points my shift key got stuck.

So I'm trying again.

Let's say an author owes you a finished series. (I firmly believe authors don't, and it makes my blood pressure rise to read the arguments that they do, but I'll just try and play devil's advocate here.)

Then you know what? YOU OWE THE AUTHOR YOUR LOYALTY.

YOU owe the author peace to write said series.

YOU owe the author caring a little more about their personal well-being rather than your selfish desires. (GRRM is getting on in years, isn't in prime health, and all you can care about is if he'll finish the precious little fantasy series you like to read in the tub? Well, you stay classy.)

YOU owe the author some modicum of respect as a human being, and instead of calling them out for enjoying a game of football realize that holy balls authors are people too, even if they're all famous and stuff.

So maybe next time, when you start wondering what someone owes you, maybe you start thinking about what you owe them.

dempsey said:

So maybe next time, when you start wondering what someone owes you, maybe you start thinking about what you owe them.

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Sad commentary that respect really needs to flow to and from all sides, and not just to those making the loudest noise.

Now, this does make me think.

In general I say a writer owes thier fans everything. After all, the fans are the ones who buy the books and have put the author where they are. Without readers the best writer in the world is going no where.

That's why I am always shocked when writers are horrible about thier fans, take them for granted, say less than pleasant things about them etc. They seem to forget that fans aren't plebs, they are people, and more importantly they are people with money who buy your books and then tell their friends how good it was.


So what do I think authors owe fans? The same level of respect that fans give them, and to write as good a story as you can.