Re: Authors Who Should Retire

>>>>> "KfC" == Ken from Chicago <kwicker1b_nospam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:

    KfC> But seriously ... ****rley we need the umpteenth Jimmy
    KfC> Patterson and Nora Roberts' novel about a trinity of pairs of
    KfC> women and men (of Irish / Celtic descent) finding love, and
    KfC> unravelling some crime and / or mystery or one of those
    KfC> alphabet A is for Attorney / Affidavit / ADA / Appellate
    KfC> novels far more than fresh new--untested, unmarketed,
    KfC> unsold--materials. Right?

    KfC> Okay, really seriously this time, what is the impetus for
    KfC> publishers to take risks on new unsold talent over reliable,
    KfC> proven best-selling authors?

A reliable, proven best-selling author can't realistically produce
more than two books a year, and many can't reliably produce more than
one book every two years.  A publisher can produce between 10 and 100
books a month.  And sometimes even reliable, proven best-selling
authors get writer's block, or have children, or get hit by buses, so
it's good to have new talent to step in -- and new talent takes a
while to develop.

Further, it's not an either-or proposition -- it's a question of how
long the editor thinks the book will take to turn a profit, and how
much of a profit it will make in the long run.  The editor can
estimate this pretty well for a reliable, proven best-selling author,
but has to go with his gut feeling for the new talent.  Sometimes the
new talent sells a lot of books right off (J. K. Rowling; Stephen
King); other times, the new talent sells well and gets lucrative movie
deals (Dennis Lehane).

Charlton


-- 
Charlton Wilbur
cwilbur@[EMAIL PROTECTED]