Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

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The publishing cycle: it's longer than you think!

A comment that I see frequently in reviews and discussions of literary work—both mine and others;—is "oh, this reads like a response to reviewer criticism of thing X," or "see, the author realized that fans didn't like thing Y and so they changed it," or "this is such a take that to people who didn't enjoy thing Z." And I will admit, every time I see it, I smack my head against something and moan.

Now, don't get me wrong: it is entirely possible that this is a valid criticism, especially with shorter works. "Velveteen vs." for example: if you say "I don't like how Jacqueline is acting in this story," I can absolutely address that in the next story, because they're being written and posted at a pace that allows for that sort of thing. But with novels?

Not so much.

Right now, we're a little under six months out from Chimes at Midnight. I have the page proofs for review, and it's locked to any major editorial changes. I'm also writing The Winter Long, which is due at DAW before the end of the year. Technically, this means I would have time to read reviews of Chimes and incorporate any criticism into the finished Winter manuscript, but let's be honest here: I won't. I never have. By the time Chimes comes out, I'll be finishing draft two, the plot will be locked into place, and nothing structural will happen that doesn't come from my editor or agent (or Vixy, but she has a unique place in this ecosystem).

As the first reviews for Midnight Blue-Light Special were coming out, I was finishing the second draft of Half-Off Ragnarok. And yes, I have cringed every time someone said, seriously or in jest, that book three would suck because it wouldn't be about Verity. I couldn't bench this book and write another one about Very if I wanted to, because there isn't time, even if it were her place in the story (which it's not). I'll get back to her eventually—with book five, to be specific—but the fact that some people don't want her to go doesn't make her stay. Hell, I don't want her to go. The narrative is set.

This is not to say that writers don't listen to criticism or commentary, because we do. I have made it a point to include more QUILTBAG characters in the Toby series since I realized that, due to most fae marriages being about procreation, the majority of the on-screen relationships were monogamous and heterosexual. I've clarified things that people found confusing...but I've done it three books down the line, because that was when the schedule allowed for it to happen. At any moment in time, my world looks like this:

1. The book that just came out.
2. The next book in the series, which I just finished.
3. The book after that, which is very tightly plotted.
4. The book where comments about book #1 can be considered.

With series like Newsflesh, which was only three books long, or Parasitology, which is only going to be two books long, we literally never get to step #4 in the conversation. By the time you see book #1, I'm either writing book #3, or I'm about to get started. With Newsflesh, I wrote book one, outlined books two and three, and then rewrote book one to fit the series outline and account for feedback from my editor. Book two was done before book one saw shelves, and so on.

I love reviews. I often wish that I could go back and change things, and sometimes I fantasize about the Feed: 20th Anniversary Edition where I get to revise and rewrite and address the accidentally problematic aspects of the story and do my job as a storyteller a little better in some places, because oh man that would be amazing. (And some people would hate it and accuse me of pandering, and I would then dream about hitting them with the book, because it would totally be a hardcover big enough to stun rabid wolves.) But I've never gotten feedback about book #1 and then gone into book #2 with the idea that I'LL SHOW THEM I'LL SHOW THEM ALL HOW DARE THEY QUESTION MY GENIUS. I can't.

Because the publishing cycle? It's longer than you think.
Tags: contemplation, writing
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  • 55 comments
Florence and the Machine, "Dog Days Are Over."
And my current music is "Cosmic Love"!

I often wish that I could go back and change things, and sometimes I fantasize about the Feed: 20th Anniversary Edition
Pretty sure we'll all be eaten by zombies by then.
Oh, probably.

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I aim to please!
I hadn't encountered the term QUILTBAG before, and had to Google it. Thanks for expanding my vocabulary. :)
Very welcome.
Oh, yes. Plus, if you're as nit-picky a writer as I am, there's the whole 'I want to change that because I've thought of something better' thing, which I get hugely with my books -- and can't, because they are fixed. I tell myself it's good for me to come up with creative solutions to my own idiocies, but...
Kari
But sometimes you just want to revise ALL THE THINGS.
In that case, I'm putting in a request for, in three books from now, ......
Never mind. I can't think of anything you can't think of better.

Have fun writing!
I'll try!
I think that's more likely to be said (or at least thought) when authors are not quite so prolific as you, however. If it takes someone two years or more between books, then there IS some room in their publishing schedule for a response.... And I know that at least one romance author did in fact make a mean-spirited response to critics of the previous series book, but eh. I believe that it's not true for most authors, and I'm glad of it. I want you (authors in general) to write the best and truest books you can, even if the events in them are not what I might have hoped to happen for any particular character and I want them to be true to the story you have in your heads.
Heh, yes, my mind leapt at once to the famed decade-long books. But I'm just going to wildly guess that those are about as common as someone with our prolific hostess's output rate -- if not less so :P

seanan_mcguire

4 years ago

sometimes I fantasize about the Feed: 20th Anniversary Edition

This is the best idea I've heard all day. Possibly all week. *_* (And hey, sometimes such fantasies work out!)
Here's hoping!

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I've been saying since day one, since before book one was published, that a narrator switch was coming. This isn't a surprise, and it's honestly been one of the only comments that's hurt my feelings. :( I like Alex. I hate the idea of people going in hating him because he's not his sister.

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seanan_mcguire

4 years ago

Thanks for this behind-the-scenes look at the publishing cycle. It's nice to get an idea of how things work behind all the shinyflashypretty.

You're transparent enough about your work and publication schedules that anyone who pays even casual attention should know that you're already working on Book C before Book A hits shelves, so anyone who says that such-and-such in Book B is clearly an answer to something said about this-and-that in Book A should be ignored because they have no idea what they're talking about. You've also made it clear the only thing you're a slave to is the story, not public opinion and approval.
<3
Woe, woe, my delusions that you have a time machine are assaulted!
I'm pretty sure if Seanan had a time machine, she'd either be using it to get more sleep time in or going back and trying to record the lost Dr. Who episodes.

archangelbeth

4 years ago

seanan_mcguire

4 years ago

I do appreciate this sort of information. I think that a lot of fans often have these sort of assumptions.
I'm glad!

weds

April 26 2013, 23:17:34 UTC 4 years ago Edited:  April 26 2013, 23:18:01 UTC

Yeah, the people who accused you of pandering would either be the same people, or descendents thereof, who thought When HARLIE Was One, Release 2.0 was the better book. Whatever. They can deal, these future hypothetical people of the future in the future.

(Disclaimer: would not make accusation, did believe 2.0 was the better book, would kill for tech updates on so many books every 10-20 years, am aware that wish is impossible, will die surrounded by unposted Tumblr drafts full of headcanon.)
mari concurs.

seanan_mcguire

4 years ago

The publishing cycle: it's longer than you think

ain't that the truth!
Yup.

emmasee100

April 27 2013, 00:20:27 UTC 4 years ago Edited:  April 27 2013, 00:21:11 UTC

I love you a lot for knowing QUILTBAG.

And to warm the cockles of your heart, I celebrated a recent cash windfall by buying all your books on paper I hadn't bought yet. So, a nice little parcel showed up, and I started reading about Verity for the first time. Got about 150 pages in, and I couldn't find the book anywhere when I was next reading.

Eventually found it, somewhere I wouldn't have left it. Asked the husband about it, and he'd picked it up, started reading it, and borrowed it from me. I did invoke the "Mine" rule and snagged it back, but you've got another fan in this household.

*edited to change a from to a for.*
Aw, that's wonderful!

Glee.
Okay. Seemingly random, but its about mistakes....
In the box set of Newsflesh I just bought, you reference George as having died in 2032, AND in 2040. I was very confused :( I wasn't sure if it just got past your editors, or was a printing error. :p
It was an extremely protracted death. :)

seanan_mcguire

4 years ago

Thank you for the insight. I love reading about the creative process almost as much as I love reading the results.

So, do the characters tell you what to do? My crafts do that sometimes - I've had a few art dolls that had to be walked around the fabric store (side-eyes a certain mermaid) because nothing I already had was quite right...
Mostly, it's the story that tells me what to do, with a side order of "I created this person, but this person would not do this thing."
Interesting. I knew the lead was fairly long - I didn't know it was that long (though I suspect it is longer for you than for some other authors I read, just because you are such an amazingly fast writer!).

Re Verity and co - for what it's worth, I love Verity, I find Dominic adorable, but frankly, that whole world is so much fun to read, I don't really care whose point of view I get, provided I get to spend more time there! And, after all, while I could happily watch Verity and Dominic snarking at each other all day, I kind of want more time with Sarah, and with Antimony, and we hardly even know Very's brother yet, and then there are all the assorted cryptids...

So yeah, any sadness at not getting more Verity next book is more than made up for by the fact that there is a next book!

Much love,

Catherine, trying not to fangirl too rabidly, but it's a while since I found a series that was so utterly enjoyable and relaxing to spend time in.
I am so glad! :)
Thank you for this little glimpse into how writing in series works (especially where there's not just one series taking shape). It helps readers appreciate as well as understand the process. :) (Except for the mayhem, of course. Mayhem will never be understandable.)
You're very welcome!
I had inklings as to the time spans involved but it's nice to see it laid out - thank you.
No trouble. :)
"book three would suck because it wouldn't be about Verity..."
Who says this? I'm really excited to read books about the rest of the family.
Some people. Not me!
"...book three would suck because it wouldn't be about Verity..."

Is their world so finite that it can only be experienced through the lens of a single camera? That they only want to hear the song in a single voice??

I don't expect authors or their characters to make the same choices I would make any more than I expect that from my friends and family. I read and watch to experience a different world, a different story, a different life. Sometimes I wish I could stay there forever. Sometimes I'm glad the story or episode is finite and I can come back to my own story. And sometimes I can't decide. :-)

If you (or any author/artist) catered always to my expectations, the end result would be a pale shadow of what it could be.
I'm glad you understand. :)
Pieces like this are so helpful to fans and to others just starting out on the path! Thanks for taking the time to explain what it is like on the other side of the pen. And keep up the great work!
Very welcome!
I'm one of the folks that wrote to you asking about QUILTBAG characters in the Toby universe. Was I annoyed that said character(s) didn't appear until the third book? No, I was delighted when said characters appeared. That being said, it is probably a good idea to explain the publishing cycle to folks who are less patient, but equally rabid fans. ;)

A FEED 20th Anniversary edition would rock. Especially a Subterranean Press 20th edition...
I sometimes hate that I can't make change be instant, or even retroactive (although then I'd probably get the whole "accusations of editing the past). But I do it as fast as I can!

...man, that would be great.
I think that it is interesting both for readers and reviewers. Many of them often make some guesses, which differ from real life.
Thanks for information.
Very welcome.