Ready for the Journey...

[ellenmillion]

Yesterday I was beaten with an inexplicable sad stick, but today is already much brighter. I have all my clothing and necessities packed for Vegas - leaving gawdawful early tomorrow morning - and just need to pack up laptop (currently in use!), do a load of laundry for a last pair of pants, scoop out the cat box, finish these last orders, and pick which art supplies I take. Bought some used books (fluff - all of it is utter fluff), and WHY WHY WHY are so many fantasy books trilogies? I don't want trilogies. I want to be able to pick up a book off the shelf and just read it. Screw this 'book two of the whoeversong series' and 'the exciting conclusion of the suchandso cycle.' What happened to JUST novels? It's particularly frustrating when you shop used and they always seem to have the second book and NO OTHERS.

(No offense to my trilogy writing LJ friends, of course. I'll still read YOUR books.)

Ended up with a small collection of authors I'd never heard of, some Alaska-based romance by Nora Roberts and... a Star Trek; NG novel. I told you it was fluff. I wanted books I could read in the tub and didn't care if I dropped.

Also, is it me or is the low-low used price now what brand new books used to cost??? I'm getting so old.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

It's not just you. Used books now cost what new books used to cost. They're approaching the top of the impulse-buy range. New books are well above it. That's part of what is depressing the publishing industry; they're pricing themselves out of the market.

That's another advantage to cyberfunded creativity -- things can be priced at or below the impulse range. The bottom two prices for my fishbowl poems are $5 and $10. Most people will buy anything they find remotely interesting for $5 or less; they'll think twice before spending $10 but they'll go ahead and do it for something they know they'll like. Much more than that, and you're into plan-ahead territory for plenty of people.

[uneide.livejournal.com]

*cough* well I'm writing a trilogy -- and I'll tell you why. Most agents and editors at the Writing conferences/ publishing houses are looking for trilogies, or at least one sequel. They want to be able to project over the next few years, and gage whether you're worth taking on. Sadly, for a one shot it generally just isn't. :(

[pers1stence.livejournal.com]

While I don't mind the occasional trilogy or series, I do miss the days when there seemed to be more stand-alone novels.

Now I fear buying fantasy/sf novels because of the potential commitment. And then what happens if the author ends up like Robert Jordan? 4/5 of the way through the series that one's been following for FIFTEEN YEARS and then he dies.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Publishers like series. It keeps people coming back. It's a whole different skill set to keep them coming back for stand-alones. :)

And yes, low-low used prices are now comparable to what brand new books cost twenty years ago. Oi. :)

[renatus.livejournal.com]

I hear you on the trilogies. I like it when there's more to read in a world I've discovered I've liked, but it drives me nuts when I have to wait for and find more books to find out the complete story.

It annoys me enough that my mind has rebelled and isn't interested in thinking of storylines more than a book long. The characters and worlds are flexible enough to hold additional stories, and the reader gets a little more out of them by having read the previous ones, but you'd better believe each one is going to be more or less self-contained. I appreciate authors who do that and pull it off, too (Mieville seems to be doing well on this front).

[pixiewildflower.livejournal.com]

*huggles* Yes, you are right about the books. Everything keeps going up and up!

[dormantdrake.livejournal.com]

we shall all be old together!

I find myself wondering when I spend four bucks on a used book, "isn't that new book price?"

[jenelycam.livejournal.com]

You've probably told me this, but where are you staying? I can't wait until we go to vegas in...FORTY THREE DAYS!!! ^__^ Have fun out there!! *HUGS*

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I hear you on the trilogies. It's not that I want them to go away ... it's just that sometimes, I'd like the option of reading a book without committing myself to finding the whole set! And while there *are* fantasy authors who write mainly stand-alones (Diana Wynne Jones and Nancy Springer come to mind) the publishing market is definitely geared towards series.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Trilogies are... weird creatures.

I blame the publishers of Lord of the Rings, for taking a single book and separating it into three separate ones, when they were never meant to be separate.

[celticwren.livejournal.com]

I hear you on the trilogy thing, I do the exact same thing ("Argh, this is book two and I have to go and find book one somewhere, screw this!"). I am a bit spoiled on the book front, there is a thing here call "The Book Thing" and the books are free, people donate them.

[shellstar-art.livejournal.com]

I am so with you on the trilogies! It annoys me almost every time I go to the fantasy/sci fi section of the library.