"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

[John Jarrold]

Certainly, in the UK the fantasy audience has been considered to be at least 50% female for many years - I can remember the Head Fantasy and SF Buyer from W H Smiths saying exactly that to me when I worked for Random House in London in the early 90s - and Fantasy far outsold SF over here by then - it had probably overtaken SF sales at least ten years earlier, with Brooks, Eddings, Feist and Donaldson, then Robert Jordan in the late 80s. Conan, it ain't. Certainly when I published Maggie Furey's first novel, AURIAN, over ten years ago (with a stroing female leading character), we received many letters from women readers - and the same was true when I published SF by Iain Banks and Ken MacLeod. Anne McCaffrey was a leader in this area, of course. Again, I can see a split in the market between the UK and the US, becuase Martin and Hobb are amongst the best-selling fantasy authors over here, and I'd say they're thoughtful writers who don't go for the testosterone market (thank god. Boring, boring, boring). It's interesting to see the similarities and differences between the two reading publics.

It's a commercial decision to publish romantic fantasy, but I do believe the audience for the last twenty years and more has been far more evenly split on gender lines than accepted wisdom would have us assume...

[JDP]

Hi, sorry to backtrack a little, but I am currently editing the final draft of my fantasy novel which I hope to soon submit to agents. It is a little over 100,000 words as I have been told to count them (by manuscript length as opposed to raw wordcount). It is the first book of a trilogy with a predicted total 'count of around 320,000.

Am I handicapping myself by submitting a manuscript of this length; is this too short for the current UK market? Does the 100-120k 'limit' pertain to series' or stand-alone novels? Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

[John Jarrold]

At that legnth, if it's special enough it'll be taken seriously, either as a stand-alone or a series. Series novels - or related novels in the same world - work better commercially than stand-alones...

[JDP]

Phew, that's put my mind to rest! Many thanks for taking the time to answer, John.

[Leisha]

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

At that legnth, if it's special enough it'll be taken seriously, either as a stand-alone or a series. Series novels - or related novels in the same world - work better commercially than stand-alones...

It's funny you should say that. I've read loads of comments on various forums, blogs, and other places, and people say they're fed up of series; they want to find a simple book that has no strings attached, without the need to buy multiple books to complete the tale, or buy more novels in a series full stop. I've also read that people are fed up with trilogies... In fact, these people blame the authors for writing "bloated, padded books to drag out a simple tale", when, in reality, the authors are only writing what they like and the publishers want...

I think a tale should span as many books as needed, as long as the authors are not deliberately padding out their novels to fill some predefined word count.

Are these people just a minority, or do you think the trend will catch on and publishers will mostly want single books in the future?

[Troo]

Publishers are starting to see the wonder of novels such as Banks' Culture series: A world in which stories are set, but don't require a reader pick up the very first one in order to enjoy the rest.

When a market tires of one thing, it stops buying it. This is how publishers realise the market wants something else. It's all quite organic

[Leisha]

So what happens to authors whose tales really do need to span a few books?

Oh, and here's a couple of articles I've just dug up:

The Modern Fantasy Diet: A feature by spike magazine
steveblock.com » Books That Are Too Long (and posts as well)

This man agrees, but at least has the sense to not blame the authors: Bloated Fantasy Books » Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

I just hope this trend doesn't catch on too much!

[John Jarrold]

Personally, I'd say that anyone who confuses George R R Martin's intelligent fantasy with David Eddings doesn't understand the genre. Just because George's books are long, that doesn't make them bad - any more than a short book is necessarily good.

And the bloke from Spike can rage as much as he wants - publishing is a commercial business and many writers will write what sells and publishers will publish what sells. I've said it before: the straightforward Tolkienesque fantasy is no longer the be-all and end-all of the genre. But series sell FAR better than one-off novels, therefore publishers will continue to sell them. The majority or readers want a comfy armchair, want to return to a world they know, recognise and in which they feel at home. And as Troo says, sometimes we'll be talking about inter-related books that are not direct sequels.

I've published Robert Holdstock with two different companies over the years, and he is one of my favourite writers - we've been friends for over thirty years. But the best commercial deal I EVER did was acquiring the first three Robert Jordan WHEEL OF TIME novels for Orbit Books in London. And I'm proud of that. It's a business.

[Leisha]

I think, since the internet took off, people are too quick to voice their opinions ("free-speech" an' all). As an aspiring writer, I hate people who are quick to attack popular authors. Maybe they're jealous? I sometimes wonder if they know what hard work goes into writing a novel... And for the likes of Martin, he'll have gone through years of multiple writes and rewrites just to bring his work into shape. For someone to come along and criticise all of his hard work... to me, that's just terrible.

It makes you wonder if someone would say the same about my work, assuming I'll ever be published. Then again, I've heard you need a thick skin to stay in the business...

And I'm proud of that. It's a business.

And judging by your recent sales, you're doing very well! Good luck with it.

[John Jarrold]

Thank you!

I've read George Martin's stuff since the late 70s and 80s, when he wrote SF - a terrific novel called DYING OF THE LIGHT and a wonderful short story called SANDKINGS stick in my mind. He's a class act. It's generally accepted that his SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series is the most Shakespearean of modern epic fantasy, with its subtle ironies, involved families and curses rebounding upon the senders. And his characters are terrific.

[Leisha]

I've read book one of Martin's aSoIaF, though I haven't had chance to read the rest -- but I will! I've only heard good things about it... Oh, and I think it's great that he's not scared of killing off main characters. Some writers could learn a thing or two!

When I first started reading fantasy again (school had put me off reading for quite a few years), I start with a book called Wit'ch Fire by James Clemens. That novel showed me books could be wonderful, and then I read the rest of his series and looked for more!

I still consider myself a newbie to books as a whole, but I will get there in time. This forum has already pointed me towards some good authors, such as Gemmell.

[John Jarrold]

Worth looking at Guy Gavriel Kay, too. TIGANA and the SARANTIUM books are probably my favourites...

[Leisha]

I'm bogged under with Gemmell books from the library at the moment, but I'll remember that, thank you!

[John Jarrold]

More books, more books...!

[Leisha]

I don't have the shelf space! Argh! Right now I'm sat in my comfy chair, with four Gemmell novels piled up on the right arm and two Eddings and a Piers Anthony on the left! Oh, and some chocolate biscuits on top (my supplies)!

Ah, it's the life...

Now if only I can stop hanging around these forums so I can actually get some reading and writing done.