"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

[Boneman]

Hi John,
forgive me if this goes to the wrong place...apologies to all if it does! When an agent/publisher says "We aim to get back to you within x" and it's been 2x, or 3x, or x squared, what is the best thing to do? Naturally we don't want to upset them if they're really busy by being a pest, and we'd like to know one way or the other, should we follow up with a polite email/letter/ phone call, or just carry on with the rewrites we're doing, and wait?
Many thanks,
Boneman

[Boneman]

Aaargh! It did go to the wrong place....... I must read those instructions more carefully.... sorrrrry!

[David Gullen]

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

throughout the Fantasy/SF/Horror genres, series sell far better than one-offs. The days of Stephen King and Peter Straub changing setting with each novel are gone.

Does that not cause problems with readers trying out new writers? If I see a book I want to read, and it's number 2 or 3 or 4 in a series, I don't buy it. What I want to do is buy book 1 and the way many book shops are these days there is no chance. Of course I could take the time to buy it online, but I usually buy a book because I fancy something to read -now-.
Maybe I'm the exception.

John, do you know if sales tend to pick up as you go on into a series? I'd be interested to know especially with the longer series (more than 3 books).

[Urien]

John,

What magazines/publications, websites/blogs (besides this great site), and societies or author groups, do you recommend buying or frequenting in order to keep up to date with trends and opportunities in the SFF genre and fiction publishing more generally.

Thanks in advance. Apologies for the large compound question.

AVS

[Kissmequick]

throughout the Fantasy/SF/Horror genres, series sell far better than one-offs. The days of Stephen King and Peter Straub changing setting with each novel are gone.

I have to agree with Dave there. It's bloody annoying not being able to find book 1 in the shop, so I don't bother starting half way through. Even worse is when I get book one and find that actually it's just a bloody great prologue for book 2 and there is no sense of resolution ( apart from the revelation that you'll have to buy another book for it), just a great big anti-climatic 'Oh, is that it?'. In which case book 2 never gets bought.

Mind you I quite like series where individual books are stand alone, because I can pick up whichever one is in the shop / I fancy and not find that I'm missing something ( a la the Dresden Files for instance).

I'd love to see more stand alones, even if they are all set in the same world or whathaveyou.

Yeah, yeah I know, I'm being old fashioned. Again.

[Spectro]

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

Definitely over 100,000 words - 120/140,000 is fine. And throughout the Fantasy/SF/Horror genres, series sell far better than one-offs. The days of Stephen King and Peter Straub changing setting with each novel are gone. Have a look at the recent writers on the horror shelves in your local bookshops.

Thanks John

[John Jarrold]

Originally Posted by David Gullen

Does that not cause problems with readers trying out new writers? If I see a book I want to read, and it's number 2 or 3 or 4 in a series, I don't buy it. What I want to do is buy book 1 and the way many book shops are these days there is no chance. Of course I could take the time to buy it online, but I usually buy a book because I fancy something to read -now-.
Maybe I'm the exception.

John, do you know if sales tend to pick up as you go on into a series? I'd be interested to know especially with the longer series (more than 3 books).

Yes, you are the exception, in terms of the sales of commercial SFF! Those of us on this forum are not the average punter, who runs into a bookshop on a wet Wednesday and wants product recognition. That's where bestsellers come from. I know a number of published authors who have been told their next project will not be picked up unless it's an ongoing series, not a one-off. And one way around the thoughts you mention is the Iain M Banks Culture route - related stories in the same background, but not direct sequels. A number of authors and publishers are looking at that now, too. But Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Robert Jordan, Tad Williams, Terry Goodkind and many, many others prove that the series is the most commercial form of SFF fiction. As Ed McBain, Ian Rankin, Sara Paretsky and many others do in mystery fiction...the majority of readers want a comfy armchair, they want to return to a place they know, peopled by friends.

[John Jarrold]

Originally Posted by Kissmequick

I have to agree with Dave there. It's bloody annoying not being able to find book 1 in the shop, so I don't bother starting half way through. Even worse is when I get book one and find that actually it's just a bloody great prologue for book 2 and there is no sense of resolution ( apart from the revelation that you'll have to buy another book for it), just a great big anti-climatic 'Oh, is that it?'. In which case book 2 never gets bought.

Mind you I quite like series where individual books are stand alone, because I can pick up whichever one is in the shop / I fancy and not find that I'm missing something ( a la the Dresden Files for instance).

I'd love to see more stand alones, even if they are all set in the same world or whathaveyou.

Yeah, yeah I know, I'm being old fashioned. Again.

See my reply to David! You're not being old-fashioned in terms of the past twenty to thirty years, because fantasy series have been the biggest selling part of the SFF genre since the late 70s.

[John Jarrold]

Originally Posted by andrew.v.spencer

John,

What magazines/publications, websites/blogs (besides this great site), and societies or author groups, do you recommend buying or frequenting in order to keep up to date with trends and opportunities in the SFF genre and fiction publishing more generally.

Thanks in advance. Apologies for the large compound question.

AVS

British SF Association, British Fantasy Society; magazines: Interzone, Asimovs, F&SF, Analog; websites/blogs: The Book Swede; Fantasybookcritic; SF Crowsnest; SFRevu - and others will add to this. Author groups, I'd say wait for the response here!

[Kissmequick]

And one way around the thoughts you mention is the Iain M Banks Culture route - related stories in the same background, but not direct sequels. A number of authors and publishers are looking at that now, too.

Glad to hear it!

I was considering starting a petition for more series where each book has its own story arc / resolution ( ie the book wraps ups at least one story element, even if there is an overarching theme to the series) and isn't just a truncated part of a long whole, as well as more series where each book is stand alone.

[John Jarrold]

It will vary from series to series, author to author. But series are here to stay!

[Urien]

Bravo. Thanks, there are some new ones (to me) there. Anything more specifically related to horror?

[SJAB]

Of those John mentioned BSF I would say seem to be more slanted towards Horror. Also the publishers of Interzone, also publisher the Horror mag Black Static.

I would also get going to Cons, you will be surprised how many there are in the year in the UK alone. You meet both fans and those within the publishing industy, both socially and have the pleasure of hearing them speak and debate on panels.

[John Jarrold]

And try googling 'horror fiction' to see which sites pop up!

[Urien]