I've come to the conclusion that outside sources can influence my reading. In this day in age, where we interact with authors and have a good idea of who they are and how much of advance they may receive, two things come to mind while reading a book.
The first is reader expectation. When you have a favorite author who you feel should deliver a grade "A" book every time, you may be in for a surprise when that much beloved author of yours doesn't deliver for you. This has happened to me with two of my favorite authors in the recent months. I think it's because I've become more critical while I read because I'm not only reading as an every day reader, but because I have gone through the writing and editing process. I end up catching things more with a critical eye.
Two of my favorite historical authors, Anna Campbell and Lisa Kleypas, have been big misses with me with their last two releases. Campbell's Captive of Sin didn't impress me in anyway and her latest, My Reckless Surrender was a very big dud. The same goes with Kleypas's Hathaway series. I adored the first two books in this series with Seduce Me at Sunrise and Mine Till Midnight. But when it came to Tempt Me at Twilight I was beyond disappointed.
I've just finished Married by Morning, the much anticipated release about Leo Hathaway and his desire for his sisters' governess, Catherine Marks. I enjoyed both character in the past books and a perfect setup for their story.
**Beware Spoiler**
But after I finished Married by Morning, I felt something was very lacking. The love scenes were tepid and the interaction and dialogue between Leo and Catherine didn't excite. There's also a last minute, "let's shock the reader and do something dastardly to Catherine so Leo can come to her rescue and cement their love and give them their HEA." I also abhor when the heroines, such as Catherine, is more than willing to roll around the sheets with the Leo, but when he asks her to marry him, she refuses multiple times on the basis that she isn't good enough for him because of her past. What we have here is this proper young woman, who is more than willing to give into her lust for the much desirable hero, but when it comes to marry her so-called "Prince Charming", she becomes a martyr for some reason. I really don't get that at all.
I wouldn’t say I am breaking up with either Campbell or Kleypas just yet, but I won't be anxious to read their next book to the point that I have to have it now.
Another example of reader expectation deals with a big advance an author may receive for their next book or books. I had asked the question on Twitter in regards to: If an author gets a huge advance in the high 7 figures, do you expect their book to be an amazing read? Does that influence your reading?
When Audrey Niffenegger arrived on the scene with her very, very successful, The Time Traveler's Wife, I knew when she was going to release her second book she would get a big advance. Not only was it big, but huge. In March 2009, Niffenegger sold her second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, for an advance of $5 million to Charles Scribner's Sons, a unit of Simon and Schuster, after a fiercely contested auction (from Wikipedia). Now you would assume for a $5 million advance, Her Fearful Symmetry would blow readers' away and counted as one of the best books of the decade. It didn't sell as well as expected and although Niffenegger didn't have the sells or accolades like The Times Traveler's Wife, she still made bank because of her huge advance
The latest book that has me wondering if it will do well because of the hype and the huge advance is The Passage by Justin Cronin. Now, we all know what I think of this book and I have no doubt that it will sell very well. But right off the bat I was biased because I knew how big of advance Cronin received, along with his big movie deal for the book. I expected The Passage, after hearing all the hype, to make me sit on the edge of my seat and read straight through those 800 pages and want more. In my case it failed to deliver. I now can't help but wonder if the hype is more than what it seems.
Stephenie Meyer received a $750,000 advance for the first three books in her Twilight series as an unknown and $600,000 alone for The Host. From what I can remember, there wasn't that big of a hype when Twilight came out, (please correct me if I'm wrong) but through word of mouth, her series became the blockbuster it is now and it doesn't seem to let up anytime soon.
Every time I read about a debut or even an established author receiving a high 6 or 7 figure advance, my first reaction is good for them, then my second is their book is going to be an amazing read. But if you read a book, knowing who the author is, or how much they are getting paid for their work, how do you feel when you finish it and it's so very lacking? Do you feel betrayed in some way? Should a high advance influence what you may expect from a book, as well as an author favorite?
13 comments:
OK, so candidly? It's probably because I'm a reader and not an author, I could give a crap about an author's advance. Doesn't impact me, doesn't effect my expectation of the book, has 0% on my enjoyment of the book.
The thing that will impact my enjoyment is how well the book is written. Sure, there have been plenty of books I've read that didn't remotely live up to the hype. Hype either by other readers, or by publishing companies. Do I care that the author got paid? Nope. That's business. I have no sense of betrayal or hurt. And I certainly DON'T feel sorry for the publisher who doled out the big advance check.
Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the Kleypas. I can't wait to read it. You might want to consider a spoiler tag, though, since it's a very new release and you do talk a bit about the plot line in this post.
Kati: Took your advice and placed spoiler.
I almost was going to mention the comparison to movies. So much is mentioned about how much an actor will get for their role in such and such movie. So, in that case, if an actor get $20 million for a movie and it doesn't do well at the box office, knowing how much and actor of director received, should the movie be enjoyable because of how much money was spent on it?
Since I really don't keep up on what kind of advance an author is getting for their books etc. I'd have to say that factor doesn't impact me at all. If a favorite author is putting out a new release, then of course I have expectations based on their previous books and why I liked them.
I have no idea what any author makes and I really don't care one way or the other about it.
I read what sounds good based on blurb and often the authors name alone. Some are great some not so great but the authors income has absolutely ZERO to do with any of it for me.
I'm not impressed or swayed by money in anyway.
I don't care what an author makes or doesn't make. I don't buy my books because any author has lots of money - I buy them based on MY taste, expectations from the blurbs and perhaps other reviews, and very rarely by the cover.
Not once have I ever considered an author's paycheck when purchasing a book or sitting down to read it.
I certainly wish them well in their work, but their advances etc, have no effect on my reading their work- ever.
MsM
Captive of Sin didn't do much for me, either. In fact, I couldn't finish it. Haven't bought the latest Campbell book yet...
I don't keep up with what kind of advances authors get, so I don't really think it affects my reading. But I do agree that expectations influence reading, and if you expect a lot from an author, it's doubly disappointing when the book isn't great.
When I read paper books I was totally unaware of stuff like that so I guess I had no expectations. Now I read m/m and they all have to work full time to put food on the table so it's not an issue at all.
I do presume that level of payment commensurates with talent. You don't find basketball players that can't hit the basket getting $10 million a season, and I would presume the publisher believes they are going to get a superior product if they are willing to pay big bucks and the author has somehow proven themselves. Of course there are always one hit wonders who can never capture that first book. But if the person "employing" this author believes their talent worth $5 million, then I should see an output equally worth $5 million (which SHOULD mean a quality product). But shit happens, companies make mistakes and back the wrong horse sometimes.
I do find it had when i expect more and am let down. I found one of the sookie stackhouse books like this and its making me hesitant to read the next.
Also if the series is to long, I LOVE the Outlander series but haven't read the new one yet as I just can't face any more of the drama. I'd rather read from the beginning again
I don't really care how much an author makes, that's more their business than mine.
I don't remember Twilight being that adored in the earlier stages. I know that when I was in high school, a couple of my friends enjoyed it because it was a quick, easy read with vocabulary that... well. Whatever, it was quick and easy to read.
I think Twilight ultimately resonated with so many readers due to the fact that it was about vampires and it was in a high school setting. Lots of people could relate to it in that sense.
I do care about the hype. There was a paranormal-YA that the publisher and bloggers were going on and on about recently. This in turn, made me even more excited for it. However, when I actually read the book, it disappointed me. The characters were two dimensional and the book was horribly cliched. THAT annoys me. I almost wish all that time and effort was used for multiple books instead of focusing on just one.
I am also disappointed when an author, who's been writing a series for a while, begins to flatline. What I mean by that is when the first couple of books were amazing, but because the series gets dragged out for so long, it grows tiring, old, and almost sloppy in some ways.
and repetitive! That's really a downer
*gasp*
Did you dare criticize a book? Horrors.
All kidding aside, I don't pay much attention to what the author has been advanced. Its the maddening overhype and gushing I'm seeing about a book and I'm sorely disappointed when I get my hands on the book itself.
Not every author gets an advance. Most of the time, if an author gets an advance, it's very small.
I get the impression readers think most published authors are rolling in the dough - not. Most of us work very hard at the day job to pay the bills.
I read books because I love to read, however, just like the basketball analogy above, if you are paid mega-bucks to play, then by God, you better produce or the fans will get pissed off. I guess it bothers me when I spend my money on a book that's poorly written regardless of the advance an author gets. To be honest I don't really think about it - but there is quite a bit of inequity built into the system. Just because you write a great first book doesn't guarantee you'll ever repeat the feat. So yeah, as an author I guess I wish the money was a bit more spread out.
Publishers have lost big time in recent years by putting all their eggs in just a few baskets.
I don't consider the amount of money per se; I consider it a function of the author being so popular and such a guaranteed seller that they don't get edited/critiqued as they should. Why should a publisher risk pissing off a star rainmaker when it won't impact the bottom line. It also probably has to do with the author losing interest in the characters and not having their heart in it anymore.
I've felt let down by Charlaine Harris and hope she can pull the Sookie books out of the weird rut they're in lately, Laurell Hamilton has lost me utterly and completely.
On a side note, some of it is a matter of taste. Tempt Me at Twilight is my favorite Hathaway book and one of my favorite Kleypas books as well although Married by Morning was a bit on the wan and pale side for me.
Very interesting questions. The advance...doesn't really bother me. Unless it's everywhere I never know what an author is paid for a book. (I did hear about the large advance paid to Audrey Niffenegger, but then I'm one of the few people who didn't actually finish The Time Traveler's Wife - I got bored.)
Expectation...yes. The last Nalini Singh book I read I didn't enjoy as much as the others. Don't get me wrong, the writing was good (typical Nalini :) but...the hero and heroine just didn't work for me. Definitely no breaking up going on though. I figure I won't like every book a favourite author writes.
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