Writing success, it ain't all roses
No, I'm not talking about myself. In the grand scheme of the publishing world, I'm only a tiny blip on the radar, if even that. This is not the case for Pat Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind). Pat became an international bestselling author with his debut novel; he has something like 27 foreign rights deals, movie, gaming, etc., etc. I don't know what all he has by now, but it's a lot. The Name of the Wind was his first book and it came out the same year as Magic Lost, Trouble Found. He was one of the five finalists for the Compton Crook Award for that year (and about every other major award), and I was incredibly honored to be included in his company in being considered for the Compton Crook. (Though BTW, neither one of us won. ; ) That honor went to great writer and now friend, Mark Van Name.) I've never had the honor of meeting Pat (and I hope to one day), but from everything I've read and heard, he's simply one hell of a great guy.
Pat's working on the sequel to The Name of the Wind, titled Wise Man's Fear. It's not finished yet. My books are approx. 100K words, Pat's are somewhere around 300K+ His books take longer to write, and perfection takes time. Most of his fans are patient -- some are not. I'm blessed with the greatest fans in the world; but apparently as an author achieves Pat's level of success, some of the "fans" aren't so nice; some can be downright rude, nasty, ugly, and words I won't say here. Pat's blog recently reminded me why I'm perfectly happy with where I am in my career right now. Don't get me wrong; I'd love a movie/TV/gaming deal, and foreign rights deals out the yinyang -- eventually. But I'm content to wait for success to come gradually and in its own good time -- for some of the very reasons Pat lists in his blog. If I were in his situation, I think I'd react in the exact same way to sudden success.
For those of you pre-published authors who want the whole "fame & fortune" thing with your first book right out of the gate, read Pat's blog. It'll give you an entirely different perspective.
Lisa
P.S.: I'll be adding Pat's blog to my regular morning reading. Incredibly funny, entertaining. and insightful -- this guy gives good blog.
Pat's working on the sequel to The Name of the Wind, titled Wise Man's Fear. It's not finished yet. My books are approx. 100K words, Pat's are somewhere around 300K+ His books take longer to write, and perfection takes time. Most of his fans are patient -- some are not. I'm blessed with the greatest fans in the world; but apparently as an author achieves Pat's level of success, some of the "fans" aren't so nice; some can be downright rude, nasty, ugly, and words I won't say here. Pat's blog recently reminded me why I'm perfectly happy with where I am in my career right now. Don't get me wrong; I'd love a movie/TV/gaming deal, and foreign rights deals out the yinyang -- eventually. But I'm content to wait for success to come gradually and in its own good time -- for some of the very reasons Pat lists in his blog. If I were in his situation, I think I'd react in the exact same way to sudden success.
For those of you pre-published authors who want the whole "fame & fortune" thing with your first book right out of the gate, read Pat's blog. It'll give you an entirely different perspective.
Lisa
P.S.: I'll be adding Pat's blog to my regular morning reading. Incredibly funny, entertaining. and insightful -- this guy gives good blog.
posted by Lisa Shearin at
6:05 AM
7 Comments:
Hahahahaha, those comics were hilarious. How does that happen--a book is slated to come out on a certain date, and then the date gets pushed back?
Pat explains it in the blog below the comics. Quite simply, if a book isn't finished, it doesn't come out. Any number of issues can cause an author not to be able finish a book on time; Pat goes into a couple of them.
:) Great blog from you and Pat. I have lost my rose-tinted glasses about writing. Strangely, all the down sides don't make me want to stop. Writing's something that has to be done.
Thank you! Nothing in the world could make me quit writing either. But this is something I've told Derek over the past few months -- gradual success works for me. Too much change too soon does cause stress & stress certainly affects your writing.
However if Joss Whedon or Peter Jackson is reading this -- I THRIVE on change, bring on that TV or movie deal! ; )
Poor Pat! I love his book, and I can't wait for the 2nd book to come out! I was a little sad that it's been postponed, but I can wait for perfection :) Plus, there are other books coming out like TTWD! Unless there's been a change that I don't know about... :D
P.S. I would love to see Raine and co. on the big screen!
No worries, TTWD is coming out on time -- April 28.
It sounds almost like he's got a troll - a commenter who write deliberately annoying/incendiary comments apparently to get a rise out of folks. Writer Beware has one on their blog currently, too. {lop-sided smile}
Hang around the net long enough, and you will encounter a troll on the net. If you don't let it scare you away, you'll eventually encounter more. Amazingly enough, they eventually become ignorable, one way or another. That is the best response. If you don't "feed" the trolls the angry comments they're hoping for, they leave for better feeding grounds. {Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
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