About the schedule

JohnRoth wrote:
The year-long lead time is mandated by the distributors for major releases.

Then we need to break that "mandate". To be honest, it seems a lot like what used to be known as "prior restraint of trade".

Just like there used to be a mandate that retailers sell at "MSRP". That went by the wayside as well.

OrlandoNative wrote:

JohnRoth wrote:
The year-long lead time is mandated by the distributors for major releases.

Then we need to break that "mandate". To be honest, it seems a lot like what used to be known as "prior restraint of trade".

Just like there used to be a mandate that retailers sell at "MSRP". That went by the wayside as well.

Well, if they were just sitting on it for a year for the sheer heck of it that would be true, but there's a lot going on in that time, and lot of demand for that time.

They've got to proofread and edit the draft manuscript (which can take a few months all on it's own), and then do all the typesetting magic to get it ready to go to print. Maps, graphics, and cover art need to be integrated and set. Then you've got to schedule the print run itself, and from what I've read that can be a bottleneck that has to be scheduled well in advance, as there isn't massive excess printing capacity just sitting around. Then you need time for marketing, shipping, and agreements from the retailers to buy some in that time frame.

Publishers are able to cram all of that into 3 months, and we've seen them do it to make a business time table. Editing is usually the first thing cut when that happens. It probably also irks all the other authors who get their works bumped to facilitate the special snowflake going through.

Now, you could argue that the Mad Wizard doesn't need a lot of resources from the publishing grind other than book prints themselves, as his eARCs are amazingly close to the final version, with very thorough authorial editing. Many other writers aren't that talented in that regard, though, even if they otherwise pen a great story.

If you're a fan at all of Brandon Sanderson, look at the very detailed info he keeps constantly updated on his website on the progress of his books. It's an amazing dedication to transparency - he updates the percentage of the book he's completed as he's writing the first draft, then once the draft is turned in to Tor he tracks all of the publishing/distribution processes that take place in that 'mandated' year for major releases, and it's a lot of work. His Stormlight Archive books are monstrous 800+ page tomes (and great reads), so they're comparable to the MWW's longer novels. The first, second, and third draft proofreading and editing took a good 6 months after draft submission, then he tracked the building of the full submission print, the galley proof, and finally the final pass proofread. The book will hit shelves almost exactly one year after the first draft was submitted.

I can't believe all the whining about printing delays . I wish we could be given some hint on when the release dates for the recorded versions would be.

NervousEnergy wrote:
Now, you could argue that the Mad Wizard doesn't need a lot of resources from the publishing grind other than book prints themselves, as his eARCs are amazingly close to the final version, with very thorough authorial editing. Many other writers aren't that talented in that regard, though, even if they otherwise pen a great story.

You mush have read a different version of CoG than I did. I read the one where people teleported across the galaxy between two chapters.

kzt wrote:

NervousEnergy wrote:
Now, you could argue that the Mad Wizard doesn't need a lot of resources from the publishing grind other than book prints themselves, as his eARCs are amazingly close to the final version, with very thorough authorial editing. Many other writers aren't that talented in that regard, though, even if they otherwise pen a great story.

You mush have read a different version of CoG than I did. I read the one where people teleported across the galaxy between two chapters.

Perhaps that was one of Eric Flint's editing lapses? The Torch series -- and any other co-authored works -- can't be used as examples of David's self-editing prowess.

Frankly, the only issue that I'm concerned about (besides RFC's continued health and well being) is the release date of the eARC. I often go months or longer before getting the actual release, since I've never noticed any glaring differences between the two.

So I won't moan about the looooooong wait to get the dead tree version into my grubby little paws. I'll just chafe until the eARC is available. (Using hypothetical baby powder to ease the chafing while I wait!)

Hi,

Just registered for the forum to be able to ask what the sequel will be for 'A Rising Thunder' in the Honorverse? Would that be the upcoming 'Uncompromising Honor'?

At the moment I'm reading 'A Rising Thunder', which ends the project I started this summer: Reading Honorverse. Ofcourse I have a few other (David Weber) books. But what would you advice me to read after Thunder?

Macamba

Read Shadow of Victory, then wait for Uncompromising Honor to come out.

Duckk wrote:Read Shadow of Victory, then wait for Uncompromising Honor to come out.

If you have not read it yet, "Cauldron of Ghosts" was published between "A Rising Thunder" and Shadow of Victory" and overlaps the events in ART.

Doe UH have a release date yet?