Many published authors, especially those writing in genre fiction, keep up an incredible pace with their books, sometimes publishing one or more books a year. And it can really be a struggle to keep up with such a breakneck pace.
I’m curious about how you feel about this as both a writer and a reader.
As a reader, do you want a new book from your favorite author every year, or perhaps even more often? What about with a series? Do you expect that you’ll be able to read the next book soon?
As a writer, do you think you could keep up that pace for a decade? Would you like the steady income or would you prefer to let the creative juices marinate a while?
Christopher M. Park says
As a reader, I’m generally happy to wait however long the author takes. I mean, I read a wide variety of authors, so it’s not like I have nothing to read while my favorite authors are laboring over their next works. The main thing I care about is that the author take enough time to do a good job, however much time that might be. For some authors I like, they seem to be able to do multiple books per year. For others, it’s more like a book every 3-5 years.
I guess the sweet spot, for me, seems to be somewhere in the middle — 18-24 months per book seems, to me, to have the overall best quality-to-timeliness ratio. But your mileage may vary, and different authors definitely seem to vary. I certainly don’t penalize books for coming out too quickly or too slowly.
For me, personally, I think I could do a book per year, though I have not managed it yet. So far my best is two years for a book, and before that it was five. With my current WIP, I look to be on schedule for two years again. But a lot of the time spent on these early books is me figuring out the craft, finding my voice, and other things that take time and/or many rewrites. So I think I’m getting faster as I establish myself — not that I want to fall into a routine, or start doing cookie-cutter novels, but there are certain things that get easier with repetition.
I don’t think I’d want to commit to a book per year at the start of my career, but a book every 18-24 months would be doable. If things were then going faster and still working, or if I was writing full time, then that timetable might well shrink. But I think six months is a stretch for me, as some degree of marination is simply a must. Maybe if I was writing two books at a time…
Chris
kidzeppelin says
I think a good compromise between authors and readers is one book a year. It gives the author time to do the book signings, readings, etc. while writing the next one on the side, also some time to maybe write some short stories, other little projects, etc. And I think one a year is enough for readers too. Most have other authors, like to read other things. They can fill that time between your books with other books.
the music industry tends to be on this schedule too. Artists typically try to release an album a year. Sometimes more (Lil’ Wayne, Ryan Adams), sometimes less, (Axl Rose).
Deborah Blake says
As a reader, I prefer an author who does about a book a year (if it takes longer than that, I often have to go back and reread the last one…but that’s my bad memory at fault, not their writing). I’ll certainly wait for a writer I like. Stephen Gould’s Jumper (now out in so-so movie form) was fabulous, and his follow-up book didn’t come out until many (eight, maybe?) years later. I was still darned happy to get it.
As a writer…I am currently published in nonfiction, and managing to do one a year on top of my regular job/life, etc. And last year I wrote a novel, too, which I am now shopping for an agent for.(Wow, awkward sentence…and I call myself a writer.) So I’m thinking that I could do two books a year (one NF and one fiction), especially if I was writing full time.
On the other hand, I am just starting to find out how much non-writing work goes into being an author. Publicity, blogging, checking other people’s blogs (like this one), author appearances, and of course, the ever popular edits and rewrites. I spend as much time on those things as I do writing the books, and it is likely to get worse as I get betten known. Just comes with the territory these days.
So I’m guessing that a book or possibly two a year is the best I could manage.
Interesting question, Nathan.
Anonymous says
I have especially appreciated the comments referring to the other arts here.
As a visual artist, it took me years to be ready for my first solo exhibition. Then, for a long time, I was so prolific, I could do as many solo exhibitions as were offered.
But when I was growing, I held back.
During those times, I have germinated and developed and then shown very big growth in my work.
The important thing for me, (aside, of course from striving to earn an income and meeting deadlines and expectations of my reps) has been the integrity of the work and how it interests me, as a creative.
When the work, (written, visual, musical, and so on) is interesting to make, it is usually interesting to view/read/listen to too.
Furious D says
It’s hard to say for me.
If I can avoid the constant interruptions, otherwise known as a life, I could probably go better than a book a year. I often do what I think is my best work when I’m running at top speed and not overthinking the project. Because while marinating is good, I gotta move before it spoils. 😉
Betty Atkins Dominguez says
I like series, and yes, historical fiction can be a series. I’d see no problem writing a book a year, since I already have ‘take outs’ from novel one ready for novel two and the background is done, the characters are alive. I’d just have to come up with new conflict for novel’s two and three.
When I write, I tend to have too much happening and have to cull back. Current manuscript started out covering an entire year, then realized I needed to shorten the time frame. Now, I actually have outlines (minus new conflicts) for 4 novels.
Betty Atkins Dominguez says
Addendum: For historical fiction, From the amount of research put in, I’d be very unhappy not to be able to use all that ‘new’ knowledge.
Ben Sloan says
Some people seem to think that if you produce books too quickly you must suck. Elitist, I say!
I’ll take them however quickly an author can comfortably crank them out, though any more than 1 book a week would probably out pace my reading habits.
TALON says
Interesting question. Myself, I’ve always loved anticipating a new release from a favorite author. Back in the days when hard covers were the norm before the book came out in paperback, 2 years might pass before I could afford to pick up the latest book and the anticipation was almost as good as reading the book. Plus, I’d have time to absorb all the reviews. I’ve never been one to read serial books…the few I’ve read were already long out so I had the advantage of picking them all up at once and being able to read one after the other. Sometimes this was an enjoyable experience, sometimes not so much – lol!
As a writer, there’s an ebb and flow that takes place. There are times when the flow is sweet and pure and plentiful. There are times when the flow slows to a trickle.
It becomes obvious (at least to me) when reviewing a body of work, when the author has churned out a novel as opposed to having crafted a good read.
whatever trevor. says
as a writer, i think that if i can write a book in two weeks, then i think i could publish at least two a year.
and as a reader, i crave more by my favorite authors. they usually take too long for me and i try not to lose interest.
fake consultant says
there are bloggers who are surely keeping up that pace…on my own site last year i posted more than 100 original stories, typically running to 1500 words–and i’m hardly the only one.
teacherken’s blog and the wesminster wisdom blog are superbly written anthology sites that are essentially a book a year.
Simon Haynes says
I started writing the fourth novel in the Hal Spacejock series in April 2007, and it was just released a couple of weeks ago. Now I’m working on book five, and I expect that one to be released late next year.
12-14 months seems about right to me. I couldn’t possibly write two a year – not when I do about 20-25 drafts of a novel before my editor even gets to see it.
Those authors talented enough to bash out half a dozen print-ready novels a year .. well, good luck to them.
Joe Iriarte says
Ben Sloan: You crack me up! 😀
Cloudscudding says
As a reader, I’d prefer once every six months, especially for a continuing series, but I’m okay with one a year. Mostly, I want to have a way to be notified when the new books will come out, so I won’t miss any.
As a writer, my first (unpublished) novel took six months. My second took about two years, and I’m doing the revisions now. It’s a question of density.
JDuncan says
Honestly, it probably depends a lot on what you write. If you write romances, which tend on average to have some of the lower word counts, it would be easier to put out two or more books in a year. To do that though generally requires the time to dedicate and unless one is established enough to make ends meet just on writing, I think it would be very difficult for an author to write more than one, at best two books in a year. I’d be quite happy selling a book a year. If I was fortunate enough to make decent money off of my books, and could write full time, I could likely do 2-3 books a year without too much difficulty. When you think about the numbers, if you consistently wrote 8-10 pages a day for most of the year, which if you write full time is not an absurd number, you’d put out a draft of a 100k novel in under six weeks. Throw in editing time and the back and forth with publishers and such, and doing four books a year does not sound like the insane amount that most folks think. On the otherhand, I do believe that not all writers are capable of doing that on a consistent basis. I’d stick with two books a year myself, even if I could write like that. As a reader, a book a year form someone works fine for me.
JDuncan
Betty Atkins Dominguez says
I have a friend who puts out at least two books a year. Mysteries. She writes them start to finish and out they go. She is pubbed in about 5 countries. Can you imagine?
tys says
My favourite author just released his latest book… 7 years since his previous one. I’d happily read a new book from him every six months, but I love his books because they are almost flawless, and I wouldn’t expect less… so I wait.
I’m amazed at those people who write 2-3K per day and still finish 1-2 books in a year.
I can churn out the words, but it takes me 3 months to have my work critiqued, another couple of months to re-write, and 3 months to have the re-write critiqued. And that doesn’t count the 6 months that I leave them to rest in the bottom drawer.
So I’m a 2 books every 2 years kind of person… working on a second project whilst the first is stewing or being critiqued.
That equates to a book per year (if they’re staggered) but I’d hate anything I actually wrote from start to finish in a year or less.
Each to their own process I guess.
sex scenes at starbucks says
I constantly have more than one project going–short stories, books, screenplays, and editing. I drafted what I consider my best book in four months. Right now I’m revising a book, drafting another (very different story), pondering a new short story, editing content for an internet product, and I’m knee-deep in final production for our next issue, which comes out in, gulp, 6 days. I could feature writing more than one book a year. As I go I get more efficient.
pomonahall says
Series with worlds that have already been built and characters that have already been created are conducive to the book-a-year pace. Writing entire self-contained novels where even if it’s in the same universe a few generations (and historical changes) have passed? I think not. Not if you want rich and realistic stories, AFAIK.
aiwritingfic says
I wrote over 144,400 words last year, so one could say I’ve done two novels’ worth of words. But if I told you that 144,400 words was accumulated over almost 100 stories ranging from 100-word drabbles to 28,000-word novellas, what would you say?
ManiacScribbler says
If I had the creative juices to write something high quality once per year, that would be awesome.
And I like being able to read something new from authors each year, but with some it doesn’t matter. I have such a limited book budget (and my home town’s library is pitiful in a way), that I have a lot of back log with some authors, so I have to catch up with them (and am still playing that catch up. Haha). So it all depends.
I would love to be able to write that much, but I enjoy being able to read and savour over a longer period of time. A year is good.
ManiacScribbler =^..^=
Dawn Colclasure says
Yes to both. I definitely like seeing new books from my favorite authors every year. Also, I really think I could do a book a year. If only my editor would set aside the time to pencil me in and work with me to get my manuscript into shape — instead of it taking 2+ years. A book a year? Totally doable! Especially since I have novel ideas like crazy. 😀
Simon Haynes says
“If I was fortunate enough to make decent money off of my books, and could write full time, I could likely do 2-3 books a year without too much difficulty.”
I DO write full time, and one book a year is it for me. (I have two school-age kids and also run a software business, but they don’t really cut into my writing. There’s just a limit to how much intensive creative work I can put in over 12 months.)
Why only one book? Because my ratio of draft wordcount to written, edited, published words is about 1 to 4 … or worse.
For example: my latest published novel is 95,000 words. To get that 95K I wrote over 160,000 and then chopped out nearly half during edits. I then rewrote the remaining half … twice. That’s well over 300,000 words worth of writing for a single short-ish book, which makes completing it in eight months or so suddenly seem very quick indeed.
April Hollands says
Surely a book takes as long as it takes, and we all spend different amounts of time per week writing. So, if I write a novel that takes me five years to write, based on one hour a week, why would it be any better than a novel that you write in a year, spending a typical 40hr work week doing so.
In fact, by my calculations, the one-year novel would be lavished with 2,080 hours of love compared with just 260 hours for the five-year novel. Hopefully this unrealistic exaggeration makes sense!
Anonymous says
As a reader, I prefer a book every two years. I’ve never come across an author who could write them faster *and* keep up the quality I want.
As a writer, it depends on so many things — manuscript length, amount of revision needed, time available to write (and think), life circumstances, etc. I think I could probably do 80-100,000 words of polished final draft per year on average.
(I cruise at about 200-250,000 words of first draft per year, but that’s a long way from final draft.)
My experience is that prolific authors generally publish works I’d consider to be second or third drafts. Personally, I don’t think they’re worth paying money for.
mpe
cc says
I don’t want to “churn out” a book. I don’t want to be a production line, a shoe factory of some sort. Maybe it’s because I’m not a huge genre reader — but I don’t know, crafting a real live story, where the characters linger long after you close the book takes more time than “churning out” a book.
My literary tastes aren’t that high-brow, but I think most in the camp of wanting to read/and write 2-4 books a year by the same author are talking about “Beach Reads.” Which, for me is a whole different matter. Who among us doesn’t stuff a paperback in their bag to read along the way to somewhere?
But I admire staying power. Write a handful of books that really resonate — in the long run you’ll earn out your advance and make royalties, which is better than 20 different churned out versions of the same story that will never earn out your advance.
Right?
Anonymous says
I’m a fan of quality vs quantity. If a writer can create 3 quality books in one year – fantastic. However, I think that scenario is the exception rather than the rule.
Unless it’s a series or I’m interested in the concept, I tend to shy away from books written by the same author within a year. The exception would be reviews, usually on Amazon. If I see one of several books published by the same author very quickly, but it has at least a 4 star rating with 10+ reviews, then I’ll give it a try.
As a writer, I think the number of quality books I can create in a year depends on my time. If I could afford to write full-time, I could definately deliver at least one book per year. I may do two if it’s part of a series in which the world, characters and plot are continuous. However I don’t think I would ever commit to anything more than two per year.
I would rather have 5 high quality books that people loved instead of 30 average books with average reviews, but that’s just me!
eli.civilunrest says
I would have to say, as a reader, it depends on the author. I know for some authors who publish two to three books a year I’m waiting impatiently, foot tapping, between installments. For others I may need a year to recover from their last book.
I’ve also read some where I’d wished the author would have waited for the editor to come back with some comments (I’m thinking of a certain bestselling horror novelists.
Sheila Lamb says
As a reader, I can wait for a book. I would rather wait and have it be good…the worst is waiting years and it’s not that great. Maybe that’s a sign it is time to end the series 🙂
As a writer (unpublished) I think I could write a book a year, if I didn’t have to work at my real life job.
superwench83 says
I don’t want to “churn out” a book. I don’t want to be a production line, a shoe factory of some sort. Maybe it’s because I’m not a huge genre reader — but I don’t know, crafting a real live story, where the characters linger long after you close the book takes more time than “churning out” a book.
Maybe I’m understanding your comment wrong, but to me it seems like you’re saying that genre fiction as a rule is churned out and of a lesser quality than other books. If that’s really what you believe, then I would say you’re not reading the right genre fiction books.
ORION says
oizqrcwThere is a difference between “writing” a book a year and “publishing” a book a year.
In my case?
The initial learning curve of what it takes to have a publishable novel and being involved in a situation in which my first novel was put out there really fast (and fast in this case was 19 months from the start of the novel to it being released in hardcover). I can say that it takes an extraordinarily disciplined and focused individual to put out a book a year — and I mean a finished product not just a draft manuscript.
It will take me longer even though I have other manuscripts ready.
That’s just me. I am not all that disciplined. I write on the average 2000 words a day but those words are not necessarily all “keepable” & I do lots of revisions on the same passages.
While actively promoting a debut novel and doing book clubs and interviews it’s hard to leave behind the previous book and move forward to the next. It might be easier to do this with a series or sequel — I don’t know — but the question asked was “Do you think YOU could keep up that pace for a decade?” In my case no. My ideal is to to take 2 years to write a book and a year to publish- Then I can really enjoy the process. I’ve seen more authors than not feel forced to finish a book sooner than they would like.
As a reader? I’ll wait for as long as it takes.
Carolyn says
As a reader, when I love an author, I HATE waiting a year. I’m happy happy happy when there’s more than one in year. But I have to love the author to care.
As an author, one book a year? You’re kidding me, right? I’m now doing two books a year, in two different genres. I have a full time job and a family. And for a while there I was also in grad school. Two books a year is more than doable now that the degree is done.
I have been told by the buyer for a national chain that they like to see 2 books a year from genre authors. That’s not a statement I took lightly when she told me.
I took a month off between the book I delivered (early!) this April and the book that’s due in November, and I was getting antsy toward the end. What if I just never started? What if all this down time made me too lazy to write? What if I run into trouble on the Nov. book and end up needing the time I took off? Ack! I’ve worked too hard, and writing is too hard, to screw up for reasons of laziness. Obviously, that reaction is a personal one. I hope other writers are less freaked about time off.
I used to believe, fervently, that I needed at least a year to write a book. Believed it with all my heart. Until I was offered the chance to write in a high profile series, only the deadline was in 4 months. Could I do that, the editor asked? If I said no, he’d just find someone else… I was still in grad school then, too. But I made the leap of faith in myself and holy cow. I could write a book in 4 months.
That was one hell of a discovery for me. It fundamentally challenged everything I believed about myself as a writer.
Two books a year? Not a problem. If I’m ever going to quit the day job, one book a year just isn’t going to get me there. That’s just the reality for most authors.
Anonymous says
A book a year is too much. Readers can see the sloppiness creeping into the writing due to rush, as well as the flatter or at least less rich storytelling. Books become shorter and more throw-away.
As a writer, I doubt I could push out a good novel every year.
Patience is a virtue.
Roberta says
C’mon writers, we all know a book a year doesn’t mean each book took 12 months to write. Many W-I-P manuscripts have been dug out from the bottom desk drawer or discovered on five-inch disks.
Inner Child says
I’m so happy to hear that my creative juices are marinating – I thought they had dried up!
As a reader, I want my favorite authors locked in a closet and forced to publish a book every month. That’s totally unrealistic, but it’s a true reflection of my passion for the works of certain authors.
As an unpublished writer, I would consider myself blessed to receive even one critique.
Amie Stuart says
>>A great writer doesn’t always need to sit and stew for eterity before his/her words take flight.
Avrinell…a great writer SHOULDN’T let it sit and stew. You can’t just sit around waiting for inspiration to happen (though I do understand we sometimes write ourselves into corners), you have to MAKE inspiration happen if you plan on being a working, published author (and I say You in the general sense, not specifically you =) )
Amie Stuart says
As a reader I’m good on one a year. I’m anxiously awaiting Lisa Gardner and KMM’s new books and even though it’s been a year, I haven’t forgotten them!
As a writer, I know that doing 3-4 books a year can help you build a following and allow you branch out faster but I’m also a single mom so that’s not doable.
I also think, as someone else said, there’s a stale factor that comes into play. After a while do you just kinda go, “Oh look so-and-so has ANOTHER book out,” instead of squeeing?
I’d love to quit my dayjob and write two books a year in two different genres.
cc says
Superwench–
I didn’t imply genre fiction is ALL “churned out” and is all of a lesser quality. And you yourself stated in an earlier post that for a series you’d want one a year. For me, every two years would be fine.
My larger point was… there is absolutely a different sort of “beach read” book mentality to the 2-4 book a year production rate. God bless the authors that can do it and stay sane. And if that’s your goal there’s nothing wrong with that.
Me, I like to miss an author a little. David Sedaris has a new book out that I’m giddy to buy. I would’t be nearly as excited without that 3 years (maybe longer) between books.
Anonymous says
Ben Sloan said: “Some people seem to think that if you produce books too quickly you must suck. Elitist, I say!”
I don’t think that if you produce books quickly you MUST suck, but I do think many writers who produce books quickly DO suck. There isn’t a direct correlation, of course, but the point is that EVERY WRITER IS UNIQUE, and they should produce at their own speed. Trying to keep up with a publisher’s schedule can, and, IMHO, often does, lead to sub-par books.
I am not an elitist (though I believe this word is overused and thrown around whenever anyone hears someone else criticizing what they enjoy), but take Stephen King for example. I like a good deal of his work. But I also think some of it is lousy and ought not to have been published the way it was. He could’ve benefitted, I believe, from some slower writing and more editing. That doesn’t mean I don’t think he’s a good and naturally prolific writer. He is. But his best stuff is head and shoulders above his worst.
Our society is fixated on getting product out at high speed, and on money. This tends to favor rapid production of less-than-great material.
Adaora A. says
I really do believe it depends on the person and their circumstance and ability. By circumstance I mean having a part-time or full-time job, children, etc and so on. By ability I mean if they tend to take breaks between or if they write quite religiously on a daily basis. Do they set time brackets in their day or do they go with the flow? I think if the impulse is there, and if the opportunity is there, it CAN happen.
Anonymous says
>>there is absolutely a different sort of “beach read” book mentality to the 2-4 book a year production rate.
CC Not quite sure what you mean here but, for the record, Sandra Brown puts out one book a year and has been called a beach read too. Beach reads are generally genre fiction (romance, suspense, thriller etc). The way you’ve referenced it here, it DOES sound derogatory (though you might not have meant it to).
RED STICK WRITER says
Speaking of frequency, I read somewhere that Grisham thought A Time to Kill, his first novel, was perhaps his best and attributes that to not having a deadline of any sort. It was published small. The Firm went big quick. The pressure to produce again was easy in that A Time to Kill was published again on a big scale. Pressure was then great for a third. In response, and this is the amazing part as I believe was related by Grisham, he wrote The Pelican Brief in about a month. Wow.
Tom Burchfield says
Well, I tell ya it all depends. I’m happy to read a Richard Stark novel a year (though I think it was more than a year between the last two. Some, like Stark/Westlake can keep the quality up at a good pace. But definitely some should slow down. It makes me think of Patrica Cornwell, who I thought started out pretty well, but quickly got very very bad.
As for Self, there’s the side of me that thinks I’m taking too long with mine (“It’s a vampire novel, Burchfield, get it over with”) vs. the side that tells me to get it right (“But there’s a million of those out there, so this one has to be *right*). I hope the next one goes a little faster.
Anonymous says
There’s a difference between writing a book a year and publishing a book a year.
Simply writing a certain number of words in a certain period of time doesn’t necessarily equate to a publishable novel.
Also, some authors have a drawerful of old material sitting around, and after they publish book #1, this old stuff is dredged out and reworked, which leads to faster production times.
So if you can publish a book a year consistently, you’re way aheaad of the curve. Say you start off with a 2-book deal 9pub company likesbook 1, obviously, so that gets published, and then they contract you to write #2. Well, by the time #2 comes out, the sales figures for #1 will have been established. If they’re not good, then there’s an awful lot of pressure on #2, and if that one doesn’t do well, then byebye. There won’t be interest in a third.
So writing a book a year is not the trick, it’s publishing a abook a year (which means you’re constantly working on new deals and promoting, too) and then having those books sell so that you get more contracts to write more books.
nymeria87 says
Both as a reader and a writer I think one book a year is doable, but it definitely depends on genre and word count. As an urban fantasy writer I’m not too worried, but then again actual publication is quite another business. Personally I work well with deadlines though 🙂
Gabriele C. says
No way I could keep a book a year schedule. I’m a GRRM when it comes to the time I need, only not as good. 😉
As reader, I’m willing to wait for a good book. Steady releases are nice, of course, but a bit of editing won’t hurt in some cases (Malazan Book of the Fallen, much as I love the series, would have benefitted from a few more months between the later books and better editing).
Beth says
I always seem to come late to these parties…
Yes, I love seeing a book (or more) a year from my favorite authors.
As a writer, no way could I write that fast. I probably shouldn’t admit that…
Beth says
lehcarjt said: A second author that makes me crazy is Kate Elliott. She wrote half of a great sci-fi series called Jaran. The stopped, wrote a second, really long, fantasy series and never went back to complete Jaran.
Yeah, I’ve been waiting on that one, too. But to be fair to Kate, her agent told her to set it aside and turn her efforts to writing fantasy because that was selling better. She does plan to return to the Jaran world eventually. (Though in a way, she already has. Her new series appears to be set there, in a much earlier time period.)
As to Diana, one of the ways she keeps her writing and motivation fresh is to work on more than one project at a time. Speaking for myself, she’s one of those writers for whom I’m willing to wait a long time for the next book.
Jess says
As a writer, a year is an enormous amount of time to me because I’m a naturally fast writer. I spent four months on my most recent book from start to polished finish.
I’m unpublished, so that is to be taken with a grain of salt, but I can say that spending more time on it will not necessarily improve it; I’ve made it the best I can. I just happen to have done that in four months.
Some books will take me longer, but a whole year? We’ll have to wait and see.
I understand many people are not that fast. I think a year is a decent chunk of time. I also think it’s probably the limit a reader can wait before they forget or stop caring, though.
Lisa says
As a reader I would like a book or more per year. I recently read Triptych by Karin Slaughter which was her first stand alone novel. I would love it if she published one or more novels a year whether they were stand alones or in her Grant County series.
As a writer I could deal with producing one book a year only because as of right now I know I have it in me. I can’t get the writing out of my head fast enough.
Lisa R.
Philadelphia, PA
duchessmalfi@hotmail.com