Recently, I’ve noticed a malady striking authors far and wide. It’s a nasty bug that doesn’t discriminate by genre, number of fans, or even best-seller status.
The illness? Reader backlash.
It’s a nasty disease, this backlash. Like the flu, it starts slowly. A hoarse whisper here and there voicing displeasure at a current title. Blog coughs that an author’s next book isn’t as good as her previous efforts. Sniffles that she’s bowing to fan pressure rather than staying true to her characters. Pretty soon, those whispers and coughs and sniffles have morphed into a full-blown onslaught of feverish anti-favoritism. And, perhaps worst of all, poor, innocent books get thrown at walls. The horror! Oh, the horror!
Even J.K. Rowling, arguably the most popular author in, well, the world, isn’t immune to it. Some readers and reviewers rumbled that the end of the Harry Potter series was too pat, too sentimental, too sappy. (Bah humbug, I say. This reader thought it was pitch-perfect.)
As a writer, I dread getting bitten by the backlash bug. But as a reader, I have to admit I’ve spread it around a time or two myself.
So, what causes this turn of feelings? What’s behind the swing from being the picture of health to being lowered into a shallow grave? In short, what causes you to fall out of love with an author?
For me, it’s a couple of things that when combined are almost always guaranteed to give me a low-grade fever.
Sameness: Perhaps the thing that bugs me the most (excuse the pun) is sameness. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s hard enough to write a series to start with, let alone come up with something fresh every time while still hitting all the highlights that made readers love the books in the first place. A very tough juggling act all the way around. But I dislike characters who never seem to get any smarter, who never grow or change or make a meaningful decision. *cough*Stephanie Plum* cough*cough*
Too much of a good thing: I know it sounds crazy, but you really can have too much of a good thing, including books. Once upon a time when I found an author I liked, I would immediately get the rest of her books and read them back-to-back-to-back. By the time I read four or five, the sameness would start bothering me, whether it was characters or plots or even words used over and over again. Now, I pace myself. Breaking up reading my favorite authors with new ones. Sometimes this helps me stave off the backlash bug, sometimes it doesn’t.
High expectations: Sometimes, an author will absolutely blow me away. Great plot, voice, characters, everything. Then, I read another one of her books — and it doesn’t blow me away. Do I give her another chance? Probably. But knowing she disappointed me once sticks with me. It’s like that annoying tickle I often get in my throat before I get a cold. It makes me want to stock up on vitamin C drops to try and stave off the cold — and the possible disappointment.
So, what’s the magic cure to the backlash bug? Well, if I knew that, I’d be lying on a beach, sipping a boat drink and counting gold doubloons from all the authors I kept on the good side of their fans.
What about you? Do you ever fall victim to the backlash bug? Do you spread it around? Why or why not? Inquiring minds want to know …
No related posts.
The things you mention bother me also. [nod] I often wonder whether a writer who seems to be stamping out cookie-cutter copies of her earlier books — different icing maybe, and some with sprinkles and some with chocolate chips, but essentially the same dough cut to the same shape over and over and over — is doing it because she’s just that into whatever the common factors are, or whether she’s under pressure from her publisher to keep churning out the product that’s selling so well. :/ As a writer I love to wander around and experiment and try new things — multiple genres and subgenres, different styles, different moods and treatments — and I’d have a hard time sticking with any one thing to the exclusion of all else. I’m having a hard time with the whole “author branding” thing for that reason. [wry smile]
Another problem I’ve seen, which is particular to series books, is when a writer gets herself into the trap of having to constantly top herself. One of my favorite vampire series started out with The Guy being this big, bad vampire, the boss of all the others. But the hero of the next book had to be bigger and badder, because after all this is his book and he’s the *HERO!* Then the Guy in the third book has to be able to kick the first two guys’ butts without breaking a sweat. And the fourth guy has to be some kind of legend, who has all the other guys falling into silent awe when his name is mentioned. Then…. Six books later it’s getting kind of silly. :/
I can see how that trap is easy to fall into, though. Because yeah, you sort of do want the Guy in his own book to seem like he’s the greatest guy in the world, in order to be worthy of the Girl. And if you’ve already set up your world, or at least the society in which the stories take place, as one where strength and prowess and general bad-assitude are the primary standards by which guys are measured, well, you’re sort of stuck with having to show how each subsequent guy is stronger and better and more bad-ass than any of the others. If he’s not it’s sort of a let-down, by the standards you’ve written yourself, but if he is then it’s going to escalate into absurdity before very long. That’s a tough situation and I can’t think of any good way out of it, short of starting over with a new series.
Then there are people like Rowling, who hit on some sort of magic formula that produced the Books That Ate The World, and I really have to wonder whether she herself knows how she did it. Not dissing Rowling at all, but this isn’t the sort of thing you can predict and I have a feeling it was more about certain bits coming together with the phase of the moon and the rise of the tides and the run of the stock market, and poof! Harry Potter resonated with the universe at that point in time and everyone wanted to follow the parade.
That’s great and I loved the books myself, but it puts Rowling into a really bad spot. She’s already said she’s not going to write any sequels. So what’s she going to do next? If she writes anything even remotely like Harry Potter, she’ll get flamed for being in a rut and trying to milk the cash-cow by calling it a horse. (If that makes sense. [cough]) If she does something that’s really new and different, who knows whether it’ll catch on anywhere near the way HP did? It probably won’t, frankly, just because recreating a phenomenon like that is incredibly unlikely. But if she even has “only” a mildly good selling book with her next novel, there’ll be people sneering that she’s over the hill, she was a one-trick pony (even if that trick was seven huge books long), and giving her grief over being a has-been.
As cool as it would be to be the writer behind the book phenomenon of the century, I wouldn’t want to be where she is now as a writer. I hope her next project works, and I hope the public is cool to her, whatever it is. I’m not holding my breath, though, because Rowling is a backlash waiting to happen. :/
Angie
Very perceptive post.
Angie’s as well.
Probably there’s the “feet of clay” factor operating too, where readers re-visit, without their rose-coloured glasses, their first fascination and become more critical – a kind of morning after thing.
I think another factor with long-running series is that as a reader, your tastes change. It’s not even that the latest book doesn’t live up to the series — it’s that *any* book in the series would leave you feeling “bleah” now. This is often particularly noticeable for something you started reading as a teenager, though it can strike at any age.
There are a couple of science fiction series I pretty much inhaled as a teenager. They were trashy wish-fulfilment fantasies, and I know perfectly well why a lot of other people dislike them. And I’m not going to read them again, because I’d dislike them myself now. But that’s because I’ve changed, not because the books have (and I’m not ashamed of having enjoyed them when I was the right age to find them enormous fun). I can see that happening at a more subtle level with other series, when there’s nothing wrong with the books, but it’s just not your thing any more, and so you feel that there’s something missing in a series you once enjoyed.
There’s one author whose last few books almost met up with the wall. I’ve been reading her for nearly twenty (egads!) years, and recently, it seems she’s simply fulfilling contractual obligations. Her heroes all seem the same – just change the physical description a little – and her heroines are all the same – just change the physical description a little. It’s frustrating, because I’ve always adored her books. Now, I see a new one on the shelf and do a mental “meh”.
Some of them **cough**Stephanie Plum**cough, cough** I still read, but there’s a lot more eye-rolling because there’s a certain sameness that drives me batty. Maybe not plot-sameness, but subplot sameness, if that makes any sense.
As a writer, I hate to think of someone thinking this of one of my books. And it can be a no-win situation. Write something familiar, and it can come back to bite you. Write something completely different, and there’s a possibility it might never find a home with a publisher.
Oy – I need some chocolate.
I’ve been blessed with a bad memory
so I could read the same book over and over
and still enjoy it
(which is why I’m on my 4th copy of Sally MacKenzie’s The Naked Marquis).
Oh, yes, that’s right.
I not only read the same book over and over
but I BUY the same book over and over
(I got a sneak of Kalen Hughes’ Lord Scandal
and believe me ladies,
that’s destined to be a Kimber Chin multiple buy).
As for bad talking books,
nah, don’t do it.
I’ve discovered long ago
that my taste isn’t everyone’s.
Reading is so very personal.
Angie — I agree with you about Rowling. It will be difficult for her to achieve the same acclaim and love for another series. I think the more popular an author is, the more people love her books, the higher the expectations and the greater the backlash can be. A double-edged sword in so many ways.
Bernita — A good example. Mornings after (in any context) can be tricky.
Jules — I agree. Readers tastes do change over the years. I used to *love* the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, which I started reading in college. I still like it, but now that I’ve got a couple of degrees and my own books under my belt, I want him to cut out all the description and get on with the story. Has anyone heard what Tor will do with the series since he passed away? Just curious.
Kimber An — Love the boyfriend analogy! And it’s so true. Sometimes, an author’s second book will disappoint, but she gets her mojo back in Book 3 or 4.
Kimberly Nee — You’re right. It can be a no-win situation, especially for the writer. That’s why I think writing a series is so difficult.
Kimber Chin — I fell victim to bad memory last week. I got about halfway through Hit List by Lawrence Block before I realized I’d read it already. But I still finished it because it was a good book.
I doubt if Rowling will ever write another book for publication. If I were her, I wouldn’t. She has more money that the Queen, and HP will keep her pantry well stocked for years to come.
If I felt inclined to write, I’d write for myself and enjoy all my money. Why should she be obliged to do something else?
In her case, I’d just have a really early retirement and take up Pottery. LOL
From Angie’s post: “And if you’ve already set up your world, or at least the society in which the stories take place, as one where strength and prowess and general bad-assitude are the primary standards by which guys are measured, well, you’re sort of stuck with having to show how each subsequent guy is stronger and better and more bad-ass than any of the others. If he’s not it’s sort of a let-down, by the standards you’ve written yourself, but if he is then it’s going to escalate into absurdity before very long. That’s a tough situation and I can’t think of any good way out of it, short of starting over with a new series.”
I haven’t read this series, but based on your comments, I think what is primarily at issue here is “And if you have already set up your world…” Once the world was set up with the context you describe in place, the author had essentially painted herself into a corner. The best way out of a situation like this one is to plan ahead. If an author is writing in a genre where series are the norm, it’s probably not a bad idea to think about “what if” when she’s working on constructing the world for that first book.
As a college writing instructor, I couldn’t help but think of this problem within the context of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing), because many college students manage to paint themselves into similar corners–only within the rather brief confines of a 4-5 page paper. The author you mention could have either planned ahead or could have revised her world as the series evolved. Anything else, as you point out here, eventually becomes absurd.
Great post!
I’m so with you on the sameness and too much of a good thing. In fact that recently happened to me – both at the same time – while reading Barbara Taylor Bradford. I started the first book in her series and loved it! I went out and bought the rest, but by the time I got half way through the second book, I couldn’t take it anymore. Both novels were looooong, and I just couldn’t hack it anymore. I barely finished the second book, and it wasn’t at all because it wasn’t good! (though it wasn’t as good as the first). I have to go back another time to read the rest. Space it out a bit. I had too much of the same characters, the same expressions, even the same writing style.
I don’t normally get disappointed in a series I like- if I like the first one I tend to like the ones after- perhaps because I expect to like them. As a reader I’m fairly undemanding, as long as I don’t get annoyed with the female or male lead, and I don’t fall asleep, I consider the book worth it.
But still, there are some series I find myself wishing I had rented at the library instead of buying, because when I buy a book I expect that I’ll want to read it more than once. If I don’t want to read the book more than once, that might not mean that I didn’t like it, just that there wasn’t something that *sparkled* enough for me to read it a second time.
I also tend to do a lot of book research before hand, so most of the times I don’t enjoy a book is when I impulse buy- but that isn’t normally for a series.
I also like series that focus on the same characters through multiple novels, where the hero and heroine don’t change. (JD Robb, Diana Gabaldon) That does solve the problem of needing a bigger and better hero for the next novel.
I have to admit, one of the things I find sad is when I feel I HAVE grown out of a series (Tamora Pierce, Narnia, Mercedes Lackey). I still love the books, and they bring me back to a time when I was younger, but they don’t sing to me the way they used to.
If a series does take a turn I don’t agree with, I tend to not get angry, but the series just fades from my reading list.
Big wave to Kimber C., my favorite reader. *grin*
I tend to avoid series books for the very reason you’re talking about. All too often there is either zero growth (Stephanie Plum) or too much growth in directions I don’t like, of that violate the foundation of the established character (Anita Blake). I just can’t be pleased I guess.
I think Cornwall’s SHARPE’S series is one of the few I’ve read all of, but even there I’m painful aware with the newer books (which are prequels to the originals Peninsular War series) that the main character seems to be aging in reverse (he has a great growth arc in the series, but the younger version is more like the man at the end of the first series than the man he was at the beginning).
And then there’s the “place holder book†syndrome. I’m addicted to C.J. Cherryh’s FOREIGNER series, but there was one whole book (which I bought in freaken hardback) that was nothing but a link to get us from one book to the next. I mean nothing really happened, story-wise, that I needed to witness for 300+ pages. I felt cheated.
Give me good ‘ol stand alone books (linked or not to others in a “series†set in the same “worldâ€) and I’m a happy reader.
One of my long-time favorite authors began to be pretty formulaic…I think it was maybe four books in a row that were basically the same main plot surrounded by fantastic subplots, which basically made those four books so great. The h/h parts were incredible–don’t get me wrong–but they were just the SAME STORY over and over and I think I was almost more interested in the subplot parts in a few cases. I know this sounds like I didn’t like the books, but I so did. In fact, I actually wore a few out and had to replace them! But they were still formulaic.
When I read the 4th book, I had a feeling she was ready to do something different with her wriing because the other world she’d created was nothing short of stellar and it just screamed, “write me, dammit!”. And then she did. She beat the hell out of the old mold and made a new one that was so out of this world. It’s so cool to go back to her old books now and read the little clues that lead to the new stuff! I had to get hard covers to replace them LOL
I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am she did this because it seems to me that she’s got a lot more momentum now, an energy she didn’t have before. I wish more authors would be this brave (and of course I know they’ve got publishers and the like breathing down their necks and this isn’t always possible, but still!). She took a lot of beatings at first because people didn’t like the new direction, but she’s gained a ton of new fans who absolutely love it.
Great discussion, guys!
Chessie — I don’t know. Rowling is a writer at heart. I think in a couple of years, she’ll get bitten by the writing bug again.
Kacie — World building is crucial to a series. An interesting, complex world really adds to a story, but authors do get trapped by their own creations. Breaking previously established rules is another thing that bugs me.
April — Yeah, that’s happened to me, too. Spacing it out also lets you cut down the wait between books. By the time I read an author’s current release, she usually has another one coming out in a month or two.
JC — That’s why the library is one of my favorite places. They give you books for free. If you like something, you can go buy your own copy. I think it all evens out in the end.
Kalen — I feel the same way about Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. Not much has happened in the last few books, and they very expensive — something like $30 a pop — for nothing to happen in them.
Elizabeth — Writing the same story over and over is one of the perils of penning a series. But I’m glad you found somebody who wrote something new you love even more. That’s really rare.
Great discussion. I know I often read a favorite book over again (and enjoy it), even though some of the author’s other books are a one-read wonder. Just like everything else, you can’t please everyone everytime…I’d just like to hit one big run sometime!
Jennifer — the story from sources I trust was that Jordan made detailed notes for the final book, including how he planned to wrap things up, so that if he didn’t make it someone else could finish the book for him.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I think Rowling would still write, I just don’t think she’d be so inclined to share it with the world, and why should she?
I’m all for writing, but when she started the series she was struggling financially and trying to raise her children, now, she can write for them without worrying about the money.
And if she never shows it to anyone, she doesn’t have to worry about the world either, only entertaining herself and her kids/grandkids eventually.
Maybe I’m a just a writer recluse at heart.
But that brings up an interesting point. Do we write for ourselves, or others. I don’t envy her position. Yes, I write because I have to, yes I would love to be paid for that, but the thing that drives me has absolutely nothing to do with the public eye. In fact, the more I can stay out of the public eye, (as in international crazy fame) the better.
If the whole world were demanding I write something for them, I’d have little motivation to do it, especially knowing they would only be nasty about it no matter what.
Erika — Me, too. Me, too.
Jules — Thanks for the info. It’s good to know they’ll at least wrap it up. I hate it when a series stops before the end, especially one as long as Jordan’s.
Chessie — I think it’s a little bit of both. I write the stories I want to write … but I also hope to be paid for them … and bring enjoyment to other people. Rowling has brought so much joy to so many. I think it would be a shame if she completely stopped.
I’m strictly a reader, and I admit to perpetuating the backlash bug, just this week in fact. Unfortunately, as a reviewer, I have to call it like I see it. I really try hard not to ever post truly negative reviews, and I pride myself on that. But occasionally, an author just misses with me. When that happens, and I can find obvious reasons for it, I’ll point it out (the book is identical in plot to a previous one, etc). If it just didn’t sit well with me, I’ll say that, too, and point out that had I read it another day, it’s likely that I would feel differently.
Those that read my blog know of my ups and downs, and I try never to be mean or nasty when I didn’t care for a book. But I definitely believe that a favorite author can carry a series way too far, and that some of my faves can become way too formulaic. Plus, it’s gotta be damn hard to hit a home run every time you go to the plate. It definitely doesn’t stop me from picking up the next book. That author became a favorite for a good reason. One misstep doesn’t bring the whole thing crashing down. Most of the readers I know feel the same way.
I read both series and stand alone books and I follow certain authors, reading everything they produce.
When asked, I share my honest opinion–good or bad–about a title. When it comes to books that didn’t meet my expectations, I try to recommend something else by the same author, especially if it’s someone who’s work I follow. As a reader, I appreciate critical reviews, and I occasionally buy a book because of critical review–it all depends on what the reviewer says is wrong.
Does anyone else have a “bad book” threshold? If someone writes three or four in a row that don’t work for me, I usually take them off my TBR list.
Kacie — that’s exactly it. [nod] It’s like the first book could have been a perfectly good stand-alone (and seriously, it was a great book) but then she kept going. And all the books are at least worth a read, but the escalation thing really had me eyerolling in places.
It’s tough, though, because the standard advice I’ve seen is to write the very best book you can right from the top. Don’t pitch the book as “the first of a series” or anything; make sure it’s the best book it can be all by itself. Then if it sells and does well enough, that’s the time to think about the whole series thing.
But if you do that, it can be difficult to do that planning ahead. :/ Or maybe you should do the planning but write the first book so that it doesn’t show, and don’t tell your prospective agent…? LOL!
Angie
I’m usually hard to shake. I’ve had backlash with a few people. Elizabeth Lowell went all gritty and violent with several of her romantic suspense. I read three of them before I quit picking up her book without thinking. Elizabeth Peter’s series featuring the character Amelia Peabody also took three books to lose me (after a total of nineteen. The character never seemed to change or grow into someone different and she went from single to a grandmother. Huge changes don’t you think?)
That seems to be my criteria. I’ll give an author three tries before I hang it up and quit plunking down my cash for them.
It’s a combination of having high expectations and just not wanting to blow smoke up my favorite authors’ asses.
If they’re missing the boat, I want them to know, so they can correct the problem — especially if it’s something that’s shown up in more than one book. I respect my favorites enough not to B.S. them. If the author can fix the problem, s/he pretty much can be assured I’ll buy his/her next book.
Two bad books in a row is probably my bad-book threshhold. After that, I won’t spend any more of my hard-earned money on an author.
I stopped reading a favorite author because her writing got sloppy. The plots of the last three books I read weren’t as interesting. She had pages of introspection. I see her new book at the bookstore, and I want so much to buy it. But I don’t.
I haven’t mentioned it on my blogs. I’m not even sure if I mentioned it to my friends.
I try to avoid reading too much of the same thing in a row. I never read books by the same author back to back. In fact, I rarely read books in the same genre back to back. I might read a romance this week, a fantasy novel after, followed by a mystery, then science fiction. My mother, on the other hand, can read five medical thrillers in a row (or ‘cozy’ mysteries) without burning out. I’m not sure how she does it.