Comments on: Being a Hack: Writing a Shared-World Novel – Erin M. Evans Guest Blog

By: Tim C.

Tim C. — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:51:45 +0000

Just wanted to let you know that I finished _The God Catcher_ this morning and give it a big thumbs up. I have been reading Realms books since the very first one came out when I was in high school. I now have a MA in literature and have been teaching both high school and college for over ten years now, and frankly in recent years most of the Realms novels now grow tiresome with shallow characters, pointless huge battles, and repetitive plots. Your book was a refreshing chance from most of them, with interesting characters, a smaller scale story that is still compelling, and just plain good storytelling. It’s a shared world book, sure, but a good story told well. Thank you for a Realms book that truly stands out from the rest of the sameness.

By: Ray Taggart

Ray Taggart — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:36:33 +0000

I love both of your articles, they have helped answer some of the many questions that I have had about writing in general and shared world fiction. I myself have wondered how to get into my favorite setting of the Forgotten Realms. My only question is, when you say “dazzle an editor with your own stuff.” Do you mean that I should not send in a writing sample that is set in the shared world I am interested in, and rather send in one of my own original design? Or did you mean not worry about having all the rules right and work a good story. Thank you for all the information and I will keep looking for more articles.

By: Phillip Sobel

Phillip Sobel — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:37:52 +0000

For any that aren’t aware Mr. Thorpe above is a respected author in his own right who has written some great novels for Black Library.

By: Gav Thorpe

Gav Thorpe — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:25:37 +0000

More and more it’s being shown that authors aren’t simply writing in shared worlds because they ‘couldn’t get published on their own’. Not only have shared world writers met with success outside of their established stomping grounds, shared worlds are attracting established writers into them.

The rise of fan reviews is a great point – there’s always a few folks who feel that popularity is somehow degrading and that a work can’t have worth simply because it has an existing, widespread audience. I suspect much of this is tinged with jealousy from authors who feel that somehow they’ve had to worker harder for less success.

By: Erin M. Evans

Erin M. Evans — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:35:08 +0000

I’m glad so many of you liked it! (Is it too “hacky” to pimp my book now? 😉 )

Keith, it depends on the publisher and the project. Some projects are “flat fee” and without royalties, though I’m not very familiar with that. Others have varying percentages that depend on the property the tie-in’s connected to and who needs to be paid. Regardless, selling more books means you’re more likely to get work elsewhere.

By: Phillip Sobel

Phillip Sobel — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:28:36 +0000

A great article that I’ve been waiting to read. It doesn’t disappoint. The olde tie-in fiction debate has raged for an age but as far as I’m concerned good writing is good writing regardless of the setting. Though having said that a good setting, Forgotten Realms being a personal favourite, can add immeasureably to the reading experience. It’s what a talented author does with the world that makes a great book. Those that dismiss them without even picking one up are literary snobs whose opinions carry no weight with me.

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:52:46 +0000

Great article. One thing I wonder about, you mention that your sales aren’t as much of a gamble when writing shared world fiction. I’ve heard that a lot of writers are now only getting a fee for this kind of writing and no royalties. Is that common in the industry, or do writers still get royalties for these kinds of books?

By: Fran

Fran — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:04:49 +0000

Wow, I just stumbled across this. It’s very insightful. I’m starting to write short fantasy fiction, just for fun. Thanks for the article. Just off to buy a copy of your novel now.

By: vyskol

vyskol — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:22:01 +0000

Fascinating article. Thanks for a great read!

By: Fordy

Fordy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:35:52 +0000

Very informative. I would venture that those people who dismiss tie-in fiction as ‘crap’ haven’t actually read any!

Dan Abnett’s also blogging at the minute regarding tie-in fiction here: http://tinyurl.com/yhgjhyq