So, a few years ago I read a book called Servant of a Dark God by John D. Brown. I picked it up after it got a good review from Brandon Sanderson, enjoyed it a great deal and looked forward to the sequel… That was in 2010 and after I’d not heard any word about a release date for number 2 for at least a year, I ended up assuming that the author was having a spat of writers block and going down the G.R.R. Martin route of taking his time (it was a complex epic fantasy novel after all).
Well, anyway, yesterday I decided to check again – as I have periodically every 3 months or so – and still couldn’t find a listing of the sequel on Amazon or on Goodreads. Because John D. Brown was a debut author, I began wondering whether Tor killed the project due to low sales or something. Interestingly though, after deciding to look through the many reviews of the first book on Goodreads, I found a reviewer expressing the same concerns that I had -book 2 was nowhere to be seen! – and picked up on a reply to her from John. Apparently John had ‘split with Tor Books’ and, as a result, the sequel, CURSE (The Dark God Book 2), ‘is right around the corner.’ John also linked to the following blog post (which I’ve shortened), which answers a number of questions and raises a few more:
A little over nine months ago I initiated a contract termination with my publisher Tor Books. A few days ago Tor reverted the rights. This means I have all the rights to all the books in the series, [The Dark God], back.
But why would I initiate such a thing? Tor’s like THE publisher of science fiction and fantasy.
There are a couple of factors, but I think the biggest issue is that we had differences in our vision for the story. This meant there were things I didn’t like about where the project was going and how it was progressing. It also meant there were things Tor didn’t like about the project and how it was progressing. This translated into some big delays.
We could have hung together–Tor never raised the idea of termination. But I saw no benefit in limping along. If things aren’t working, I tend to want them fixed. So after I raised the issue, all involved agreed that a termination of the agreement would be the best option.
…
Most importantly, the good news is that for those of you who have been waiting, I can now move forward! The series will be published by Blacksword Books, my own imprint. We’ll start with e-book and trade paperback formats. Both will be available online from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and other retailers. Once that’s rolling, we’ll look to see if audio is feasible.
I’m very excited about CURSE. My agent loved it. I loved it. My early readers have loved it. I think all of you who enjoyed SERVANT will enjoy this just as much if not more.
…
I love this book. I can’t wait to get it into your hands.
But there’s a lot to do to get it out the door.
I need to make some edits to SERVANT. There are a number of maddening typos that crept into the manuscript. I’ll also be changing the sequence of the first eight chapters back to my original sequence, starting with Sugar and Legs and then moving to Talen. I know some readers like the sequence my Tor editors requested that starts the book with Talen sitting around in his under pants, but I structured it for him to follow Sugar for specific reasons, and starting with Talen undermines a number of those things.
Finally, because I don’t have a word limit, I’m going to be adding some clarity to the ending that wasn’t in the Tor version. I also need to make some revisions to the last draft of CURSE, which has been done for almost two years, and then put it through a rigorous copy edit. And then there’s cover design, interior formatting for the print versions, and the publishing part.
In addition, I saw that John recently made a post (here) where he discussed his belief that he can make more money self publishing future books under his own label rather than ‘taking [them] to New York’. He also states that he feels the advance he gets is not worth the loss of control should he go with a big name publisher. In his own words: ‘There’s no guarantee of success either way [Indie or New York]. But the indie numbers look good to me. We’ll see how it goes’.
Of course, I’m excited to hear that I will finally be able to read the sequel to quite excited to finally read the sequel to Servant of a Dark God. But I’m also intrigued as to the problems the book had between publisher and author. This isn’t because I’m nosey or hoping there is a really malicious story involved, but because it speaks volumes of the changing dynamic between publishers, authors and readers. Just a few years ago Self Publishing wouldn’t have been a feasible option for any author to make a living. Now, an author who already has a deal on the table is confident enough to back out of their contract and pursue the series on their own.
Equally interesting is that the author is going to go back to book one and ‘add’ words to the original book that was published in order to bring the book more inline with his original intentions for book 2. I will always have my concerns over self publishing, a good editor is worth their weight in gold and I think that a writer trying to get by without one is always going to struggle. That said, should an editor be able to put pressure on an author to the extent that they feel they need to change the direction of their story to get it published? I’m not sure… perhaps… I mean they’ve been there and done it, right?
Again though, my reasoning of posting this up was because I wanted to draw attention to this situation – not to make judgements – because I find the whole dynamic fascinating and I’m sure you will too. Please do leave a comment if you’ve any thoughts…
