New Feast for Crows chapter & update

[KenM]

Think we should start a poll on when FEAST will be out? I just got into it last summer, finished STORM a few months back. I had no idea it came out back in 2000, thats a long time between books.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Think we should start a poll on when FEAST will be out? I just got into it last summer, finished STORM a few months back. I had no idea it came out back in 2000, thats a long time between books.

Same here. It was quite a shock to learn of how long the wait seemed
to be between books. I do hope the wait for book 5 isn't as long.

How long was the wait between GoT, CoK and SoS?

 

[DMScott]

How long was the wait between GoT, CoK and SoS?

No idea of the time between each book, but I believe Game of Thrones was published in 1997 or thereabouts. So it's looking like at least a 10 year series for all seven books, assuming Martin doesn't go all Jordan on us.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Hmm... so all three books were published over the period of 1997 to 2000?

I wonder how much he'd written when GoT was published.

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

IIRC AGoT was out in 1996, ACoK in 1998, and ASoS in 2000. Though we have NO idea when AFfC will be out I received a memo at work ( I work for B&N in Baton Rouge, LA) that it wont be out this year. I've heard rumors (not at work) that it will be March 2005 but more likely April 2005 but we really just don't know. When he's done he'll let us know on his website so just keep checking there. Til then we'll just have to keep rereading the books we have now.

 

[KenM]

Alaric, since you work in the book business, do you know how long it is usally between when an author finishes a book and editing errors, publishing, and shipping to stores?

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

Well I work on the retail side of the business but I've heard 6 months from the time the author turns it in to publication, that should include editing. But I know that people on another message board (yeah, sorry to admit that I do go to another message board- this one is dedicated to the series) have picked up books in this series form Amazon.co.uk 3 months before they were avalible here in the US. So if you don't mind paying for the shipping cost you might want to look there.

 

[DMScott]

I wonder how much he'd written when GoT was published.

I believe (but don't have a cite to back it up) that the whole series was done in outline form before Game of Thrones was published, and it was to be two trilogies. One of the things that's apparently delayed "A Feast for Crows" is that it wasn't originally supposed to be a book - just a foreward or chapter in the second trilogy to bridge the time between the first and second trilogies (since all the Stark kids are supposed to be adults in the second trilogy).

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Alaric, since you work in the book business, do you know how long it is usally between when an author finishes a book and editing errors, publishing, and shipping to stores?

Since I used to work in editorial at HarperCollins, I can answer this.

From acceptance of the ms in the office to publication varies from author to author, and publisher to publisher. I've seen it go as quickly as 3 months to as long as 2 years. My best guess with Martin's manuscript, when delivered, will be closer to 3 months, maybe 4 or 5. It all depends how fast the publishers work on copyediting, how fast he gets the copyedit corrections approved, how much re-writing he does during the copyedit corrections, how fast the publishers can get the final ms into layout, and how quickly the printer can get the books off the presses.

The fastest turnaround I ever saw (just over 2 months) was at Tor Books, where my wife used to work in marketing. When Robert Jordan turned in his ms for one of the books (I don't remember the title, the one that came out in 98 or 99), Tor flew him into NY to drop it off personally in the office, put him up in a hotel room, and had a team of 10 or 12 copyeditors work on the ms overnight. The next day, they delivered copyedited chapters to him as they were being completed, and did this for several days. As he finished chapters, they picked them up and delivered them to their layout and design department, which had the blank design waiting for the text to be dropped in. After several days of layout and final proofing, they had the book ready to go and off it went to press. 2 months later, books were on the shelf.

Will BDD do the same with Martin? Probably not, but I'm sure that once he finishes, they will do their best to get that book ont he shelf ASAP.

As for books being published earlier in the UK than in the states, the first two were available in the UK earlier, but the 3rd was a simultaneous publication, IIRC. This often happens as the UK print runs are much smaller than US print runs, and I believe the UK publisher had purchased the rights to the books from Martin before the US rights were sold, so they were able to start on the books earlier than the US publisher.

As far as the 2 trilogies goes, that is essentially correct. When the books were first pitched, it was one trilogy. The editor I worked for at HC was one of those that the proposal was pitched to (although we didn't end up getting it), and he discussed it at length with GRRM. GRRM decided that the story he wanted to tell was too large for one trilogy, so they then pitched it as a trilogy, with an additional trilogy on a seperate contract after the publication of the first trilogy. Thats where this extra book comes in, it is essentially on a third contract that falls between the first and second, jsut like the book will stand by itself between the two trilogies.

 

[nikolai]

Cthulhu's Librarian; that was all very interesting, thanks for posting it.

Particle_Man; The Arya chapter is available here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/519626/ref=amb_right-2_62034/002-5643649-0503234