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<blockquote data-quote="Rykion" data-source="post: 5106360" data-attributes="member: 33035">This is exactly the overall point I was trying to make.&nbsp; You expressed it much better than I did.&nbsp; I want to re-emphasize that I make no assumptions about the motivations of shared world authors.&nbsp; The following is the third item I wrote in a list of reasons that I feel some shared world fiction tends to be mediocre.&nbsp; &quot;The book is written to order, not as a labor of love.&quot;&nbsp; There are really 2 parts.The first part is about books &quot;written to order.&quot;&nbsp; I'm talking about when an author is presented with pretty much everything that must be in a book with little room for deviation, and often a very tight deadline.&nbsp; Good examples are some tie-in novels based on events that have already been defined by an rpg, miniatures game, or a movie.&nbsp; I'm not talking about all shared world contract work in general. The second part is about &quot;labor of love.&quot;&nbsp; The phrase is specific to labor done for self-enjoyment or the enjoyment of others without any expectation of getting paid. When I use &quot;labor of love,&quot; I'm talking about the kind of books that are written, often over years, without any kind of upfront money or solid guarantee to be published.&nbsp; It's usually an author's first published work, something from a non-traditional author, or something an established author writes for himself as a side project.&nbsp; I've found that many of my favorite books tend to fall in this category, and it is rare for shared world books to be written in this manner.&nbsp; It's not only about passion, but also the time to get the books just right and the lack of editorial constraint.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Rykion, post: 5106360, member: 33035"] This is exactly the overall point I was trying to make. You expressed it much better than I did. I want to re-emphasize that I make no assumptions about the motivations of shared world authors. The following is the third item I wrote in a list of reasons that I feel [B]some[/B] shared world fiction tends to be mediocre. "The book is written to order, not as a labor of love." There are really 2 parts. The first part is about books "written to order." I'm talking about when an author is presented with pretty much everything that must be in a book with little room for deviation, and often a very tight deadline. Good examples are some tie-in novels based on events that have already been defined by an rpg, miniatures game, or a movie. I'm not talking about all shared world contract work in general. The second part is about "labor of love." The phrase is specific to labor done for self-enjoyment or the enjoyment of others without any expectation of getting paid. When I use "labor of love," I'm talking about the kind of books that are written, often over years, without any kind of upfront money or solid guarantee to be published. It's usually an author's first published work, something from a non-traditional author, or something an established author writes for himself as a side project. I've found that many of my favorite books tend to fall in this category, and it is rare for shared world books to be written in this manner. It's not only about passion, but also the time to get the books just right and the lack of editorial constraint. [/QUOTE]

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