Monday, 26 October 2015

A million words!

I noticed yesterday that if I included the books I've written for existing contracts but which have not yet been published then I have in my three trilogies, The Broken Empire, The Red Queen's War, and Red Sister, just passed the million word mark!

I also noticed this:

(UK editions except for The Wheel of Osheim)

Assuming that Winds of Winter is not published before June next year I will have put out two trilogies in the gap between George RR Martin's last two books in the Song of Ice and Fire series! And at 805,000 words that's about two GRRM books' worth!

Given that I was working a day job and caring for a disabled child for that period I'm quite proud of that!

Of course I only have to turn my gaze in Brandon Sanderson's direction to see a yearly word count that puts mine to shame. And if I had Martin's income from A Dance With Dragons off the book I had published in the same year then who's to say I wouldn't have spent more time enjoying the money than writing the next five books!

Anyway - just a fun observation. I could probably fit the six books into the gap between Patrick Rothfuss' The Wise Man's Fear and Doors of Stone too. However, as a big fan of both A Song of Ice and Fire, and The Kingkiller Chronicle, I would rather have the next book in the series take its time and live up to expectation. The disappointment of something rushed out would undermine any joy in seeing the books appear.










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5 comments:

  1. Unknown27 October 2015 at 11:55

    Out of curiosity, what's Brandon's word count for the gap between Martin's books?

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  2. The Legendarium Podcast27 October 2015 at 13:02

    Very cool stats! And writing is Brandon's day job, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. And he puts other full-time writers to whatever-come-next-after-shame in terms of output.

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  3. Unknown27 October 2015 at 14:57

    I must say, Brandon Sanderson astounds me! Not only does the man write heaps, his writing is very well done and he also takes the time to make a podcast. Not only that, but he has videos on Youtube of his writing, to show his process.
    He's a robot... has to be!

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  4. Unknown29 October 2015 at 06:13

    I always wondered , what would have happened if GRRM took his sweet time writing and finishing his Song of Ice & Fire series before publishing a single book of it. Think it would have taken 25 years to finish?
    After experiencing the wait for GRRM & Rothfuss to finish their masterpieces, I made a promise to myself never to invest in a series unless its finished or almost finished. I am positive I'm not the only one ...And i cant help but wonder how is this reflecting on new authors.
    I am all for authors taking all the time they need in the world to get their books ready, But, Cant they finish at least 80% of their work before committing to millions of fans and then run around saying they owe us nothing?

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  5. Robert Trenton Kinsey2 January 2016 at 13:22

    I agree Mark! Props for putting out the kind of quality work you have while being so busy in other areas of your life! And while I'm just a casual GRRM fan, I am definitely pretty desperately waiting for Doors of Stone. You and Pat are two of the best writers in the business. Congrats and good luck with your next trilogy!

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