Jason Ray Carney recently weighed in on an issue that’s been on my mind, too: The glut of new sword-and-sorcery fiction. Asks Jason:
Because of the glut of new sword and sorcery, I find myself buying new books with a wistful sense of "One day I'll find time to read this." Am I alone?
No, you’re not alone Jason.
I’m feeling a little bloated myself.
I’ve recently read A Book of Blades, New Edge #0, Worlds Beyond Worlds, a handful of issues of Tales from the Magician’s Skull, and Sometime Lofty Towers. Not all brand new, but new enough.
But I haven’t made a dent, and the titles just keep coming.
Sitting unread in my office are:
Die by the Sword
Multiple additional copies of Tales from the Magician’s Skull
Lord of a Shattered Land
War on Rome
Not to mention my Howard Days haul, which includes Kagen the Damned
More are on the way. I participated in the recent kickstarter for Swords from the Shadows, so I expect that anthology in the mail soon. I also backed New Edge and issue no. 1 is well under way. I know I’ll be backing Neither Beg Nor Yield next. Baen is ramping up its act, as is Titan.
I feel guilty that I haven’t bought A Book of Blades vol. 2 (yet). I’d like to get more volumes of Swords and Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy, as I greatly enjoyed vol. 1, but I have to pump the brakes somehow. I’ve got two daughters in college.
And on top of everything else I’m way behind on Whetstone.
It does feel rather like a glut.
Is this a bad thing? Again I agree with Jason; while “glut” is not a particularly positive descriptor, it does also mean we have a plethora of choices.
Just a few short years ago it was hard to find any new sword-and-sorcery, save for the likes of online stories from Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Swords and Sorcery magazine, and the occasional title from DMR Books. It was a dark time, with glints of light in the stygian gloom. Parched S&S fans were starved for a cool drink.
But now the drink feels if not like a firehose, then a 40 oz. big gulp. It seems like new kickstarters are popping up every fortnight, announcing new anthologies and projects.
In comparison with trad fantasy, or YA, the number of new titles we’re seeing in S&S would probably not qualify as a blip. But those markets are not S&S. They’re far, far larger, and can bear the output. When you’re playing in a small pool this flood of titles is a lot.
Again, I stress that this is so far from a crisis that it’s ridiculous to even think that way. It might not even be a problem. If you have plenty of 1) expendable cash and 2) time, and love to read, it’s great. If you lack either cash, or sufficient time, less so.
If you’re a publisher trying to make a living the glut is a problem, unless the market keeps expanding. Because right now we’re short on readers. And that is the real issue.
Unless you grow the pool of readers by 20x (or preferably, 200x) no writer or publisher is going to be able to make enough to sustain a full-time living writing S&S. Here is an interesting article from 2016 on self-publishing and the kinds of numbers you need to make a middle-class income. I doubt any new anthology is moving these kinds of numbers.
The issue is definitely not the passionate community of creators, including writers but also artists and editors. Everyone who wants to write or create, should. But they also should know they are publishing in a very small community.
Perhaps I’m using the wrong barometer for health, and that readership and revenue aren’t the real indicators, but quantity and quality of output, and passion of the community. But again quantity is a problem: when there are this many new titles in such a small community some will go unread. Assessing quality is also difficult: Conversations will be shorter, and shallower, as we quickly switch focus to the next new title. And I’m not sure that’s great for discussion and thoughtful reviews. There isn’t much talk over what makes for good writing in this space.
Back to optimism and possibility: One way I can see this evolving is editors raising the bar for the stories they’ll accept, and getting more specific about what types of stories they want, thematically or stylistically. New Edge is doing this with its lean into diversity and inclusiveness; Neither Beg Nor Yield with a never surrender attitude.
Maybe one day we’ll see a “Year’s Best” anthology that we can hand to a new reader and say, “start here.”
All this is coming at a time where I’m feeling a bit burned out on sword-and-sorcery, and reading horror and memoir at the moment. Make no mistake, I’m a lifelong reader and nothing will extinguish that flame. I’ll be back. But I need a pause to get caught up.
Long story short, I’ll eventually get to Lord of a Shattered Land. Soon, I promise.
20 comments:
I tend to think it's better to have too much S&S than too little. That said I understand if you get burned out. Me I find that I have to vary the types of genres I read in general.
On this topic, I have a story in Swords and Sorcery Magazine. Maybe read it if you are no longer burnt out.
https://www.swordsandsorcerymagazine.com/voice-of.html
"All this is coming at a time where I’m feeling a bit burned out on sword-and-sorcery, and reading horror and memoir at the moment. Make no mistake, I’m a lifelong reader and nothing will extinguish that flame. I’ll be back. But I need a pause to get caught up."
This. I need variety in my reading. But I never say never. Times I think I'm done with Cthulhu/Lovecraft Mythos, but October rolls around and I dip a toe, at least.
Same on s-&-s. Both as reader *and* writer.
I remember when DOCTOR WHO novels were released two per month! That would have been all I ever read if I tried to keep pace.
"If you’re a publisher trying to make a living the glut is a problem, unless the market keeps expanding. Because right now we’re short on readers. And that is the real issue."
You're damn right it's a problem for me. I can assure you there aren't enough readers, and this glut is wreaking havoc on my sales. With everyone jumping on the bandwagon, I feel like all the work I did to promote S&S backfired.
Matthew: Congratulations on the story acceptance man.
Paul: I thought we could never have enough tentacle monsters and Cthulhu plushies? Anyway, I've enjoyed your stuff when I've encountered it, keep plugging.
Dave: I have many thoughts on this... 1) your stuff at DMR still leads the pack for quality and consistency and I remain loyal, 2) although you're not in the Big Four of publishing you're obviously a publisher, and not immune to the recent trend of self-publishing. The technology allows it (even though again I would argue the quality of these products are mostly not at DMR's level). Obviously you're suffering the consequences, but you've got to keep promoting S&S to build your audience. EVERYONE who cares about S&S should be trying to broaden the readership, not just selling to the same echo chamber of readers.
I'm just a reader so I can only provide a fan's perspective. It does seem like supply is greatly exceeding demand when it comes to S&S, a sub-genre that already has a relatively small audience and isn't exactly known for its depth or breadth when it comes to content. While I do enjoy it, it is easy to get burned out when much of it just seems to recycle the same worn out tropes. Just like I don't read much epic fantasy because you are never going to "out-Tolkien Tolkien," these days a S&S author needs to do something different to really get my attention (I am partial to the "real world history with S&S trappings" kind of books). Otherwise, I'll just go read REH or another writer who has survived the filter of time.
Unfortunately, a lot of what is being published these days just isn't good enough in my opinion. I feel part of it may be because it is such a small, niche sub-genre that authors, publishers, and fans don't really want to do anything to discourage its growth or exclude anyone trying to write within it. That can prevent legitimate criticism of the works that are coming out, as well as create the echo chamber where everyone is trying to support everyone else at the expense of the integrity of the sub-genre. Honestly, since many of the same names show up in the anthologies, on blogs, on Reddit, on Discord, in podcasts, etc. it is hard for me to know what is being promoted because it is really great and what is being promoted because the writer is part of the S&S "club." Is this new novel or anthology really worth my time and money based on its own merits or because the author/publisher is well liked within the small circle of S&S and everyone is helping to promote them? I feel like S&S needs a curator who is not afraid to provide that critic's eye and actually filter out the quality from the dross. I think less is more and holding the sub-genre to a higher standard will only help it in the long run.
Great comment, just an S&S fan.
I have not read every new publication, far from it, but I do agree that a lot of what I have read is at best workmanlike, and forgotten the minute I turn the page. This is not the type of writing I'd prefer to spend my time on, even though I do love the subgenre and it is something I read on a default basis. I can say in honesty I have shied away from critique because it's a small community and I don't wish to hurt anyone's feelings. But, I also don't feel right giving every S&S book 5 stars on Amazon, just to help with ratings. Some have suggested this practice but to me, it feels dishonest (if I"m being honest), even if its just the way the algorithm works.
If everything is 5 star, then starred reviews are meaningless. Which they kind of are anyway, I give much more weight to thoughtful reviews than whether a book has an aggregate 4.2 stars or 4.6.
My prior thoughts on reviews are here: https://thesilverkey.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-problem-with-reviews.html
A publisher who discriminates for quality is the obvious choice for curator but with modern technology everyone is self-publishing and that circumvents this old paradigm. So it does become incumbent on the community to offer honest critique. And I agree this is not being done, or at least done with any consistency. Partly because it's a lot of work.
Well, the great thing about self-publishing is that anyone can get published. The horrible thing is also that anyone could get published.
I have read stories in prestigious magazines that I thought was horrible. (I don't read the New Yorker much.)
As a reader, DMR has earned my trust. I feel comfortable buying just about anything they release. A lot of the other outlets...I learned a long time ago that a lot of these guys just aren't very good and I tend to skim over the free stuff or bypass the paid material. Doesn't mean they'll never be good and I wish them improvement and success, but my time and money are limited and I need to be smart about how I spend them.
Matthew/Andy you both raise a good point, one of trust. If the New Yorker prints crap you don't like, or an S&S publisher does, then in time that will erode trust of readers and likely drop them out of the market. I agree that DMR is consistently high, both in terms of quality of books produced but also editing and author selection.
I appreciate the words of praise and encouragement from everyone here. I always strive to make every DMR release of the highest possible quality. I don't know how many other S&S publishers (aside from Goodman/Tales from the Magician's Skull) do the same. I even saw one editor openly state story quality isn't his top priority.
I even saw one editor openly state story quality isn't his top priority.---
That is so dumb.
The situation is technology is ahead of writing ability. Most of this small press stuff is fan-fiction. Much of it is not even sword & sorcery but reminds of me of the fiction that was in Marion Zimmer Bradley's SWORD & SORCERESS anthologies. I call it "Eunuch fantasy." It lacks verve and grit. "Sword & sorcery" is the current catch phrase. There is a Fermi Paradox that this small press stuff will peak and then trough. The Big 5 publishers are not going to jump in and start publishing 200 pages novels or 250 pages collections for $5.00.
Great post. I'm not sure how to grow the readership. I wonder if attempting to do that directly will work (now I'm imagining a pair of S&S missionaries in short sleeves and ties with DMR books and copies of The Skull ringing my doorbell). I'm optimistic. My hunch is that S&S is about to explode. There's thunder in the distance. For example, I know of a very big name writing an article about the indie S&S scene for a very big magazine. I think the best course is pretty simple: support and encourage the best S&S being published. Stay the course. 😊⚔️📚
I think getting more people to read today is nearly impossible. Book publishers/writers have no hope of competing with big tech streaming channels. And people succumb to the FOMO of TV and movies all the time. I also don’t think we help the situation by burdening reading with the necessity of grand insights on human nature. People criticize escapism as a goal in reading, but I almost never hear that same criticism levied at TV or movies. No wonder people would rather plop themselves on the couch and watch TV.
I put myself very much in the Lin Carter camp when it comes to my reason for reading S&S: fun, escapism, action, imagining exciting locales. Sometimes there’s some deeper message, but I don’t mentally demarcate the “deep” stories from the superficial ones. We’re already in the genre ghetto. Do we really need to partition our measly sub-genre even more?
I may be less inclined to seek out deep messages in the fiction I read because I engage in heavy thinking in my day job. I’m a psychology professor. It’s also why I’m generally skeptical of the insights writers have about human nature or human psychology. Are they really more knowledgeable about the human condition than psychologists or philosophers? I doubt it.
Baen has put out more sword-and-sorcery this summer alone than the other trad pubs have COMBINED in some years.
Where once we had a famine now we have a feast. How is this anything but a good thing?
I love the burgeoning S&S community.
The point I was trying to make with this post is merely that the large volume (let’s call it that, glut is not the most positive descriptor) makes it hard to keep up with new S&S releases—and just a short while ago it was not that way. I can't keep up with buying or reading every title, which was not the case as little as 6-8 months ago.
And while this is FAR preferable to having little S&S, it’s a change worth commenting on.
JRC, and Korsgaard/Baen, keep up the great work!
I'm 56 and I've been a fan of S&S since I was kid, but even back then and up until the recent years, new S&S was all but non-existent. Except for a few exceptions, the only new S&S to be found was either REH pastiche or comics. The rest was already decades old when I started reading it back in the 70/80s. I know because I was always on the lookout.
Hell, it’s only been in the last few years that I've come to find that there's a good number of other S&S fans like me even out there. I felt like I was all alone in my fandom.
So, we've went from an S&S draught to being over inundated practically over night?!!?!
I totally see the downside to that. (It's the same as when I'm trying to figure out what to watch on TV of my 8 streaming services.)
But brother let me tell you; this is so much better than what it has been like.
I'm just so happy that I've lived to see S&S make a comeback.
Interesting article. Hopefully this is a sign that interest in sword and sorcery will continue to grow and that the market just hasn't caught up yet. More books published, more chances for people to enter into the genre and fall in love with it. Hopefully.
But like you said a lot to read. I know my list of "to read" just grows and grows no matter how much reading I seem to do. A "best of" would certainly be nice.
I wrote a blog post in response. https://grumpywizard.home.blog/2023/08/31/im-looking-forward-to-a-glut-of-sword-and-sorcery/
There were ideas further up the comments thread that I'd like to address.
1- Quality- There are a lot of so-so stories being published. Outside of authors self publishing, that's something editors and publishers will have to address. They want to sell more books, they need better stuff.
2- Size of the market- This is a complex subject. Nobody knows the size of the total potential market. I bet it's bigger than a lot of people think it is. The problem is those people don't know the new stories exist.
Quality is the first problem. Until someone they know reads a truly awesome story and tells all their friends, blogs about it, reviews it on their youtube channel and tells all their friends YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK, that audience will continue to be small.
The second problem is that I think the publishers need to do a better job of marketing and sales. I know you are working hard but if you put your effort in the wrong places and don't leverage the access to audience that exists online then you can work as hard as you want and not get anywhere. One of the publishers main jobs is to make sure readers know about the books and can get them.
Who is your avatar? What is being done to reach them? Do you show up in the places where they go? Are different formats being attempted that they want? I have yet to see a publisher with a good YouTube channel. You want to reach more people? Look at the demographics and usage data for YouTube. Most people are on YT every day. What kind of cold/warm outreach are you doing? What kind of targeted advertising are you doing? What's your lead magnet? Do you provide value on your social media feeds and channels or is it all an advertising pitch?
I'm not even close to being an expert on marketing and I can see the publishers are not effectively utilizing even using the low cost tools that are available.
Travis, thank you for the wonderful comment and post on your blog. You've given me something to think about. A glut of work, even poor or indifferent, is likely what we'll need. Sort of like panning for gold. Great point. And I agree about marketing. I've been asked a couple times about why Flame and Crimson has done relatively well sales-wise, and garnered lots of reviews and some favorable press, and the answer is, I marketed it, tirelessly. Dozens of articles for DMR, here on my blog, podcasts, panels. And not advertising, but interesting sword-and-sorcery content. That's what it takes. Putting a book up on Amazon is not the end, but just the beginning for an aspiring author or publisher.
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