A Dance with Dragons Release Discussion

[Ran]

Well, I wouldn't be amazingly shocked if the last book managed it. But I am doubtful.

[Werthead]

I'm not sure. I ponder what is more likely to happen first:

1) Martin wins Hugo Award for Best Novel.

2) Scorsese wins Best Director at the Oscars.

3) Heat death of the universe.

[Barba]

I'm not sure. I ponder what is more likely to happen first:

1) Martin wins Hugo Award for Best Novel.

2) Scorsese wins Best Director at the Oscars.

3) Heat death of the universe.

And after we will get: A Dance With Dragons

[Analog_Filter_2011]

October 14th. GRRM should at least have one announcement within the next 79 remaining days before this year ends.....whether ADWD is finished or not.

[Red Viper of Dorne]

Well, judging by GRRM's blog today, he is back to writing ADWD and still hopes it'll be done by the end of the year.

[Altherion]

Well, judging by GRRM's blog today, he is back to writing ADWD and still hopes it'll be done by the end of the year.

Sort of. When I read this...

I have half a dozen different projects on my plate, but the big one is A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, and I am going to be pushing hard on that in the weeks and months to come, in hopes of wrapping it up by the end of the year.

... my first thought was "March. Maybe February." Keep in mind that even if he finishes it by the end of the year, it still has to be edited and such which means a delay of weeks to months.

[Skid]

If i had a dollar for every time GRRM said he hopes to be done by the end of the year..

notice how he never mentions *which* year!

Still, can't be that far now.

[Happy Ent]

Keep in mind that even if he finishes it by the end of the year, it still has to be edited and such which means a delay of weeks to months.

More like half a year. The FfC manuscript was finished in May (several parts of which had already passed through the editor's hands repeatedly) and the book was published in October–November.

[Victarion Steel]

It takes four weeks to print a paperback book and eight weeks for a hardcover. For complete book production (cover, editing, interior design, proofreading), the process takes three to six months.

so 6 months being longest scenario but maybe 3 months if were lucky.

Found that on google.

If he finished lets say by the end of the year the earliest it would come out would be March and latest it would come out june of 2007

So I would assume the book would be out at durin the 2nd quarter of 2007

[Werthead]

Whilst you can get books out much faster than the 5-6 months it's taken GRRM previously from completion to publication, it usually comes at the expense of good editing. Books 8-10 of WoT came out within 2 months of completion and were replete with spelling mistakes. So I think GRRM would prefer to give the book its full editorial cycle when putting it out. This will also give Bantam and particularly Voyager time to put together a good promotional package for the book as well.

So, if he finishes by 31 December, then the book could come out by 31 May in the UK (maybe a month later in the USA). If he finishes by 31 January, it could come out by 31 June, and if by the end of February it could come out by the end of July or start of August 2007.

[Victarion Steel]

yea I will agree with that so anywhere between march 07 and july 07 depending on when he finishes the book.

[Calibandar]

Amazon UK, in their infinite wisdom, have now shifted back the UK release from February to October 2007. Well aware of the fact that Amazon is not that reliable when it comes to these matters ( but nevertheless often has more info than the standard joe schmoe), I will note that a Martin book has never come out before the projected Amazon UK date.

Personally I am disappointed to see that GRRM is only now really starting to get going again with ADWD, he's pretty frank about the fact that he's hardly written something at all in the last few months, which is bound to have effect. On the other hand he does feel he can finish it by year's end. In any case he has room for a good long writing spell now, and may finish by the end of February perhaps.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Calibandar, I have something in a box. Tell me what it is.

You can't? Don't know how big the box is, what shape it is, what type of box it is, whether any markings on the outside might indicate the nature of the thing inside? Can't tell whether it's a pizza or a kidney or the Ark of the Covenant? All right then. That's understandable.

But if you were to go around telling me that I'm not treating the thing in the box with the proper care, that I don't obviously don't care about it, or any other accusation that suggests that you do know what it is, then I'd say that you were full of shit, and as it happens you are full of shit.

See, yes, George could be facing a staggering amount of work that laziness or whatever has led him to put off. Or maybe there isn't that much left to do. You don't know. You can be as disappointed in him as you like, but that means that you are a dumbass, not that he's necessarily behind schedule.

[Ran]

Ahem. Lets stay polite.

[Victarion Steel]

I think GRRM has earned the right to be lazy anytime he wants to or take a vacation it will be out eventually if he takes a month off good for him I'm sure he works hard on other things besides just ASOIAF

[Rimmer]

Whilst you can get books out much faster than the 5-6 months it's taken GRRM previously from completion to publication, it usually comes at the expense of good editing. Books 8-10 of WoT came out within 2 months of completion and were replete with spelling mistakes.

This never ceases to amaze me though. If I can sit down and read a book in a couple of days and noitce all the spelling mistakes and missing words, what's stopping them from doing it as quickly?

[Altherion]

This never ceases to amaze me though. If I can sit down and read a book in a couple of days and noitce all the spelling mistakes and missing words, what's stopping them from doing it as quickly?

I don't think spelling and grammar are the issue -- if he has it typed up (and I think he does -- if not, scan the text), you can run it through a computer program with a customized dictionary to get rid of the simple typos and then have it proofread in a matter of days. I assume what they do when editing is point out parts that need improvement and send it back to him to re-write or cut out. Then he sends it back and they look at it again and if they still don't like something, they send it to him again and so on.

If that is not what happens, then I can't comprehend what takes 4-6 months.

[Lupigis]

I don't think there's anything wrong with Calibandar saying that he's disappointed that GRRM hasn't gotten much writing done in the last three months. And to imply (as The Fat Man) does that Calibandar and the rest of us knows nothing about the progress of ADWD is rather odd. We know that some of the writing that GRRM did until the summer consisted of rewriting and expanding previously written chapters (March 28 livejournal entry):

Jon, I think, will be one of the main beneficiaries of my splitting A FEAST FOR CROWS in two. I will have more room to deal with Jon and Stannis and the wildlings and the rest, which will allow me to flesh out their storylines more and bring them to a better resolution... but it's more than that. Although I had "completed" something on the order of five Jon chapters before deciding to divide the book, I was never really happy with them, and rereading them now has reinforced my feelings. They need to be much stronger, and I believe I see how to do that now. Sometimes putting things on the back burner can work wonders. That where the muse lives (or the moose, as Parris sometimes calls her).

While I'm sure that this will improve the quality of the book, it doesn't get GRRM closer to finishing the bits that were completely unwritten when he turned in AFFC.

We also know that GRRM underestimated the time it would take him to finish AFFC several times. I do this WRT my own work very often myself, so I can sympathize, but that means that when GRRM says that he "hopes" to finish by the end of the year I read that as "is unlikely to" finish by the end of the year.

As far as I'm concerned, GRRM can take as long as he likes, but since I'm waiting eagerly for the book, I will still be disappointed by every announcement of months of interruptions of his writing. This doesn't mean that I am disappointed in GRRM personaly or think that he isn't taking proper care of his writing. To say that Calibandar is "full of shit" when he expresses his disappointment is very rude.

There's 10 weeks left of 2006 by now. I wish GRRM all the best and am sure that he will get a lot of writing done in this time but I still fully anticipate a new update in late December or early January headlined "Not finished yet".

[Winterfell]

As far as I'm concerned, GRRM can take as long as he likes, but since I'm waiting eagerly for the book, I will still be disappointed by every announcement of months of interruptions of his writing. This doesn't mean that I am disappointed in GRRM personaly or think that he isn't taking proper care of his writing. To say that Calibandar is "full of shit" when he expresses his disappointment is very rude.

There's 10 weeks left of 2006 by now. I wish GRRM all the best and am sure that he will get a lot of writing done in this time but I still fully anticipate a new update in late December or early January headlined "Not finished yet".

Agreed on all points. I too don't see anything wrong with someone being disappointed about the delays. We're not name-calling or anything, and to jump down Calibander's throat over that is unwarranted. Anyway, I for one am hopeful that the book sees a 2007 release, but who knows. I also expect the next update will let us know ADWD is still being written.

[Rimmer]

I don't think spelling and grammar are the issue -- if he has it typed up (and I think he does -- if not, scan the text), you can run it through a computer program with a customized dictionary to get rid of the simple typos and then have it proofread in a matter of days. I assume what they do when editing is point out parts that need improvement and send it back to him to re-write or cut out. Then he sends it back and they look at it again and if they still don't like something, they send it to him again and so on.

If that is not what happens, then I can't comprehend what takes 4-6 months.

Yeah, I wasn't talking about ASOIAF specifically, just wondering why there are ever typos in published books at all. Surely there's something wrong if I can find errors that they miss, in pretty much any book?