Joe Abercrombie: The Collected Works 3 (Includes A Little Hatred Spoiler discussion)

[SeanF]

A pointy beard is a Beard of Evil, so that suits Bayaz.

[The BlackBear]

A craggy face with a smile that never reaches his eyes. George Hearst isn't bad actually, just make him a bit balder.

This might be a stupid question, but do you think Covid-19 might affect the book release?

[red snow]

23 minutes ago, The BlackBear said:

A craggy face with a smile that never reaches his eyes. George Hearst isn't bad actually, just make him a bit balder.

This might be a stupid question, but do you think Covid-19 might affect the book release?

If joe gets it i guess he might not feel like writing for a few days which is probably the main factor. I imagine books as an industry are far less prone to disruption. People can write/edit/design covers, etc remotely, you don't need to be in a gathering of 100s of people in order to read it and you can get it delivered to your door. 

If anything books are probably becoming more popular as a form of entertainment, along with Netflix.

I guess if gollancz were to close through the majority of staff being simultaneously ill there would be knock on effects. And there's the potential worldwide recession which could stop the publisher existing or more likely individuals from having the cash to buy it.

[Gaston de Foix]

4 hours ago, red snow said:

If joe gets it i guess he might not feel like writing for a few days which is probably the main factor. I imagine books as an industry are far less prone to disruption. People can write/edit/design covers, etc remotely, you don't need to be in a gathering of 100s of people in order to read it and you can get it delivered to your door. 

If anything books are probably becoming more popular as a form of entertainment, along with Netflix.

I guess if gollancz were to close through the majority of staff being simultaneously ill there would be knock on effects. And there's the potential worldwide recession which could stop the publisher existing or more likely individuals from having the cash to buy it.

Stupid question.  How mechanized is the process of mass-printing books?  Is it labor intensive? 

[Maltaran]

5 hours ago, The BlackBear said:

A craggy face with a smile that never reaches his eyes. George Hearst isn't bad actually, just make him a bit balder.

This might be a stupid question, but do you think Covid-19 might affect the book release?

I guess it depends on how many staff at the publishers get sick. The printing process I think is pretty well automated these days.

[red snow]

31 minutes ago, Gaston de Foix said:

Stupid question.  How mechanized is the process of mass-printing books?  Is it labor intensive? 

I'm guessing it's not monks transcribing individual copies but if 80% of workforce is ill/off for two weeks it could slow down. He says with no knowledge of mass printing but anyone can be an "expert" from their armchair these days

[The BlackBear]

I was thinking more Publicist stuff. I don;t really know how the circuit works, but surely there are signings and interviews and lots of stuff going on in that vein.

[Rhom]

33 minutes ago, The BlackBear said:

I was thinking more Publicist stuff. I don;t really know how the circuit works, but surely there are signings and interviews and lots of stuff going on in that vein.

They don’t send most authors on big signing tours anymore.

[HexMachina]

1 hour ago, The BlackBear said:

I was thinking more Publicist stuff. I don;t really know how the circuit works, but surely there are signings and interviews and lots of stuff going on in that vein.

I think i remember he had a few signings planned. I imagine they would be cancelled unless things have improved by that time

[williamjm]

1 hour ago, HelenaExMachina said:

I think i remember he had a few signings planned. I imagine they would be cancelled unless things have improved by that time

He had a dozen events around the UK for A Little Hatred. That said, it's probably not a massively important part of the publishing process.

[Werthead]

On 2/12/2020 at 6:59 PM, BigFatCoward said:

That's how to do it. One book a year. 

Six years to write, edit and publish the whole thing, so more like one every two years (still pretty good though) when you average it out.

[red snow]

On 3/12/2020 at 9:57 PM, The BlackBear said:

I was thinking more Publicist stuff. I don;t really know how the circuit works, but surely there are signings and interviews and lots of stuff going on in that vein.

He can sign books from home (although i admit personalised signing logistically unrealistic).

Interviews can all be done remotely and put on his blog/publishers website/youtube.

I guess it makes everyone involved's lives harder. And an excellent opportunity to have extra time to work on the book if needed under cover of coronavirus.

[Rhom]

 

[Jussi]

Progress Report April ’20

Quote

The third and final book is getting very close to done now, too. Finished the character pass, which is where I go through with an eye on characterisation – mostly the voices of the lead characters, and trying to get as much personality into the dialogue and behaviour of the secondary characters as possible – so where there’s a generic shrug or sigh or eyebrow raise, can it become something that’s unique to the character or sheds a little light on their personality. Honestly, by a third book in a series, the characters should be pretty well established and writing from the main points of view becomes instinctive, so there’s not that much to do in this phase. Next will be a pass for setting, then it’ll be off for the detailed line edit, and it’ll probably be copy edited soon after, so I fully expect it’ll be close to completely finished by the time The Trouble With Peace comes out, though the proofs won’t happen till nearer the publication date next year, so the door remains open to a change or two if something comes to me, probably spurred by reaction to the second book.

There’s been some ongoing thought over the title. I’d been working with The Beautiful Machine, but I’d never been totally sure, and now I’m starting to edge towards The Wisdom of Crowds, which was the title of one of the chapters, and has just come to suit the nature of the book better and better as things have come along.

[Fez]

I've been re-reading Abercrombie's various First Law books for the first time since my initial read back when the books were published. I'm about two-thirds through Before They Are Hanged so far, and its been fun; especially since I've forgotten so many of the details. Once I get all the way through to Red Country, I imagine that I'll buy A Little Hatred to keep going.

I know there's a bunch of short stories too, but I've never actually read any of them. How are they? And is there one collection that has all of them?

[Corvinus85]

13 minutes ago, Fez said:

I've been re-reading Abercrombie's various First Law books for the first time since my initial read back when the books were published. I'm about two-thirds through Before They Are Hanged so far, and its been fun; especially since I've forgotten so many of the details. Once I get all the way through to Red Country, I imagine that I'll buy A Little Hatred to keep going.

I know there's a bunch of short stories too, but I've never actually read any of them. How are they? And is there one collection that has all of them?

Sharp Ends is the name of the book that has all the short stories. Some of them feature major characters from the novels, others features minor characters, or characters who don't appear in the novels but interact with someone known.

[Rhom]

23 minutes ago, Fez said:

I've been re-reading Abercrombie's various First Law books for the first time since my initial read back when the books were published. I'm about two-thirds through Before They Are Hanged so far, and its been fun; especially since I've forgotten so many of the details. Once I get all the way through to Red Country, I imagine that I'll buy A Little Hatred to keep going.

I know there's a bunch of short stories too, but I've never actually read any of them. How are they? And is there one collection that has all of them?

 

8 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

Sharp Ends is the name of the book that has all the short stories. Some of them feature major characters from the novels, others features minor characters, or characters who don't appear in the novels but interact with someone known.

Yeah, Sharp Ends is a lot of fun.  Its fairly short overall and definitely worth a read.  You won't miss anything in the new stuff by not reading it, but the stories are all great.

[Maithanet]

The short stories are basically optional side quests.  None of them are essential, and they only marginally increase your understanding of the characters and setting.  Some are better than others, but overall they're usually fun in the typical Abercrombie sort of way. 

[Fez]

1 hour ago, Rhom said:

Yeah, Sharp Ends is a lot of fun.  Its fairly short overall and definitely worth a read.  You won't miss anything in the new stuff by not reading it, but the stories are all great.

There's a lot of them though, right? I thought that was the case anyway. How short are the stories? Are we talking like 20-30 pages on average, or like 4-5 pages?

[Maithanet]

Just now, Fez said:

There's a lot of them though, right? I thought that was the case anyway. How short are the stories? Are we talking like 20-30 pages on average, or like 4-5 pages?

It varies.  I think there's like a dozen or so stories in Sharp Ends, and the book is like 300 pages.  I'm sure you could look it up if you're interested.