tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post7609283511966277292..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Sterkarm! - by Susan PriceKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-49565089781066205322015-04-07T11:26:16.255+01:002015-04-07T11:26:16.255+01:00I would definitely buy no.3 - I've been dying ...I would definitely buy no.3 - I've been dying to find out what happens next for years! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-48651261367144377712013-10-28T21:49:31.448+00:002013-10-28T21:49:31.448+00:00How can you leave me on a cliffhanger again? You ...How can you leave me on a cliffhanger again? You had me from the first Eyesobel.We have to get your book published. Crowdfunding maybe? Please, please get your book to us. xxxxxxxxEfrogwraighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07029031997794792937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-31052360191073604062013-10-26T09:16:57.307+01:002013-10-26T09:16:57.307+01:00I've just bought Sterkarm Handshake to catch u...I've just bought Sterkarm Handshake to catch up on what I've been missing. How have I missed this? Stupid me. Can add nothing except encouragement to all that has been said above. julia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-73334054999279964822013-10-25T22:00:04.983+01:002013-10-25T22:00:04.983+01:00Great post indeed, Sue. And, Nick Green: well said...Great post indeed, Sue. And, Nick Green: well said.glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-56281896082661478442013-10-25T21:08:29.398+01:002013-10-25T21:08:29.398+01:00ok, I'm with Madwippet here, get one and two o...ok, I'm with Madwippet here, get one and two out asap, to catch up new readers and refresh older ones, and then hit em with 3. Do it or my alter ego Valerie Laws will come and steal your cows. Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-14605641995022375272013-10-25T20:10:44.076+01:002013-10-25T20:10:44.076+01:00So sorry to read about this. I LOVE the Sterkarm b...So sorry to read about this. I LOVE the Sterkarm books, bought them for my sister and friend, and have raved about them to my students.<br />Please publish Sterkarm 3.Julietnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-30657402243613762392013-10-25T18:00:49.889+01:002013-10-25T18:00:49.889+01:00Now there I couldn't agree with you more, Nick...Now there I couldn't agree with you more, Nick. Only thing is, I'm not sure it's wise to expect too much from self-publishing - at least not in terms of conventional measures of success like sales, a large following, etc. I'm obviously not Susan, but if I were in her place, I'd simply be happy to complete the job I set myself to the best of my ability. There's got to be a wonderful sense of accomplishment in bringing such a trilogy to a long-desired and satisfactory conclusion. Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-35316421246087758412013-10-25T15:48:21.082+01:002013-10-25T15:48:21.082+01:00What no-one has yet mentioned (so I will) is how f...What no-one has yet mentioned (so I will) is how frankly scary this is for any writer with a less impressive CV than Susan Price (and I believe that's most of us). There's always been this vague faith, hasn't there, that if only you get get good enough, write well enough, work hard enough and try long enough, then you could break down any obstacle and get any publishing deal that you deserved. I have believed in the natural justice principle that hard work and talent will eventually pay off. (And of course it still can, through self-publishing). But apparently it's not enough to defy these mysterious Market Forces, which are clearly the work of Sauron.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-48595408289035366052013-10-25T15:09:20.752+01:002013-10-25T15:09:20.752+01:00Glad to hear that the Sterkarm boulder is rolling ...Glad to hear that the Sterkarm boulder is rolling again at last! I was getting quite wearied barking at you about it ... I'd suggest getting S1 and S2 out again first otherwise you will confuse new readers - and at the same time those who are still waiting to read S3 will have had their memories refreshed about what happened beforehand. And it will help build up momentum for S3. If you bring them out at 6 month intervals that will give you a year in the meantime to finish tweaking S3 and deciding at what point to end it so you can then begin on S4 and tie up all those loose ends! Yeah, a quadrilogy! <br />Give me a shout if I can do anything else other than bark and crack a whip at you!madwippitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595748471651052552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-61128487675673942722013-10-25T14:20:26.808+01:002013-10-25T14:20:26.808+01:00Nick, there's certainly much in what you say, ...Nick, there's certainly much in what you say, but I'm not entirely convinced. We can still speak about general trends (knowing full well that there's an element of, well, generalisation), and the way our kids live now, and the way reading - and tastes - have been affected by electronic & social media.<br /><br />Of course trends can be influenced by better exposure to good quality. The thing is, I'm not sure that quality is in fact such a stable concept as your JAmie Oliver example would suggest. Don't you think that criteria of quality change?Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-25060431213842291582013-10-25T13:56:45.423+01:002013-10-25T13:56:45.423+01:00Lee, 'taste has changed' - I don't agr...Lee, 'taste has changed' - I don't agree. I don't buy that as a concept. Taste isn't an abstract thing, out there, it rests in the individual. Taste cannot change, per se. Only people's perception of what is out there, and what it is seen as acceptable to like. <br /><br />Serve people only Turkey Twizzlers and they will say they like Turkey Twizzlers. But give them the chance to try some real food cooked by a chef (Jamie Oliver has proved this many times) and they won't go back to their junk.<br /><br />You can pick up any forgotten classic published by Persephone and be blown away, quite blown away, by the quality of the writing - but little of it would get picked up by a mainstream publisher today. That's just tragic.<br /><br />People have forgotten what good looks like. It's that simple.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-31095890186779619472013-10-25T11:51:52.248+01:002013-10-25T11:51:52.248+01:00Nick, I feel we need to be honest here, as much as...Nick, I feel we need to be honest here, as much as it may be painful: a lot of older YA books simply do not appeal to most of today's teens; taste has changed, and not all the 'senior writer-citizens' are able to adapt Some wines age well; others do not. Hence a related question: do writers have a natural limit to their writing lifespan? Some obviously don't -- take Alice Munro or Philip Roth. But others ...? <br /><br />That said, Susan Price does NOT fall into this so-called retiree category, and I can't wait to read Sterkarm 3!<br /><br />Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-53411760362967596622013-10-25T11:49:08.575+01:002013-10-25T11:49:08.575+01:00This sorry publishing saga will henceforth be know...This sorry publishing saga will henceforth be known as The Sterkarm "F*** it!"Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-47646053711678955682013-10-25T11:01:28.635+01:002013-10-25T11:01:28.635+01:00Well said all through, Sue!
Though I think some p...Well said all through, Sue!<br /><br />Though I think some publishers were quite keen on getting rid of the Net Agreement too, which helped with the collapse.Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-2394222578608189122013-10-25T10:55:44.234+01:002013-10-25T10:55:44.234+01:00get it out there, lassget it out there, lassJan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-14250778425671626572013-10-25T09:59:47.329+01:002013-10-25T09:59:47.329+01:00Sue, what a fantastic post. Many familiar echoes h...Sue, what a fantastic post. Many familiar echoes here, especially of uncompleted trilogies. I'm sorry (and slightly surprised: what happened to Scholastic's review finding service for authors? Probably axed just about the time they dropped me!) that you never read my School Librarian review of Handshake. I seem to remember that I forecast awards and at least shortlists for it. I'll see if I've still got it, though my stock of SL back numbers seems to have shrunk over years of moving and clearing things out. Anyway, get 3 out quickly, because the Sterkarms are hugely significant works and publication of 3 will complete a piece of literary history. And I still say that P Pullman got his idea of Lyra and Will communing from parallel universes on a seat in the Botanical Gardens from the haunting final image of Handshake. And then Dr Who pinched it from both of you.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-71562393642870929162013-10-25T09:50:13.155+01:002013-10-25T09:50:13.155+01:00What I don't understand is, WFT is so RISKY ab...What I don't understand is, WFT is so RISKY about publishing books that have previously done so well, by someone who has won the goddamn Carnegie Medal? If that's a RISK then I'm going to rig up a saftey net for the next time I climb my own stairs.<br /><br />The market is groaning under the weight of mega-selling YA books by authors who are merely competent (perhaps they magically get better after page 10, but that's where I always seem to fall asleep), yet Susan Price's books are deemed unpublishable? That proves it. The market has gone actually mad. The ability to differentiate between good, bad and mediocre writing has been lost. *Punches wall*.<br /><br />Ow.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-25284405753230446902013-10-25T09:48:41.652+01:002013-10-25T09:48:41.652+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.com