Comment by Flemlord | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Flemlord | Hacker News Reader

I found that horrifying. All I could think of while reading the article was what if this model takes off? Publishing houses put books together by hiring one meta-author to write an outline for a book, then bid out the actual writing to junior authors. The publishing houses would own the rights to the characters, series, and future books. When a particular series takes off, their only expense is hiring junior authors to "fill in the blanks" on future novels. Sounds immensely more profitable for publishing houses for the current model. Why would a publishing house develop individual authors if the new meta model is so much more profitable?

As interesting as I found the business model, if the end product is anything like Patterson's novels, I fear for the book industry. Would Harry Potter have been written by a down-on-her-luck JK Rowling if she could have gotten work as a ghost author for a publishing house? I could see this being a good thing, but I like my books and the direction scares me.

I see your point, but this isn't really new, especially in the teen and young adult markets:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratemeyer_Syndicate

Additionally, I think recent developments mean that more and more authors will skip the publisher entirely and do it themselves. Finally, the idealistic (and probably somewhat naive) part of me still believes that there will always be a market for great content. There will always be publishers and authors who want to create great stuff and do so, even if the market isn't apparent. Yes, this means that the blockbusters will be mostly shit, but every now and then, there will be a blockbuster that's truly great. Look at the TV, movie, and music industries now for examples of what I'm talking about.

This already happens pretty often with low budget sci fi and other genre fiction. Publishers have a very specific template for a type of story and they bid it out to unknown authors.

Maybe JK Rowling didn't know about this option, but obviously she had her own story she wanted to tell. Ghost authors are not given much freedom in character design or plot events. The plots are literally formulaic.

I agree completely, I think that one should value their readership enough to not only entertain them but improve their mind by showing them new perspectives, teaching them things, exposing them to new ideas, etc.... I wonder how good his books are.

Also note, that his outline can be up to 50 pages triple spaced -- so he writes down 17 pages or so, and then says fill it up. I wonder if his stories would be better as short stories, instead of novels.

The author doesn't even need to be alive for that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Sheldon%27s_Mistress_of_...

Or exist, in the case of the Stratemeyer Syndicate.

I think this model, properly handled, benefits new authors as much as it benefits publishers. Instead of spending their days splicing cables or selling insurance, they have a "day job" that furthers their careers.

This happens already quite often.

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