Why do we get so many fantasy authors?
ConversesHobnob with Authors
Afegeix-te a LibraryThing per participar.
1LShelby
Actually we currently have more non-fiction authors listed in index than fantasy right now, but when I started doing the Author Index years ago I had one Fantasy/Science Fiction section, and I not only ended up breaking it apart, I even gave the pieces their own page, because typically there are far more authors for those than any other genre. (The non-fiction category is really a bunch of different genres grouped together.)
I'm a fantasy author myself, so clearly I have no objection to fantasy writers. (Actually, that might not hold true. I've read some comments by David Eddings that make him sound like he does, in fact, have issues with his fellow fantasists. But maybe he just can get a bit grumpy at times?) But I am curious.
Are there really more people who write fantasy than any other genre? If so, what makes it so popular? (If we look at the history of the meaning of the word fantasy, we discover that at its base it just means "not real" or "made up"... or in other words, fantasy and fiction were once synonyms. Is that why? Because fantasy is somehow the 'ur' form of fiction?)
Or is it just that we get more of them showing up here? And if that is the case, why?
I'm a fantasy author myself, so clearly I have no objection to fantasy writers. (Actually, that might not hold true. I've read some comments by David Eddings that make him sound like he does, in fact, have issues with his fellow fantasists. But maybe he just can get a bit grumpy at times?) But I am curious.
Are there really more people who write fantasy than any other genre? If so, what makes it so popular? (If we look at the history of the meaning of the word fantasy, we discover that at its base it just means "not real" or "made up"... or in other words, fantasy and fiction were once synonyms. Is that why? Because fantasy is somehow the 'ur' form of fiction?)
Or is it just that we get more of them showing up here? And if that is the case, why?
2slarken
I think there are multiple reasons for this.
The first thing that came to mind is that fantasy is a much larger genre than any other. What I mean by that is that it encompasses very different types of books--epic fantasy, urban fantasy, grimdark, etc.
The other thing though is that younger readers have grown up watching a lot of fantasy films and television, there's a lot more of it now than before, especially all the popular stuff seems to be fantasy (or sci-fi).
Same with video games, almost all of them are fantasy/sci-fi.
As a consequence, I think that new generations are a lot more into those genres than previous ones. Thus an influx in genre writers.
It's my theory, anyway ;)
The first thing that came to mind is that fantasy is a much larger genre than any other. What I mean by that is that it encompasses very different types of books--epic fantasy, urban fantasy, grimdark, etc.
The other thing though is that younger readers have grown up watching a lot of fantasy films and television, there's a lot more of it now than before, especially all the popular stuff seems to be fantasy (or sci-fi).
Same with video games, almost all of them are fantasy/sci-fi.
As a consequence, I think that new generations are a lot more into those genres than previous ones. Thus an influx in genre writers.
It's my theory, anyway ;)
3lilithcat
I wonder, too, if there's a correlation between the number of self-published authors in this group and the fact that so many are fantasy authors. I have read thata fantasy books comprise a substantial portion of self-published novels (along with romance and science fiction).
4LShelby
>2 slarken:
My guess would be that the technology has finally reached the point where fantasy and science fiction can be done affordably, and that's why there is such an influx of fantasy and science fiction in the film industry. The game industry has always loved those genres...
Because the wider range of possibility makes it easier to make game mechanics make sense? Because the fantasy genre gave birth to the table-top roleplaying genre, which then informed the computer game market?
>3 lilithcat: "I have read that fantasy books comprise a substantial portion of self-published novelsI have read thata fantasy books comprise a substantial portion of self-published novels"
It's a bit sad, really, because I don't think that fantasy novels are the easiest to sell, as a self-published author. Niche stuff is easier to sell. Fantasy isn't really all that niche. Which really begs the question: if fantasy is hard to sell as a self-publisher, then why are there so many self-publishing fantasy authors?
Maybe it's because the fantasy genre is particularly appealing to imaginative people -- because of the need to "fill in" the gaps with one's own pictures, perhaps?
So if you were to gather a bunch of mystery readers together, only one in maybe 12 (I am totally guesstimating these numbers) would think that they might be able to write a mystery themselves, but if you go to a group of fantasy readers, then the numbers are closer to one in four or five?
And as a result, fantasy authors are a bit of a glut on the market?
Or, thinking about it, my daughters seem to think they are more capable of writing fantasy stories than mystery stories. I used to think that too, until I actually tried writing fantasy stories that were also mystery stories, and then I discovered that yes, I can write mysteries. So maybe fantasy is perceived as being easier to write?
My guess would be that the technology has finally reached the point where fantasy and science fiction can be done affordably, and that's why there is such an influx of fantasy and science fiction in the film industry. The game industry has always loved those genres...
Because the wider range of possibility makes it easier to make game mechanics make sense? Because the fantasy genre gave birth to the table-top roleplaying genre, which then informed the computer game market?
>3 lilithcat: "I have read that fantasy books comprise a substantial portion of self-published novelsI have read thata fantasy books comprise a substantial portion of self-published novels"
It's a bit sad, really, because I don't think that fantasy novels are the easiest to sell, as a self-published author. Niche stuff is easier to sell. Fantasy isn't really all that niche. Which really begs the question: if fantasy is hard to sell as a self-publisher, then why are there so many self-publishing fantasy authors?
Maybe it's because the fantasy genre is particularly appealing to imaginative people -- because of the need to "fill in" the gaps with one's own pictures, perhaps?
So if you were to gather a bunch of mystery readers together, only one in maybe 12 (I am totally guesstimating these numbers) would think that they might be able to write a mystery themselves, but if you go to a group of fantasy readers, then the numbers are closer to one in four or five?
And as a result, fantasy authors are a bit of a glut on the market?
Or, thinking about it, my daughters seem to think they are more capable of writing fantasy stories than mystery stories. I used to think that too, until I actually tried writing fantasy stories that were also mystery stories, and then I discovered that yes, I can write mysteries. So maybe fantasy is perceived as being easier to write?
