I have just read two recently published books by Harlan Coban. These two books were written when he was in his early twenties and in the introduction to both books he offers the following caveat: if this is the first of my books you have picked up please put it down and buy another one. It seems that established writers are constantly being pressed to provide books to suit publishing deadlines whether or not they have creditable books ready for publication. When publishers can't persuade the author to produce a new book on demand they seem to resort to lifting old unpublished works from their library and turning them out with covers that replicate the current series of books on offer from the author, thus deceiving the buying public. Clearly Harlan Coban was not happy with this approach, hence the caveat in his books. Neither book could be described as Harlan Coban's best, although both were readable.
It appears to me that there are three possibilities for publishers to make money: first publish a new author whose work is worthy of a place on a reader's bookshelves, second turn out substandard work from an established author and hope that his name alone will sell the work, or, do as Clive Cussler and James Patterson do and produce books (almost monthly) in cooperation with other authors, who presumably do most of the writing and plotting.
Currently publishers appear to be risk averse and so the first option of publishing good quality books from new authors is rejected in favour of what they see as safer options. However, if publishers insist on publishing substandard work their reputation will be tarnished and not only will the author of the substandard work suffer but the publishing brand will suffer as well.
Likewise, if authors continue to partner with lesser writers whose work is inferior to their own, their reputation will be tarnished. If you care to look at the reader reviews of books created in partnership with lesser authors, you will find comments that express disappointment and dismay. The reason that people choose to purchase books by established authors is because their style,their narrative prose, their plots and their ingenuity appeal to the individual reader. In my view authors partner with other authors do so at their peril. Without mentioning the author or the series by name, I was hugely disappointed with a book written by my favourite author in partnership with a lesser author and I was not alone, the comments on Amazon were singularly critical. The main criticism was that the work was formulaic, lacked innovation and freshness, and, that the dialogue was stilted and unreal, a criticism that had never been expressed in readers comments on the author's earlier books. I note however, that these criticisms had been made previously in respect of the books previously published by the lesser author under their own name.
I believe that most authors respect their readers and the buying public and that they understand that the buying public want to buy original work from their hands, promulgated by their experience and ingenuity. So, if I'm in any position to give advice to those authors who success is manifestly superior to my own, it would be this; please ensure that all of your books- whether written on your own or in partnership - are of the quality you achieved at your peak.
Further, I would say to publishers please do not fill your lists with inferior work from established authors but take the chance on finding the next JK Rowling.
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