Thursday, May 22, 2014

Reader's Rant: How Long Do You Expect Me To Wait?

Reader's Rant is a post in which I rant and rage about things (usually pertaining to books) that make me feel like I'm going to explode from frustration.  It isn't a weekly or monthly thing, it just shows up when I experience something that really grinds my gears.  Hope you enjoy!

You know how some people say that waiting makes things better?  Like, the anticipation builds up inside of you until you're just excited and going crazy and obsessing over that thing you've been waiting forever for and then you finally get it and explode from happiness and relief and satisfaction and ohmygoshit'sinmyhands or whatever?  Yeah, those people are liars.
 
 
Well, at the very least, they're lying when applying this saying to waiting for a book.  Because you do not know true frustration until you finish a book, one you love and adore and want to put up on a pedestal for everyone to bow down to, and then have to wait three billion years for the next installment of the series.  
 
 
This is made all the worse by cliffhangers - something that is becoming more and more popular in books lately, especially in the young adult genre with all the series and trilogies popping up and is basically the source of all evil in the world.  Waiting for the next book to release is exhausting!  I find myself checking the author's websites just in case a little snippet was released, talking to other people about it, going on B&N.com to see if the release day was moved up - which rarely happens, let me tell you.  My real problem is when a release date gets pushed back.    
 
 
Now, don't get me wrong, I understand there has to be some time in between books and a lot of times, it's unpredictable.  On average, it's about a year or so and I can handle that.  When I pick up a book, I want something that will be formatted well, have as little errors as possible, and be enjoyable and entertaining and that's what we get when you give it some time!  I appreciate that a lot goes into getting a story from the author's mind to the reader's hands.  However, when I've been sitting here nearly two years waiting for a book I adore to release and it's still not out, we might have a problem (I'm looking at you, The Retribution of Mara Dyer).  
 
 
Let me lay this out for you, lovely reader.   Mara Dyer is a trilogy.  The first book, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, released September 2011.  The second, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, released October 2012.  It is now May 2014 and I am still without the third and final book.  It was supposed to release November 2013.  That is totally, completely acceptable.  I would have been happy (okay, not happy but content) waiting that long.  BUT IT WAS PUSHED BACK.  


The new release date was - wait for it - June 2014.  That's a long time in between book but even that I could handle.  Hey, it's right by my birthday, I won't have to worry about ignoring school work to read, and maybe I could bring it to the beach to enjoy.  BUT.  IT.  WAS.  PUSHED.  BACK.  AGAIN.  
 

November.  4th.  2014.  


I just....I don't understand what could possibly be making this book release so late.  Did the author have to completely rewrite the entire book from scratch?  Was the manuscript abducted by aliens?  Was it so amazing that they just wanted to keep it for themselves?  Is it a strategic thing?  Because, if so, it's really not a smart way to go about this.  The longer you wait to release something in the bookish community, the less interest people will have in it.  I've had many series that I loved but didn't finished just because one of the books took so long to release that I just had no desire to pick it up.  I'm afraid that's what's going to happen with this series.  It's an amazing trilogy and I don't want to see it tossed aside.  But if it get pushed back any farther, they're going to lose a huge portion of fans. 
 
And I swear, if it's taking so long to release because they're changing covers, I will rage quit because the ones they have now are gorgeous.
 
      What do you think about release dates being pushed back?  Do you stick with the series no matter what or lose interest after too much time has passed?  What series have you experienced this with?  Let me know in the comments below!

 

 
 

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