First binge-watching, now binge-reading?
Everyone鈥檚 familiar with the concept of binge-watching 鈥� settling in for an evening or weekend (or, if you鈥檙e committing to a long-haul series, a few days) and getting through multiple episodes or seasons of a TV show as if you were downing handfuls of candy.
So has binge-reading now arrived?
The 鈥�Fifty Shades of Grey鈥� series, erotic bestsellers by author E.L. James, set the template by releasing the three books within only a few months of each other (the first came out in June 2011, with 鈥淔ifty Shades Darker鈥� following in September and 鈥淔ifty Shades Freed鈥� coming out that next January). Now this month鈥檚 鈥淎nnihilation鈥� by Jeff VanderMeer, which was named one of Amazon's 10 best books of February and follows scientists journeying to a locale known only as Area X, will be followed by the second book in the series this coming May. The third book is scheduled to arrive in September.
Are the days in which fans waited years for a new installment (there was a three-year gap between 鈥�Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire鈥� and 鈥�Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix鈥�) long-gone?
Publisher Dutton is releasing a sequel to the new novel 鈥淎rchetype鈥� by M.D. Waters five months after it published the first, and Dutton associate publisher Christine Ball told the they鈥檙e just filling a need.
鈥淐onsumers want to be able to binge-read or binge-watch,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e wanted to give the consumers what they wanted in this case.鈥�
Sean McDonald, an editor at 鈥淎nnihilation鈥� publisher Farrar, Straus & Giroux, was the source of the idea to release all three novels within a few months of one another. He said it鈥檚 a way to satisfy readers who are intrigued by an author鈥檚 ideas but who then wonder if the writer has an endgame in place.
聽鈥淚 think people are more aware of series storytelling, and there is this sense of impatience, or maybe a fear of frustration,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e wanted to make sure people knew that there were answers to these questions.鈥�
There is a risk 鈥� if a book isn鈥檛 a hit, publishers have already committed to the next installments, and as noted by Krys Tourtois of Michigan鈥檚 Schuler Books and Music, sometimes a novel needs time for the word to get out.聽
鈥淚 know in the past that the one-year mark seems to increase a lot of hype and buzz, and it gives it time for a title to build,鈥� Tourtois told the NYT. 鈥淵ou think about what happened with 鈥�Harry Potter鈥� 鈥� the timing helped make a phenomenon.鈥�
