Will POD Revive Borderline Fantasy Novels?

Fantasy writer Diane Duane has an answer for fans who wonder why the third volume in the To Visit the Queen trilogy never came out:

“The outline for the third book, The Big Meow, was completed in 1998. The series’ then-editor at Warner read it and liked it, but after consulting with the sales staff — as editors must — she passed on it: what we both knew at that point was that the first two books weren’t selling anything like strongly enough to justify taking the gamble of publishing the third one. So I sighed and put the outline away.”

Since then, she’s gone on to greater success capturing teen readers with the Young Wizards series, but she’s willing to consider satisfying her earlier fans’ desires by using print-on-demand to bring The Big Meow out… if the market will bear it. “Let’s just say that a ‘trade paperback’… is going to cost you hardcover prices, not paperback,” she suggests. “If I’m to make any money at all on the deal (by which I mean, at least recoup my publishing and labor expenses), you’re going to be paying $20-25 for a copy of this book.” And then she invites her readers to tell her whether they’re prepared to do that.

Before fantasy writers get too excited about the prospect of delivering multivolume sagas directly to readers even when the big SF publishers turn them down, keep in mind that it’s been six years since To Visit the Queen came out in paperback (and even longer since the first book in the trilogy). Even Duane acknowledges that the demand remains to be measured, and she’ll be waiting at least until next spring before she decides if there’s what we used to call on Usenet “A Great Need.”

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