FifthView
Vala
I'd compare many modern book releases to modern entertainment on television.
With Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and network/cable available for choosing what to watch, I've discovered that I simply don't care to keep up with all television shows that I might watch. There's a certain comfort and lackadaisical approach in watching something that isn't incredibly interesting but is familiar. So something like Marvel's Agents of Shield once intrigued me and interested me, but now I find the idea of flipping over to it to be boring. IF one night out of general boredom I turned to it to catch up on the current season, I'd probably enjoy an hour or two–a couple episodes–but I have a vast array of choices available to me, and the decision to pick it specifically has no force behind it. So there are many different shows like this for me, and I'm falling way behind in watching them. And I don't care.
One common feature behind these shows is their formulaic approach. The formula may be something a wide variety of shows share, or it may be a formula that is specific to that series but repeated throughout a run. Occasionally, the formula is comforting, an idle entertainment. But I also keep adding new television shows (historically speaking, old and new, but new to me) because by gosh I'm tired of the old formulas and I want something I haven't seen before. Naturally, this search for the new is another reason for falling behind in keeping up with the old.
There are some television shows that are truly great, hiding in the mix, with their own personality. As time passes, they are being added to the string of notches I've made, and this makes me feel as if the pool of great "new" shows is shrinking.
To tie this anecdotal experience to modern book releases:
An awful lot of those releases do seem to be formulaic. The names and settings have changed but....meh. I will still pick up a new release in a series I am following, but the time frame between these new releases is usually longer than the time that passes between seasons of a television series. (And honestly, there aren't many ongoing book series I am following.)
A lot of what's being pushed out may be intended for those who haven't yet grown bored with those formulas. So people are still buying. There will always be new crops of readers who will find something "new" for them, and there are longtime readers who enjoy casual entertainment and comfort in the old formulas.
The only sort of advice I can give is a suggestion. It's old hat, really. If something you want to see isn't being written, then write it. Heck, I wonder if a sort of iconoclastic rage could motivate in this regard: To hell with the formulas, let's break them! But easier said than done.
With Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and network/cable available for choosing what to watch, I've discovered that I simply don't care to keep up with all television shows that I might watch. There's a certain comfort and lackadaisical approach in watching something that isn't incredibly interesting but is familiar. So something like Marvel's Agents of Shield once intrigued me and interested me, but now I find the idea of flipping over to it to be boring. IF one night out of general boredom I turned to it to catch up on the current season, I'd probably enjoy an hour or two–a couple episodes–but I have a vast array of choices available to me, and the decision to pick it specifically has no force behind it. So there are many different shows like this for me, and I'm falling way behind in watching them. And I don't care.
One common feature behind these shows is their formulaic approach. The formula may be something a wide variety of shows share, or it may be a formula that is specific to that series but repeated throughout a run. Occasionally, the formula is comforting, an idle entertainment. But I also keep adding new television shows (historically speaking, old and new, but new to me) because by gosh I'm tired of the old formulas and I want something I haven't seen before. Naturally, this search for the new is another reason for falling behind in keeping up with the old.
There are some television shows that are truly great, hiding in the mix, with their own personality. As time passes, they are being added to the string of notches I've made, and this makes me feel as if the pool of great "new" shows is shrinking.
To tie this anecdotal experience to modern book releases:
An awful lot of those releases do seem to be formulaic. The names and settings have changed but....meh. I will still pick up a new release in a series I am following, but the time frame between these new releases is usually longer than the time that passes between seasons of a television series. (And honestly, there aren't many ongoing book series I am following.)
A lot of what's being pushed out may be intended for those who haven't yet grown bored with those formulas. So people are still buying. There will always be new crops of readers who will find something "new" for them, and there are longtime readers who enjoy casual entertainment and comfort in the old formulas.
The only sort of advice I can give is a suggestion. It's old hat, really. If something you want to see isn't being written, then write it. Heck, I wonder if a sort of iconoclastic rage could motivate in this regard: To hell with the formulas, let's break them! But easier said than done.