To Whom it May Concern,
It has come to our attention, as fans of author R. Scott Bakker, that the final volume of his Aspect Emperor series, The Unholy Consult, is seemingly on perpetual hiatus from publication. This is both bewildering for us as readers and for the author himself, seeing as to how the final volume is critical to bringing both some closure to, indeed, two trilogies (both The Prince of Nothing, and The Aspect Emperor series) while setting the stage for even more editions going forward. Allow me to explain why I believe that, in fact, not publishing the book in the very near future is a financial mistake on the part of Overlook Press.
Scott has a small, but vocal and quite dedicated group of fans. Even a small amount of internet research will uncover years of discussion, speculation, and appreciation for the series, beginning with The Darkness The Comes before and continuing through The White-Luck Warrior. What does this mean for you, the publisher? The series has all the makings of a cult-classic. Given the success of recent movies and TV shows from the likes of Rowling, Martin, and Tolkien, the time is now for epic fantasy, a role Bakker fulfills like few others can.
Indeed, the proverbial 'iron' is hot, the series is ripe for the 'striking', but honestly only if the series can present some kind of reasonable expectation of a conclusion. Fans of Martin's A Games of Thrones are loath to start yet another series with no end in the foreseeable future. Presenting Scott's work as a completed arc is a great sales pitch, giving readers a chance to jump into a deep series, with no wait for a conclusion. As such, every day, month, (and hopefully a level not reached) year, is harmful both to sales of The Unholy Consult, and to the entire series. Also, considering the low opportunity cost to simply publishing the book, as the manuscript is already in your hands, and the overwhelmingly positive upside to having two trilogies that can be sold as 'completed,' it only makes sense to try to publish The Unholy Consult as soon as possible. Indeed, the delay only serves to harm the value of the work, which is in no one, not the author's, not the fan's, not you the publisher's, nor the potential future reader's, best interest.
As the delay lengthens there is also the real possibility that the book could be released closer to Martin's Winds of Winter, which again, serves absolutely no one's best interests, considering how much attention will be given that book. The Unholy Consult should, indeed, almost must, precede its publication. The time to seize itinerant fantasy readers in the midst of Martin's writing (and the Game of Thrones show) hiatus, in fact means that this book is primed for release right now actually. The next few months are critical, the book should be published post-haste, to really capitalize on these factors. As we go forward, the show will be back for it's next season, the book will be written and this unique time and it's subsequent opportunity, will be lost. The optimal window, so to speak, is fast closing, and will not open again.
I really hope that this case is given real consideration. I thank you for your time in reading this, I (and Scott and many fans) thank you for all that you can do in bring this book to a quick publication.
Sincerely,
Matthew Pate
Could someone proof read this for me? Does it sound dumb? I just woke up and scrawled this down...