On Dec 11, 2013, at 10:50 AM, Keith Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
> This is interesting to see. I think a lot of it has to do with Lord of the > Rings movies and the Harry Potter movies doing so well the last several > years. This has definitely made fantasy a lot more main stream then it used > to be - further helping grow the size of the fantasy book market as well. And > I think it's helped fantasy book sales quite a bit. > > However, science fiction really has not had the same type of dynamic going on > lately. Although you do have some big things coming in the future that may > change that: New Star Wars movies, etc. Plus, quite a few of the best science > fiction writers have been dieing off in the last couple years and you have > not been seeing a lot of new talent bringing out new good material. > > I remember reading another author LE Modesitt's science fiction 3-book series > back in the late eighties. A really good series, it introduced me to his > books. But since that time he's written well over 20 fantasy novels and > mostly 8-10 SF books maybe (These are rough numbers). His first fantasy > series is what really broke him into the market even though that first SF > series did well. All of his fantasy sells better then his SF, in general. All > of his fantasy books are in different multibook series as well, whereas the > SF books he has more standalone books and a lot less series, only a couple > 2-3 book series. > > I think the biggest thing SF really needs is new good writers, writing > quality stories. But if people don't buy the books then that may not help > either... > > Keith > Actually, Science Fiction in films is doing gangbusters. Besides the more obvious, Star Wars and the reimagined Star Trek (which I think is brilliant, btw), you've had the remake of Total Recall, Prometheus, After Earth, Elysium, etc. all recent. This goes back to Stargate, Independence Day, and a host of lower budgeted but profitable SF films. But that doesn't seem to spill over into books. I think the specific film based on a given book, might help that book sell more copies. Maybe. And maybe a few people will buy more books by that given author. But there seems to be little or no ripple effect. Best, R.E.F.
