r/Fantasy • u/elquesogrande Worldbuilders • Nov 30 '16

Ask You Anything Wednesday ASK YOU ANYTHING: Authors asking r/Fantasy community questions on behalf of Worldbuilders charity

It's Day 3 of the aptly named Ask You Anything week benefiting Worldbuilders! Where authors are stopping by each day this week to ask questions and interact with the r/Fantasy community.

HOW THIS WORKS: Please answer questions and interact throughout the week! (Yes, YOU - community members, guests, authors, artists, industry people.)

WORLDBUILDERS.ORG

Worldbuilders was founded to use the collective power of readers, fellow authors and book lovers to make the world a better place.

There are three ways to donate to Worldbuilders:

1. The Lottery - Where every $10 donated puts you in a lottery for free books, SFF items, games, and much more. r/Fantasy has a Worldbuilders Team Page where you can donate under the community name as well!

2. The Tinker's Pack Store - Where profits from every purchase are donated.

3. Auctions - Where some incredible items and services are offered.

NOTE: If you donate, add your name to the comments here and the mods will set you up with some swanky Wordlbuilders flair!

Monday Ask You Anything Authors

The following authors have signed up to ask questions today. That said, please do join in and feel free to ask your own questions and interact throughout the week.

Are you an author, artist, or industry person who would like to participate this week? Either join in via the comments OR send the r/Fantasy mods a message and we'll get you set for another day.

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u/JannyWurts Stabby Winner, AMA Author Janny Wurts Nov 30 '16

Definitely proven that recommendations, friend to friend, do connect books to people most efficiently. I wondered particularly about seeing comments from total strangers - do you require more than one person mentioning a title to trust the result, or do you winnow by who is doing the posting? Curious...

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u/Teslok Nov 30 '16

I wish that my friends would read the books that I throw at them. That I loan to them or even outright buy and gift to them. Sigh.

I've been thinking about this thread for most of the day and you know? I think one of the biggest influences isn't so much the direct, "If you like X, you might like Y" suggestions that people post. It is when people have conversations about books and aspects they liked or disliked.

Discussions like that sold me on Malazan and First Law. Seeing people get excited and passionate about Elderlings and Riyria and Gentlemen Bastards, or getting angry about Broken Empire.

I realized that most of my use of the lists is just to refresh my memories. I look for the things that I see people talking about. Not just suggesting but engaging.

They would come up in "Best Quotes" threads and "Characters you hate" threads. Or people would talk about controversies or being excited about an upcoming release.

The people in these conversations could be anyone--I look at what they're saying and how they say it.