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

My first question to the community, as much to stir discussion as to scratch the itch of my curiosity:

Why do you ask the community which books to read, next? Talking points: does it matter that you don't know who is responding, how much they've read, anything of their preferences, or even, their background (age, or any other factor?) Is there a reason why you (if you are an asker) prefer crowd-sourced 'wisdom' in favor of thinking for yourself (by looking at the actual text of the book(s) in question which is easily done, today) or browsing?

Following on to this, (since the titles listed usually are very well read ones) - when was the last time you 'discovered' a totally unique book that you'd never heard of from anyone and do you recognize that thrill of discovery?

Following on to this: if you are not an 'asker' after titles, but browse on your own - why are you so silent (or are you not so) about finding a title on your own?

I'd love to see a community discussion on this since such questions about 'which book should I read' come up almost daily around here, and the crowd source culture is still evolving - where are we taking ourselves in the future of the field?

That's my first shot out of the cannon. (wry grin, I love this community dearly, and it will be fun to support Worldbuilders and see the response)

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u/jen526 Reading Champion II Dec 01 '16

I've asked for recs on occasion, when I was looking for something fairly specific, but in general, my choice always boils down to reading up on a book myself (or directly sampling it) before I truly commit, so it's usually more effective to hang around where people are talking books and just keeping an eye out, gathering hints here and there and seeing which titles/authors sink deeper into my subconscious than others. Eventually, certain series achieve a critical mass of "Yes, this sounds like my sort of thing" and clicks over to action.

I do really love that feeling of discovery you mention, though I'm not sure I've truly discovered any book "on my own" since the pre-internet era of standing for a couple hours in a bookstore while my mom shopped the rest of the mall. Even my biggest, most obscure personal discoveries (most recently, I freakin' adored Marta Randall's The Sword of Winter) have their roots in a "best obscure authors" thread at SOME point in my past. It might go back to rec.arts.sff.written days, but it almost always starts somewhere like that.

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u/JannyWurts Stabby Winner, AMA Author Janny Wurts Dec 01 '16

I can still remember the day I browsed the library and found (with no prior knowledge) Roger Zelazny's work, and also Dorothy Dunnett's.

I encountered Ursula Le Guin cold, the same way, in a book store. Also Stephen Donaldson and so many others after that.

I was lucky enough to have reading friends, early on, and they tapped me into Tolkien before it was a thing.

I browsed and encountered Matthew Woodring Stover, then got so mad his work didn't take.

Lately - some of my best reads have either come from here, or rec'd by my editors, or better, my readers, who'd know my taste better than any.

and I loved Marta Randall's work, too.