Global Events & Release Timing for a Novel

[ecoman]

Does the timing for a release of a novel in regards to recent global events make a difference to its success? For example, would publishing a thriller novel involving conflicts with Middle Eastern countries today attract more readers than a book dealing with a minor skirmish that happen a decade ago?

[Zain]

Probably but you can't time it that well. I mean... nobody knows when a war will commence, or when a terrorist attack will occur. Well, some people know, but I doubt they want to write a book about it prior to it. Warning the public and so on

You can of course focus on global events that seem likely to happen. Even if they don't, other people will probably expect them to happen, too, and then they are more interested in the topic. It's what happened with all those financial crisis books, for example. I've seen a few books that are about North Korea that suddenly sold well.

I personally would be more interested in the story that is written more to my liking. But I probably would rather look at the one about the younger war than a decade-old one. Not because the other one isn't of any interest to me. It's just that it is part of "my" life, "my" world that is happening right here and right now.

[jcorkman1]

That's a dilemma I think about very often, since my stories are about possible global catastrophes. I wish I could see something on the news, write a 90k story the next day, and have it published by the end of the week. If you wait to publish for certain events, it may not work as well as you thought. In this crazy world things change daily. Good luck.

[ecoman]

How about the recent Ebola outbreak?
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the deadliest ever seen and the virus is raging ‘‘totally out of control,’’ an official with Doctors Without Borders said Friday (6/20/14). The virus, which causes a particularly nasty form of hemorrhagic fever, has killed 337 people out of 528 infected, the World Health Organization says — making it by far the biggest and deadliest outbreak of Ebola since it was first identified in 1976.
Since this is the virus that the plot for my newest thriller revolves around, would this recent outbreak of Ebola make this novel timely?

[anomalocaris]

Probably not, if you're going the traditional route for publishing. Once a manuscript is purchased, it can take 18 months (or more) before it's actually on book store shelves. And of course, it can take a long time to sell the manuscript to begin with. Ebola outbreaks typically burn themselves out fairly quickly. That's the tricky thing about timing -- writing what's up and coming and about to be popular, since the current fads may end before incoming manuscripts are ready to publish.

However, there's always a market for thrillers and humans will always be terrified by the idea of deadly viruses. What's scarier than a monster that will kill you slowly and painfully, is invisible, and can come after you from anywhere, even from the air you breathe. And for most humans, social isolation is their greatest fear, so a monster that makes it dangerous to be in the company of other human beings is a particularly scary bugaboo. I imagine you can't go wrong with Ebola, at least for the next 20 years or so.

[ecoman]

What’s happening right now between Israel and Gaza brings back memories of all the research I did for my most recent thriller. Since my novel’s setting was during the last major Gaza/Israeli war, I had to deal with both the feelings and attitudes of individual from both sides. Trying to be neutral as the author was next to impossible. Therefore, I created subplots which involved a family living in Gaza and at the same time I worked with thoughts of soldiers from the Israeli Defense Forces. Using these characters, I tried to show the reader how each side justified their reason for getting involved in these continuing conflicts.
Therefore, even though my novel takes place during December of 2008 and January of 2009, the recent deadly clash between these countries makes my thriller not only timely but informative to potential readers. Also, since my book is fiction, I’m able to present these events in a dramatic fashion. I only hope my efforts help people have a better understanding of what’s going on over there.

[billorton]

I've grappled with this one, as the three novels I have written each chronicle the anger and rancor of the Bush-Obama era. Characters fall in love, storylines rise and fall, but these are novels that tell the story of a Great Recession and its impact on the world that surrounds the characters. To your question, does such a premise lock the books down, as "period pieces?" I don't think so. My hope is that as readers take on my books years from now, they will say, "oh yeh... yeh, right... it was like that...." Newspapers and history can only go so far in chronicling our times. To truly understand the emotions and context of a time, one must turn to literature.