One of the best held secrets is finally out. Patrick Rothfuss’s long awaited sequel to The Name Of The Wind finally has a publication date: March 1st, 2011!
Whether it was actually a secret is up for debate, as Patrick Rothfuss, fantasy author extraordinaire will tell you he didn’t even know until now. I’m inclined to believe him, as I like seeing the honesty in people rather than adhering to mistrust of everyone around me.
Rothfuss revealed on his blog recently that he had just received back his third draft from his editor with only 27 bullet points to review.
Some of her 27 points are small things. Some are bigger issues. We agree about most of them. Two or three will require a bit of negotiation.
His editor, Betsy, then asked whether he could have the book done by September.
I thought about it. I thought about her 27 points and my ever-changing 50-60 points. I thought about who I can still use as beta readers, and how many drafts I’ll be able go through in four months. I thought about how many times I will personally be able to read the book in four months.
I said I was sure I could finish it by September.
She asked me if I was sure. Really sure.
I thought about it. Back in 2007, I was sure I’d have the book done by 2008. But I was hugely ignorant and optimistic back then. So I was dead fucking wrong. That caused a lot of grief.
I told her I was really sure I could have it finished by September.
Come hell or high water? She asked me.
Come hell or high water, I said.
So we agreed that I’d have the book finished by September. It was nice. It made us both happy.
And so, add in all the publicity and editing and behind the scenes stuff that has to happen to make a book like this work and sell, Rothfuss gives us March 1st, 2011, to wait for The Wise Man’s Fear.
