#toxic environments

BAHAHAH! YA Twitter is the most toxic environment i have ever come across. I mean they are redefining mean in ways I never thought possible.

They are a 21st century mob. Plain and simple.

Hilariously, all their bitching has NO negative effect on book sales. In some cases, the books they bitch about actually SELL BETTER than initial projections.

This is a cold, hard fact. I do marketing and PR for a living. It’s my job to pay attention these stats, numbers and trends. Twitter is a place where people go to be angry about things and rage post. No one goes there to be nice. And YA Twitter is no different. It’s a niche group of bullies….just doing what bullies do.

I would stay far away from it. They’re a 21st century mob who are led by opinion leaders who orchestrate the doxing of authors and authors CHILDREN. Like they’re gross dude. And some of them are actually getting in trouble because—NEWS FLASH!—internet stalking, is still stalking. You can’t send an author death threats in the mail, post the address and pictures of their children’s schools or pictures of their children and incite people to show up and tell that author and their 6 year old how you’re temper-tantrum mad at their latest book. I MEAN WHAT?!

There are people in THIS FANDOM who have defended these kids as “children” who don’t know any better. LMFAO. I don’t know about you, but if you’re stalking another human being, posting photos of their house, their address, their phone number, pictures of their kids, their kids school etc. with the intention of inciting violence or “vengeance” because you didn’t like their book….I DON’T FUCKING CARE HOW OLD YOUR ASS IS. YOU MADE A DECISION AND YOU SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. Age is not a get out of jail free card. Jesus Christ. You don’t get to punch people in the face in school and get away with it because “I didn’t like that kids face.” LMFAO.

To begin: I do not often answer asks that could be seen as inflammatory or drama seeking, but I felt this one sat on the fringes. It’s also a question that falls a bit into my profession, so I feel I can shed some light and a bit of understanding.

So first, Maas had to turn in outlines for all her books when she got the deal. The publisher needed to know that she had a solid plan for the series. So these outlines were turned in years ago. Chaol was always going to the southern continent.

Second, we know Chaol’s EoS scenes got cut because the editor thought it disrupted the flow of the book. (And likely would’ve made the book incredibly long. And the more words you have in a book the more money it costs to print.) So EoS came out in September 2016. It usually takes about a year for editing, depending on editor priority. And if I remember correctly, EoS publish date was pushed back once (If I’m remembering correctly). And idk if that was for editing reasons of for Sarah to write it.

BUT once the Chaol chapters came out, they knew they had to publish his story because it was important to the overall plot. So in January 2017 we get Sarah’s first “secret projects” post. But honestly, her team knew they had to have a novella as soon as they took Chaol’s scenes out of the book. When those chapters were taken out, Sarah had to beef them up to make it novella length and to make it a fully developed, stand alone arc. Then once she stared doing that, she started building more into the world and story, and it got longer.

Now I wont presume to know what may or may not have influenced Sarah when she was writing the book. It would be irresponsible to rule out YA Twitter as a potential factor, but I wouldn’t put a lot of stock into it. Market is everything in YA. So when the market shifts, authors have to as well. And in the last few years, markets for diversity have been on the rise. People are consuming media that reflect that. So while I do not think that a bunch of anonymous people screaming at Sarah made her want to change (in fact, studies in psychology would show that verbally berating/name calling/bullying someone to change will likely only make them double down on who and what they are), I do think the fact that this book presented an opportunity to show diversity was greatly leveraged. And honestly needed. Because there is no reason to write books with all white characters in this day and age. Right?

I can ALSO honestly say that the TOXIC environment that is YA Twitter does not, at present, concern publishers because (as with most things on twitter) its a platform most people use to complain. YA Twitter is no different. It’s a niche community on the fringes and if you look at book sales, YA Twitter does not, at present, have any sway of sales. It’s just an annoyance to PR professionals who run accounts and have to write statements addressing (often time) horribly misinformed grievances. In fact, it would in some cases appear that books that get bashed on YA Twitter, sell better.

TLDR