Quote:
Originally Posted by Fletch XXX
I understand totally.
Not going to argue about artistic control when it comes to business (dollars and cents) but so you change the ending, is that going to automatically make you rich? The agent says "nah dont make it happy ending, blow the car up and fade to black."
Something tells me, no. Its just how the agent wanted it to end LOL Id love to hear what people like Steephen King etc feel about having an agent tell them change an ending... but hey, maybe he changes endings all the time when agent cracks whip on him, I dont know LOL
If I was at that point and agent was serious, id consider it I guess,... this is all hypothetical at this moment.
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I think when you get to the level of King and Cormac McCarthy you can do whatever you want because you have a built in fan base that is going to buy your books no matter what they are.
As for changing endings, I have never been asked to do that. My agent thought the ending to my book was spot on. It isn't happy, nor is it sad, it find a spot right in the middle and works.
If they told me, change the ending and we will guarantee you a first print run of 500K books and a million dollar publicity campaign or leave it as it is and we will do a first print run of 25K books and a 40K publicity campaign I would probably change it. Selling books at the start of your career can open up a lot doors and let you do what you want down the road.
There is a famous story about Stephen King where his publisher demanded he send them an outline for his new book before he went on vacation. He sent them a 6 page outline. Each page had one word on it. It read:
Page 1:PLOT
Page 2:PLOT
Page 3:PLOT
Page 4:PLOT
Page 5:PLOT
Page 6:BOO!
I would have loved to see their faces when they saw that.
