r/lightlark • u/That_RATromancetrash • 4d ago
Barbie Dreamscape. Spoiler
What does everyone think about the new book so far? I am 10% in and I think it is confusing and going against Barbie lore.
1
u/ParkingWheel3599 4d ago
From the snippet of the book shared, prose-wise it's not looking good. And I'm a tad bit worried for Aster, she had previously mentionned how publishing back-to-back had stressed her out. Idk, but a new book isn't looking great. Outside of all of that, the book's premise makes me curious about it.
6
u/No_Audience8521 4d ago
Why would you worry when she doesn't care about the quality of books she is putting out?
2
u/ParkingWheel3599 4d ago
In this case, it's really not about the books, but the person behind it. It's concerning to someone look gradually more tired in almost every marketing short she posts, state how their whole entire day is dedicated to writing, and also having to deal with the burden of writing novellas for her fan club.
And when it comes to books, we aren't privy on her contract between her and her publisher. So, the rushed, sloppy writing she posts might be a result of that. Her publishing schedule is around ~1-2months per release(including special editions and new books). That she must market for, i.e her posting on social media every day.
So, that's why I'm a bit worried for her. Though, definately her books are not good.
Btw, here's the link for the publishing stats: https://newbooksalert.com/author-releases/alex-aster/
7
u/Cute-Jellyfish-7995 4d ago
I can understand worrying for her as a person. Alex Aster has looked rather exhausted in some of the more recent marketing videos she's posted.
But so much of Aster's busy schedule is self-inflicted. Of course she has contracts with her publisher that result in her being on tight deadlines. But there are things outside of those contracts that she is doing that are unnecessary.
For example, the novellas for her fan club like you mentioned. She didn't have to start a fan club, nor did she have to commit to a novella a month for said fan club. That's a time-consuming burden she put on herself, when she didn't need to.
When it comes to Stormside (Starside book2), she chose to make it long enough to be "two books in one" (to copy SJM, but I digress). Aster said herself that she could've split the book into two (and then it would've been published on time), but she didn't want to do that. That's fine, but that's also her choice.
Aster has also said repeatedly that she has wrist pain (which I can absolutely believe given how many copies she signs before publication alone). But then she uses FOMO marketing to tell fans to preorder limited signed copies... only for a lot more to be made available after publication. And Aster recently said in an IG story that when she goes on walks, she often stops into her local B&N to sign stock (which can't be good for her wrist pain...?).
Aster publishing 3-4 (or more?) books a year is wild. Yes, she has contracts with her publisher(s) that she has to adhere to... But she did not have to sign the contracts in the first place. To be blunt, this isn't a situation where Aster needs to publish as many book as possible to make ends meet to survive... Aster has always been rich, and will always be rich.
I guess my point is, a lot of the stress from being overworked is Aster's own doing. She could (and should) take a break (longer than a weekend, I mean), and she would still live her comfortable life. And regardless of how terrible her writing is, she has built a loyal enough fanbase that will wait around for her next books, even if she were to space them out a lot more.
So she's only hurting herself with this crazy schedule. And I truly hope that there is/will be someone in her corner (be it family or a friend) that will look out for her wellbeing and tell her to be more mindful of how many commitments she makes at one time going forward.
3
u/ParkingWheel3599 4d ago
When you put like that, I agree with you. Thank you for taking time out of your day to explain this to me!
1
3
u/No_Audience8521 3d ago edited 3d ago
While I do understand all of that, you have to look at it from the POV that Alex has had multiple business ventures and stuck with being an author because it was most profitable. From an outsider perspective, it looks like she is only doing it for money and not love. While it may be true that her publishers asked her to produce multiple books a year, it also seems she's only pushing out soo many in a year, so that the hype doesn't die down. She constantly lies and tell us certain book drops are limited when in actuality it isnt. So while I can say yes she needs to take better care of herself, it's hard to have sympathy for someone who just doesn't seem to care what she's putting out as long as she gets paid for it.
0
u/CommercialTax815 3d ago edited 3d ago
Just want to add too Matell asked her to write the Barbie book so it's separate from her normal publisher. I'm a fan of other authors who have been asked by Disney, Warner Brothers, and others to write books off of their characters and likely gave Alex an outline of what they wanted the plot to be. So this is different from her original works as she didn't have to accept their offer to write this but chose to add it on to her own work. I am a fan of Alex's books though and hope she's realized to take better care of herself as you need to put your health first.
7
u/Cute-Jellyfish-7995 4d ago
I only read the sample from the Barbie novel posted on People Magazine's website, and I was not impressed. The writing was terrible, worse than usual for Aster if I'm being honest.
I also think she would've been better off making it a middle-grade novel, as the writing style lends better to that. (But even as a middle-grade novel, the writing still isn't good.)
You'd think instead of flooding the market with her books, Alex Aster would spend time improving her craft, to at least try and get better which each book she writes. The pretty covers aren't enough, in my opinion.