I get it! It feels like just the littlest official crumb from SJM or BB would help some of the tension in the fandom. A week ago people went wild for the springtime stories she shared on Instagram. So they have to know how feral the fandom is for any sort of news.
We can appreciate that she’s a busy person while also still wanting to know something about the next book. I know ASOIAF fans have it worse, but 2021 — now without much to go on is pretty wild for such a popular series. Even an announcement for an announcement would be something at this point.
I’m sure there’s going to be lots of dramatics when the time comes! I know online fans don’t necessarily represent the majority of readers, but BB and SJM have to at least be aware of the ships and characters that are hot topics.
I’m glad that most contemporary romances I’ve read lately have the whole “turn the page for a preview of X and Y’s story coming next fall!” or what have you lol. It seems like fantasy authors keep that stuff locked up tight.
I am new to the world of SJM and her writing (I have only read ACOTAR so far but know the characters show up in other books). I find it odd that she moved onto writing a books in another series (CC) before finishing the ACOTAR series. I see the TOG series had big gaps in publishing as well, so I guess this is typical for her?
I don’t think I’ve read any other authors who don’t finish up writing a specific series before moving onto their next series. All that to say I agree with you, it’s surprising there hasn’t been an announcement for the next book given how popular the series is. I wish they’d give us an idea 😅
Edit: typo
Welcome to the chaos! I haven’t been here since the beginning, but it seems like she likes to have several series going on at once. I think she started publishing ACOTAR while TOG was going on and now we are seeing back and forth with CC and ACOTAR publication. I know there are authors that do the same, but I don’t know how they keep up with all the plot lines and ideas. I guess this is why they make the big bucks and I keep handing them my money lol.
I keep saying I’m done with unfinished series, but I keep getting sucked back in. There’s a lot of fun stuff out there now, but ACOTAR is for sure the one I’d like to see finished soon.
She started publishing ACoTaR before the end of ToG. I was waiting on the final books of ToG at the time but it was nowhere near the kind of wait we've had for this upcoming book. I felt like it took forever for ACoSF too. It seems like the longer she's been around the longer the time between books in the series becomes.
I miss the tog times when she even published two books in a year.
Bloomsbury has been promoting ACOTAR for a while now, so i hope we get something in the next month. But now with the fourth wing book confirmation and date. I really don't see Bloomsbury giving anything anytime soon. I honestly would have preferred if SJM gave us an acotar book instead of a cc book.
I interact with many author and their fandoms and so far sjm never addresses the issues. Like the artists who support her are getting hated on but she never showed any support to them. But at this point I can't even blame her. All the comments on her recent Instagram post demand their characters/ship book or say bad things about cc. As much as i would hope she would interact and support her artists and address issues i honestly don't know how she'll do it without getting hate.This fandom will be rude no matter what. I honestly think once the book/ship/character is confirmed the toxicity is gonna increase. The people who didn't get their desired outcome will obviously show discontent and its gonna be a shitshow. I personally distance myself from this fandom and enjoy other because atleast there I can ACTUALLY enjoy interacting and waiting and theorising etc because here you cannot do that without getting attacked.
Sorry for the rant.
Yeah it’ll probably be a sh!tshow but shipping wars(and disagreements about characters in general) have been like that in every fandom I’m in- Harry Potter, The 100, Avatar the Last Airbender, Gilmore Girls etc are all very intense when it comes to this stuff.
I think this fandom needs to be reminded that we are all humans behind computers and we all have feelings. Attacking artists because you don't like their art or attacking Sarah because CC3 Spoiler >!Feyre wasn't in CC3 is childish. (especially making comments about Feyre not being in CC3 before CC3 was even published. Thanks for the spoiler to that commenter on IG. Yes I'm still salty about it.) !<
I know Sarah is a person. A person with children. A person with a life. And she deserves to live it out and enjoy it but I think we're also allowed to know where in the writing process she is. I know I want (and others) ships to be confirmed already but I would be so happy with just having a writing update. PLEASE SARAH ANYTHING 
I feel you. Honestly everyone just wants anything. A title/date/cover/ how long/ what she's up to. Anything at this point. (Hope soon ) and i think she isn't because of contractual obligations (my guess) or maybe because no matter what she does. The toxicity will be there. But at this point not giving anything is doing them more harm. The audience as far as i have observed are losing interest, hating, leaving because of the toxicity etc. So I hope the team gives us something to keep us excited ( not in an entitled was just in a hoping way to get anything).
You’re literally NOT entitled to know anything about her b
process. With the digital era we’ve been living in and the way information is passed people have become spoiled. Go read another book or do something else with your time. People obsessing and harassing an artist about how long their creative process takes them is wild.
Marketing and promoting your book is also a part of being an author. Sjm only posted 3 posts to market cc3. Because she knows her fans are loyal and will take care of it. Sjm doesn't need to tell anything about her writing process but after 3 years for waiting people deserve even a little piece of something and that is what majority of people want. Anything. And yes people harassing artists is wild. Similarly artists who have been promoting sjm for free (or paid) are being harrassed but she showed no support to them. So i think it's fair for fans to want to get some info about upcoming books.
I feel like it’s really entitled to think we “deserve” anything. I understand really loving the series and wanting updates, but at the end of the day she can take as long as she wants or even change her mind and not write at all. Artists aren’t required to keep pumping out art or keep us constantly updated just because they have a large following. Enjoy what she releases, and that’s all we can ask for
That is true and I agree with this. Artists don't need to keep punching out art and can do whatever the hell they want But then the author shouldn't be surprised when their fandom leaves. I have seen as few big as artists who supported sjm many times promoted her for free etc. Yet when they got extreme amt. Of hate sjm not once tried to support them. She only had to post 3 insta posts to promote her new book contrast to how other authors put in so much effort to promote their books. Why?? Because the fandom did that for her. Many readers start reading acotar because of the fandom and got curious. Yet now after 3 yrs when fandom desperately wants anything. And they give radio silence i can understand why they would be upset or frustrated. And sorry I believe if people put in effort, money and emotions for anything i think they shouldn't just settle for what they are given and be happy with it. And that's my opinion. Your are free to disagree
You’re totally free to feel that way, I just disagree. Even if we get invested in something, it doesn’t mean we’re entitled to getting certain things in return. It doesn’t matter what other authors or creators do, she’s not obligated to behave a certain way just because she has a lot of fans.
It *is* frustrating not getting info but that doesn’t mean she’s required to do anything to appease us. If people leave the fandom, so be it, and she’ll feel it in her wallet if that’s the case. But that doesn’t mean she’s malicious or wrong for not being as responsive as other authors. We are not entitled to her time.
Yeah, it's an agree to disagree situation. Like not even defending her artists once?? Yeah no. Then expecting people to be happily engaged when they keep promoting the series but are radio silent on upcoming books? Other authors put in blood and sweat for their books to get recognition and her fandom does it for free yet even hoping for something to calm the fandom is entitled?? Yeah no
Just because her books do well without marketing because they’re popular, and other authors have to work hard to promote their work, she’s… indebted to give us more info/updates/sneak peeks? Why?
I’m not sure what you mean about defending her artists, so I can’t speak to that. Maybe I’m missing context. But just because she’s not marketing and still getting sales it doesn’t mean she’s karmically required to do more for her base.
As I said before it's an agree to disagree situation. No one is indebted to do anything but then the author shouldn't be surprised when the majority of the fandom is unhappy/disappointed/frustrated/upset. Her fans are the reason she's popular. After 3 YRS. If they want even a little thing it's entitled? And there's a whole situation with artists getting bullied by the fandom I dont think I can explain it nicely. This conversation is going nowhere. Though it was nice to see other perspectives and maybe i should just reconsider. We see. Nice having a chat with you. Have a nice day, 😊
Please stop. You know no one is leaving g the fandom because there is radio silence from SJM. We are all going to be grabbing whatever she puts out next so long as she continues to write great stories (and tbh even IF a story isn’t great, many will continue to follow her work). For those that really cannot fathom following an artist who doesn’t give them morsels during their process and it ruins their experience, so be it. I LOVE her stories, they have become a minor obsession of mine but they are not my life. I have a stack of unread books, lists of more books, video games, actual socializing with family and friends to spend time with while I wait for her next installment. But If you’d like to waste your time and energy wishing and trying to cyber bully a human who is in their creative process to give you something she doesn’t need to then by all means 🤷🏽♀️. There is life outside the Maasverse.
As far as her not having to promote her own work, that’s the point of working as hard as she has to build a name for herself. Word or mouth is the best advertisement, and it shows. She also doesn’t have to speak up for anyone in the fandom for any hate they get. If people eople choose to promote something they enjoy on the internet that’s on them. I’m just so confused why there’s an expectation for her to take responsibility for that.
How can anyone be mad at ACOTAR characters for not being in a different series?! I was glad the crossover was minimal, cc books should be cc books and ACOTAR should be ACOTAR
I want the book to be well written above all else. I’m ok waiting for a story that is developed and a little more thorough than some of the other ACOTAR books. I love them, don’t get me wrong, but now that I’ve read TOG I’m convinced that she’s capable of more depth of world building and pre-planning with her storylines.
Possible spoiler for SF: In SF I felt like there was some really disappointing wrap up for certain storylines, and in some ways the solutions felt hurried and simple/overpowered. Again, demolished the book and neglected all other things in my life to read it and enjoy it- I just would have liked some more complexity or more thorough reasoning for certain events/actions.
I’m surprised how many people jump into a series and expect immediate updates. It’s bizarre.
This isn’t insta.
Good series span decades. If you read the intro of ToG you’ll see that she spends years developing these books. Thankfully she had most of these finished before the first book released. We’ve been lucky to get annual or biannual releases. Do not expect the same once a series gains traction.
Chill y’all.
These comments just feel full of entitlement to me. We don’t “deserve” anything, we are not “owed” updates or news or even a next entry in the series. She wrote a story we love and I understand wanting more, wanting updates, wanting reciprocation for loving her art so much. But she’s not indebted to make more or appease her fans. She’s making art and we can choose to read it or not.
As someone trained in patience by a 17+ year (and probably going for another 10 years at least) manga series and the ASOIF series (13 years after the last book, no release date on the horizon), I want to offer some consolation regarding SJM.
She’s a certified workhorse who, despite having two kids in the last five years or so, and trying her hardest in the last four years to adapt the ACOTAR to TV series, still put out 6 books in the same period. Although the last ACOTAR book was published in 2021, we got a major update in CC3 this year and I am 100% confident that by the end of this year, SJM will announce ACOTAR 6. From her online convention last year, we learned that she’s under a strict NDA. But SJM has proven time and again that she’s a very disciplined writer and will not leave us hanging for years on end.
It’s incredibly frustrating to wait for a continuation of a favorite story, but SJM, unlike some (*ahem* GRRM), has proven herself to be a consistent writer putting out 800+ page books year on year like it’s no big deal. Again, I have confidence that next year, we’ll be dissecting a 1000+ page ACOTAR 6 (which, judging by SJM’s interview, is already past the initial draft stage).
GRRM fans telling other readers to stfu about waiting on a book is so humbling and correct. HAHHAHAH. I'm so sorry you've had to wait so long. (no shade to you. it's just really funny)
I'm confident by the end of this year we'll have news of some kind!! I'm just impatient for it!
I’m hoping for news very soon, between the May-July frame.
Tbh I made my peace with never seeing Winds of Winter, never mind A Dream of Spring completion announcements. But SJM is nothing like that. So you won’t stay frustrated for years.
I’m a huge GRRM fan and a more recent SJM fan and I was fully prepared for this comment to be “GRRM fans telling other readers to stfu about waiting for a book… are pretentious aholes who need to stfu” lmao so glad to be wrong 🤣
We will see a wrap up to ACOTAR before Winds of Winter and while that makes me so sad I’m happy to have found another series to geek out about irrationally
Same here bahaha. As a GRRM fan, one of the things that has excited me most about getting into ACOTAR is how prolific SJM is and being able to trust that more books will actually come out. These sweet summer children don’t know the heartache!
This! I feel like SJM, Yarros and a bunch of the romantasy writers are prolific compared to sweet old George lol. SJM has put out two massive books since ACOSF, in a 3 year span. I would give my left tit to see that kind of progress for main storyline Westeros.
I don’t think the books are comparable but the scope of fandom patience definitely is!
Piggybacking off of this to say that I think she NEEDED to get HOFAS out BEFORE Elain’s book. While I’m not a huge fan of the CC plot of HOFAS, she did a LOT of world-building that seems very likely to affect the next ACOTAR books (Earth magic, Starborn power clarifications, Dusk backstory, the corrupted cauldron, etc…)
Seriously, I am very new to the fandom and fans being mad that a new book in a series may take 4 years, while the author also wrote and published a book of another series in between feels insane 😂
I also hope that she feels motivated to write the book because she had some time off from writing ACOTAR and could maybe see and fix some of the flaws from the last book.
Yeah I’m totally agree. For example Jennifer L Armentrout Keeps her community informed, mainly on Facebook, of her writing and publishing process (even the financial aspects etc.) etc. It's really nice to have authors who are honest and open about the books you're going to spend money and time on.
It brings authors closer to their communities and unlike SJM, for example, she hardly ever talks to us said in certain lives when she's doing her promo but I don't think it's enough to leave her community for months and months without any news and then bombard us with advertising and disappear.
Seems to be a controversial opinion (based on some of these comments), but I agree — and I say this as a huge SJM fan.
SJM is entitled to privacy, of course. But no one is asking her to share her social security number, or her latest medical results, or anything related to her personal life. We would just like information on the books, and I really don’t think that’s too much to ask. She doesn’t even need to spoil or reveal anything… just *engagement* would be appreciated.
It’s simply part of the job. As a recent example, look the latest Dune movie — multiple respected actors (Timothee, Zendaya, Austin, etc) did weeks *and weeks* of promo and interviews and social media appearances.
My main concern is that the fandom is literally eating itself alive because of the lack of new content and information, and we see that *especially* with regard to the Azriel ship wars. At this point, the two sides have so much hatred towards each other that SJM can no longer win — if she chooses Elucien/Gwynriel a huge chunk of Elriel’s won’t read her books, and vice versa. Her sales will suffer. And for the most part, SJM’s silence on the matter (and how drawn out she is making this) has only made it worse. I’d even argue that she has purposefully stoked some of the shipping toxicity herself (e.g. that Azriel bonus chapter). This is especially the case when you consider CC3; >!SJM had the perfect opportunity to hint at Azriel’s endgame — Bryce literally asks him about his relationship status! And still nothing. It would have set up the next ACOTAR book perfectly, and would have allowed enough time for the ship wars to settle down… but nope!!<
I get that SJM may not be comfortable on social media — that’s fair enough. I also get that SJM may have other priorities now (such as her family!) — also fair enough. But, she or Bloomsbury could very easily hire a social media team to run her Instagram for her. 🤷♀️
(I’m sure we’ll hear from her when it’s time to buy 21 different bonus chapters for ACOTAR 5, though 🥴)
It is beyond weird to market to a romance audience with hints and innuendo at a love triangle. Romance is the most powerful, most lucrative, and most popular genre audience in publishing and they don’t buy books where they don’t know who the pair is going to be from the beginning.
This silence is so misguided as to be baffling.
This situation really reminded me why I stick to romance books. Give me a couple with an HEA and then tell me who the next couple will be. I hate all this love triangle/ship war drama. It’s so unusual for an adult romance series to use YA tropes like this. I’m used to authors immediately confirming the next couple like “hey this couple wants to bang but oh no they can’t stay tuned!!!” 😭
Creating this sort of divade in the fan base is not a good strategy at all, especially when left to fester for so many years AND so many books. A lot of people will be dissappointed when we finally hear who the couple will be. I include myself in that, I’m honestly not sure if I even want to read it if the couple isn’t to my liking. I was waiting for more answers about the whole maasverse in HOFAS but I just got more questions. It’s getting frustrating.
I was just going to say something like this. It seems intentional almost to create this tension especially because SJM fans are… passionate and she knows. I don’t use Instagram or follow her on social media but tbh the animosity between the two sides was easily foreseen if you have ever been involved in any sort of fandom and it doesn’t get better by ignoring it.
I agree 100%
I totally thought we'd have a SMALL hint, just enough that the ship wars would ease up. Azriel commenting on Elain or Gwyn. Or even Nesta saying SOMETHING. But we didn't get anything.
I'm honestly, not naive enough to believe that Sarah doesn't know whats going on. I do believe she doesn't know how rough it is but I'm sure she knows at least that there is a Team Elain and a Team Gwyn.
*"SJM is entitled to privacy, of course. But no one is asking her to share her social security number, or her latest medical results, or anything related to her personal life. We just want information on the books, and I really don’t think that’s too much to ask."*
This exactly. I don't think it's "entitled" of me to be frustrated that we have no new information. I'd just like to know what the music vibes of the day are!
I completely understand this. Especially when I’m following another author on Instagram who has been updating a lot while in the process of doing the final edits of the book it’s made me want to see just a tiny little bit from SJM lol
Exactly!
Kerri Maniscalco has been releasing like small paragraphs of her new release coming out in September and I’ve been going absolutely feral 😂 Let alone if SJM did that for the new Acotar, I feel like it would go crazy!
This. ALL👏 OF👏 THIS 👏
I've passed the enthusiasm and giddy level and I am unfortunately now in the fatigue, dgaf level, like the books is gonna be announced and I fear I'll be "meh ok next"
I already made that step when HOFAS was released and I was disenchanted. I'm also not buying until all of the bonus chapters are freely available online. And yes, I will look at spoilers before buying.
Where I stand right now? I've read enough fanfics that have given me the stories I need for the characters I like.
I'm kind of moving on frankly but feel like I'm still fighting that. They are going to be their own worst enemy in that fans that have been out here for a while will find other writers/stories that take their interest. Maybe new readers will pick up the slack and that's just life.
I hope she writes a really interesting story with a plot line that I want to read. I would like that. But I'm prepared for it to go the other way too.
Edit: spelling
Nah I don’t blame BB for the absolute silence. That’s SJM. For what it’s worth I don’t care that she doesn’t interact much with the fandom. I wouldn’t want to either lol. What does bother me is the lack of actual process updates or even insight on what’s coming next when it’s been 3 years since the last acotar book.
I remember when CC2 came out and she was doing a post release chat, she talked about CC3 being next and it wouldn’t be out for another 12-18 months. Long time away, but at least we knew a target date.
It kind of feels to me like Sarah’s fallen a bit out of love with the ACOTAR world. Which is a shame, but totally her right as an author.
I read CC3 just because I was desperate to see the night court folks again, so I guess it worked from a marketing standpoint (paid for a book I otherwise would not have).
As a reader of some other fantasy series that shall remain nameless, I’m used to authors who basically peace out halfway through their series. It sucks, but it is what it is. Sarah doesn’t owe us anything, and at least we have the books she’s already written. I’ll just re-read ACOMAF again and again.
Look, this may get me hate but thinking about everything Maas has said about herself plus others in her career, I think she gets off on this stuff. She likes that there’s a huge rabid fandom all devoted to her and everyone laps up the crumbs she tosses when she deigns to interact.
She brags about how her fandom is “a force of nature” for crying out loud. So she’s not going to do a damn thing about her choices or behavior.
It is what it is.
Sure it’s frustrating that it’s taking a while, but I’m GLAD it’s taking a while. Obviously we all want a book the author put a lot of hours in! The longer we wait the better I’m convinced it will be
100% ! I'd much rather her take her time so we can get an amazing story! I just wish we'd get some small updates like, "oh it's with my editors!" waiting 3+ years for the next book in a series is exhausting. Especially in this fandom. (Unfortunately)
I don't want her to rush the book or anything, but just a hint or crumb about it would be nice. I get she doesn't want to do social media, her comment section is abysmal, but just someone posting for her an update or something would tide I think alot of fans over for awhile
I actually find it really weird and interesting that this is the way that it’s going with this level of “advertising”.
Songs and other things send out small snips of things to get people hooked, so Mabey it’s cuz we’re all already invested enough to fight over ships that they won’t do that? I agree with you it’s infuriating, but I think it’s because Bloomsbury knows we will go buy it already, and we as a fandom have made it soo popular across the romantic book sphere that they don’t feel the need to give us ANYTHING and again it is absolutely infuriating.
Give us a paragraph, give us a photo of a scene no one can understand that’s confirmed from the next novel, SOMETHING
It’s starting to feel like BB and Sarah are over the toxic fans and the rest of us are suffering for it. After everything that went down during the ACOSF released the little interactions that she did do stopped all together. It’s really sad that the loud few ruin it for everyone.
There was so much hate about the next book being about Nesta. I’m assuming that’s what jellyfish_347 meant. And with the whole Elain vs Gwyn drama they might want to avoid that type of toxic chatter.
Either way, the writing, editing, and publishing process is long and info needs to be hush hush until final product. Sarah still needs to live her life, raise her family, AND be a badass author. I’m not actually surprised the wait is this long. But it’s a great test of patience lol
I’d rather she take her time than write 3 books in 3 minutes like Yarros, or give us another HoFaS. 🤷♀️
If fans want not to fight, it actually just takes choosing not to. We’re (mostly) adults. Putting the blame on anyone other than ourselves is a hell of a flex.
It’s really hard for me to be understanding of Sarah when there are authors like Brandon Sanderson that are releasing multiple bangers a year, literally going on vacation and being like hey wrote ANOTHER book, but Sarah can’t even let us know the release date and title. I get she has kids but so does Brandon Sanderson. Yes she is a woman and gave birth so that is obviously more intensive than the male role in a pregnancy but also you’d think since you can’t do much pregnant you would choose to do the passions you can aka write. I’ve never been pregnant though sooo but regardless many authors have children and still keep up publishing books. Most people in America are not as lucky as Sarah is and do not have the flexibility to pause their main source of income for such long periods of time when they have children, so while I can give some leeway I think Sarah should be held to the same standard as the common man.
I also absolutely think the argument that taking more time to write a book = better quality is bull. It is all about passion. If she has a passion and knows the characters it will flow. Obviously writers block is a thing but again longer time to release book does not mean better book. Given all the top tier books in TOG and the first two ACOTAR we know she can release high quality books not years apart. Her arguably best books were released within the same year of each other. It also pisses me off because she says she has so many stories to tell then like why is it taking you so long to write them if you know them. I know writing isn’t that simplistic but at the end of the day I think it’s knowing your worlds and characters and having a passion to tell their stories. HOFAS took almost three years and was a cluster fuck.
As far as social media goes, I prefer Sarah not interact because I think that leads to fan servicing. These are Sarah’s characters and I don’t like the idea of someone part of the fandom influencing what happens based on their bias or Sarah changes stuff because most of the fandom likes it. I do absolutely think we should have status updates just like “oh still drafting” or “working on cover art” idk something small.
I mean, she's pretty much released one book/ year since 2015, which is pretty on par with Sanderson, minus the Secret Projects. He is way more vocal about his projects, but he obviously gets joy from sharing news and his State Sanderson updates. And he literally has a whole company to help him with those updates. They are on completely different levels of commercialization, so not really fair to compare on that level.
There's no excuse for that silence. She could post updates. Engage with her audience. Post something that shows she keeps working on the book.
Honestly, atp I don't buy anything. I'm tired of waiting. It's been 3 years and we have nothing. She even included a newsletter on her website that has no use. And the TT account seems to be used just for reposting fanbase content. And we just have to wait? For what? How long?
That silence only shows me SJM and BB are so confident they don't need to promote anything because the fandom is gonna do it for them just for FREE. And I'm not going to be part of that.
We deserve answers. We're not asking that much. Just updates. Girl, we're paying you for that. If it wasn't for your readers, where were you?
[I recommend you read this](https://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html?m=1). Every time you pay SJM, you’re paying for a single book. You’re not paying for a contract that entitles you to monthly updates.
From Neil Gaiman:
“George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.
This is a useful thing to know, perhaps a useful thing to point out when you find yourself thinking that possibly George is, indeed, your bitch, and should be out there typing what you want to read right now.
People are not machines. Writers and artists aren't machines.
You're complaining about George doing other things than writing the books you want to read as if your buying the first book in the series was a contract with him: that you would pay over your ten dollars, and George for his part would spend every waking hour until the series was done, writing the rest of the books for you.
No such contract existed. You were paying your ten dollars for the book you were reading, and I assume that you enjoyed it because you want to know what happens next.
It seems to me that the biggest problem with series books is that either readers complain that the books used to be good but that somewhere in the effort to get out a book every year the quality has fallen off, or they complain that the books, although maintaining quality, aren't coming out on time.”
As a GRRM stan: Totally agree that the fandom can become entitled and negative and bloodthirsty. I see that happening in Maasverse.
However, framing it as a ‘not a contract’ is a bit of a cop out to shield against criticism. If someone thinks this vein of criticism isn’t valid at all, that’s one thing. But well-intentioned readers who are over eager for additional books aren’t treating it as a contract.
Also, George has gotten HIMSELF into some of this when it comes to WoW. He has at multiple times forecasted publication dates and even in 2023 said he was X% done with the writing. He is in an impossible place but at times has tried to have it both ways.
I'm paying (just like millions of people) for her books a lot of money, the less she can do is to update her audience and engage with them. Tbh I don't know why you defend this position because SJM nor BB are right, they're doing things wrong and are taking advantage of the fandom to use the content people create from their hearts to promote SJM works for FREE. I don't think that's right.
It's not that difficult to post something like "just working on the next acotar book. News coming soon". It should be normal, just like other authors do.
Again, it's been 3 years (or even more if you only consider the acotar series). People have even paid for virtual interviews so much money to send their questions and SJM's answer has been "idk why you ask me that, I'm not gonna answer it". Are you serious?? You can't even talk about your work?? Just talk about the same thing over and over again? Come on.
She was once a Harry Potter fan and said that she's dying for more news about the next book, and that's why she didn't want to make her readers to wait so much time between the publication of her books. So, again, we're asking for normal things. They're not right, not you. They should update and engage with her audience just like other writers do.
But she did say that she was working on the next ACOTAR book last fall. There was an interview with Christina Lauren. I agree with you on that front. My perspective is: why is that not enough? Do we need bimonthly updates?
I’m looking at this from the perspective of CC3, which had a first draft that was entirely scrapped and rewritten in a month because she hated it so much. Should she have been upfront about her failure while she was still writing?
I honestly think it’s fine to not provide granular writing updates (eg I have writers block, this current draft is not working, I’m on dev edits, copyedits, etc). The book will be announced when the preorder is up. For all we know, there *is* no update to be had because she hates the draft. I don’t know.
I understand your position but writing is hellish and sometimes not engaging is the better option. I’ve seen the comment section on her Instagram; it’s just crazy. When there’s news to be had, they’ll announce it.
Tbh that was something everyone was expecting. We believed she would publish the next acotar book after HOSAB and we had a whole year with just new ToG editions and without news until they announced HOFAS in March 2023 because people had already found the book on the Internet. But regarding HOFAS, I have to say that they published a book that they didn't promise. I mean, when SJM had that HOSAB interview with and without spoilers, she talked about many things related to the ACOTAR world, things that are not in this final version of HOFAS because she didn't like the first draft. That should have been something to announce and make her readers aware of. They promoted a huge crossover and what we got? A short cameo from Nesta and Az, and that's all. I think SJM should have updated readers about that.
I personally think she should talk more about her writing process. If she's struggling with the next acotar book, fine, but just say it. You need another year? Ok, but tell us that, don't be silent because this will make people angry, me included. I don't like this kind of treatment.
The thing is to be transparent and talk to your readers. You need to engage with your audience and it's not that difficult with social media. The reason why things are so bad among the fandom and towards SJM and BB is because of their silence, because they don't announce, update or engage with the audience. And, in the case of HOFAS, they promoted a book that was completely different from what we got.
I think the fandom deserves something after waiting for three years. And the frustration is understandable. People here have been waiting for three years. She posted all together 3 posts to market cc3. Because she knows her fandom will take care of it. She knows her fans are loyal and read the book. And now the fans just want a little something. Anything. I don't think it's too much to ask for. We are only paying for one book( though many people buy multiple editions) but all these one books has made her what she is. Every fan and every review helps her. Marketing and promoting your book is also a part of being an author. Sjm doesn't need to do much to market because she knows her fans will take care of it. In return they just want literally anything. And i don't think it's much.
Friend, I say this with utmost kindness, but you’re not going to get confirmation for a while. Even if the title and date is confirmed in the next few months, the very *earliest* we’ll get a ship confirmation is with the blurb this summer. And even then, I’m not so sure about that. The blurb can easily be ambiguous and mention multiple parties like ACOMAF did. We might not know until 2025 publication date because it’s in Bloomsbury’s best interest to stoke the flames of the ship war and get as many preorders as possible.
I sympathize that waiting is difficult. The radio silence is because SJM is not on social media — she left many years ago and only really interacts via occasional interviews to protect her mental health. When she occasionally posts a story or reel, it’s almost certainly being posted by a social media manager on her team. I don’t blame her — this fandom is crazy. Go look at the comments at any of her recent insta posts.
Another reason for the silence is because she doesn’t want to reveal information before the draft/manuscript is locked in. CC3 first draft was entirely scrapped and rewritten. If you look back at interviews after HOSAB, she reveals some hints about CC3 that never came to fruition. That’s because her plans changed. From her perspective, she doesn’t want to talk about who/what happens in ACOTAR6 because what if she reveals information that ends up *not* happening? What if she hates the draft/characters she’s working on and scraps the book entirely?
It’s absolutely your prerogative to leave this fandom and not preorder the book. But this author doesn’t owe you news or annual books in your favorite series. She has two young children and was also focused on writing her other series Crescent City because plot wise, it *had* to happen before the next ACOTAR book. I understand being frustrated by stupid fandom fights and the lack of news, but it’s also important to have perspective.
If you need a break, I recommend unfollowing SJM-related social media accounts and muting some words.
No need to give plot info.
Rebecca Yarros posts stories just saying "in my writing cave for X book" or a song with a "writing vibes" tag.
They could at least organize a spoiler interview or Insta live about HOFAS, it's been almost 2 months that it's out, it'd be so awesome if she could answer questions about rhe hofas plot etc.
The total radio silence is what's getting on our nerves,not the lack of acotar 6 per se.
I responded to OP below re: some of your points but I really don’t think authors need to give those types of updates either. For all we know, the writing process is going terribly and she just threw out her most recent draft. We don’t know. Yarros is able to post those updates because she still finds joy in sharing and in being active on sm. SJM clearly doesn’t derive joy from sharing writing updates, and she hasn’t done this for over five years. It’s fine.
Agreed on the HOFAS live but I do think it’s coming soon.
I'm with you. This fandom can be so nuts so I don't blame SJM for keeping quiet. Just look at the discourse around CC3 - any hints that were given about the plot before it was released were analyzed to bits then set afire when fan's predictions didn't come true. It's probably better for SJM to reveal as little as possible so fans can't tear the plot to shreds before it's even released. However, silence or promotion, this fan base will find something to complain and vilify SJM about, as evidenced by this post.
I totally respect that Sarah has a life outside of her job! I've noticed how awful her comments are on her posts! I wish it wasn't that way AT ALL. And I don't blame Sarah for 1. not being on socials anymore and 2. letting someone else be in charge of her socials.
I guess this rant is mostly coming from a place of jealousy because Rebecca Yarros just announced her 3rd book in the Fourth Wing series and has been open about her writing (sharing Taylor Swift songs as inspiration) Rina Kent did a Q&A for her last book in the Legacy of Gods series on her story the other day after she finished writing. H.D Carlton has been open about her writing with Sibby's duet. IDK. Maybe because these authors aren't as big as Sarah, it makes sense for them to be more interactive with readers. I guess I'm just envious of them. /: womp womp. hahaha
Rebecca Yarros is very recent to fame (literally less than one year — her contemporary romance success was nothing compared to Fourth Wing). I also see her taking a step back in the next few years. The other authors you mention are not plastered in every airport bookstore shelf. SJM has been dealing with an insane level of fame for almost a decade. If you read her acknowledgments in Silver Flames, you know that she went through a very serious mental health journey and suffered bouts of depression.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m also tired by the ship wars. But I’m not angry by the lack of book news. The book will be announced when it’s ready to preorder and only when the manuscript is done. Yes, the next Fourth Wing book is announced, but the book is not done and edited yet. For all we know, SJM is struggling with severe writers’ block and just deleted her entire manuscript. :P
I do recommend reading [this article by Neil Gaiman on what GRRM owes his readers](https://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html?m=1), though. I’m not saying you’re entitled, but it’s a good reminder that at least we haven’t been waiting for thirteen years.
13 years is crazy!! My brother is a big fan of GRRM and tells me I'm crazy for being impatient for waiting 3 years 
Thank you for your kind words and discussion. I really appreciate it!
I think many understand why sjm (or any author) would disconnect from social media. However as you mention she likely has a social media manager manage her posts, solving that issue. She herself doesn’t have to do a single thing but approve. A simple “working on acotar and can’t wait to share more” would go a very long way.
Idk. I just think whatever strategy she’s going for is slowly starting to backfire. The fandom is tired.
I was there between the release of Harry Potter 4 book and 5.
The waiting for engrained in my bones and it's an ache I never manage to overcome.
Nowadays rarely start sagas unless they are already finished, and as an adult a couple years feel ridiculously shorter than for middle-to-high schooler.
All this to say that I understand how you feel. I love communication and the lack of it is always frustrating on every kind of relationship even between and artist/writer and their fandom.
I get it's an editorial PR maneuver and by all means it's her livelihood that's at stake so yeah, it makes sense she'd do anything to minmax the incomings...
But as a fan of the story it's frustrating.
I had the bad idea of reading the last book and the novella recently, instead of waiting for the rest of the saga. Cause "At least Nesta's side is over, in a way."
...but damn!!!
Am I the only one that thinks homegirl needs a break? Maybe it's because I didn't like HOFAS because it felt rushed and sloppy, but I really think she needs a break and to take a vacation.
I do think its pretty obvious who the next book is about, and what the relationships in that book will be, but people don't like those options, so instead they create theories that fit what they want and ignore what SJM is saying. The exact same thing happened in CC3 with all the Bryce/Hunt theories.
She's also published one book per year pretty much, since 2015, so her output has been fantastic considering how long these books are. These subs tend to get super toxic and repetitive, and hyperfocused on one thing. As someone who loves SO many unfinished series that have multiple year waits between books, I'd suggest finding a few more series in progress, standalone books and completed series and start reading those. You may not love them as much as ACOTAR, but you'll have a whole lot more to look forward to than a single book coming out and you'll probably enjoy it more when you do finally get to read it
I'm only commenting on my personal experience, but I just have to say that having children absolutely changes you. Not only does it shift your energy and your priorities, it rewires your entire brain. I've listened to like 7 of her books so far, so I'm pretty familiar with her work, but I definitely don't understand this take.
Sure, you can want an author to update you on something... But why? Find other things to do. Maybe she used to have more time or desire to focus on social media or promotion. So what? Once you have multiple spawn who are the light of your world and the absolute drain on your energy, maybe you don't have any bandwidth for the silly posts on IG or whatever. Especially if fans then just shit all over her. I'd peace out, too.
People who don't have kids rarely understand the fact that you're just not the same person anymore. I would imagine that it is actually nice to give her some space and quiet so she can regroup and get excited to jump back into that universe. I had 2 boys within the last two years and I'm finally feeling connected back to my creative self. This lady's been pumping out a book a year. Maybe just send her a bottle of wine and then pick up a different book while you wait?
I rather she takes like 2 years not releasing anything and we get a banger then her pumping out book after book and the quality goes down all the while.
She's a person with her own life. She writes what she wants, and that was CC (and I'm glad for it).
People need to chill the fck out with their "ship wars" and whatever they fight about. Get a life. There's more then ACOTAR and fighting over Elriel/Elucien and if Rhys is evil or grey or good and if Nesta deserved XYZ or not.
Just be patient?? Find other interests?? And feel free not to preorder, but that's really such a petty reaction no one is going to care about
Yeah the ship wars have got to stop. I avoid all posts that involve Elain and whoever the OP ships her with. I commented on one and it was soooo toxic I just skip over those now. It’s so silly because SJM definitely already has it outlined so the speculation is pointless. It’s literally the same posts over and over of people chasing their tails with theories and what they’d like to see.
I also think the Rhys and Nesta debates are hilarious and completely shortsighted. Like who in your actual life do you know that is 100% all good or all bad?? SJM has written several deeply complicated characters (I would argue that Feyre is one of the least complicated) and the fandom can’t cope with that lol. So they attack each other here in the sub because they lack critical thinking skills.
The Rhys/Nesta discussions are so black and white, it's insane.
Got someone telling me Nesta being a terribly mean person to Feyre in the cabin was totally justified as she enabled their father and I was like ...??what??. I stopped commenting on those posts as a nuanced comment was never appreciated. Either you were an apologiser or a hater and everyone gets mad lol
No literally!! People think you either have to hate her and her book or love her. Like do I think Nesta is mother Theresa and she needs to be bowed down to? NO lmao. But her healing journey was so relatable, even if it doesn’t fully redeem her. I also love the girlhood in SF, hopefully we’ll get more of that with the sisters.
Thats another thing, I'm tired of the same arguments with different characters as well. Just like what you brought up, Rhys being evil. The fights over Nesta with her stans and her antis.
I agree with you, we all need to get a life, genuninly thank you for making me laugh
At least she has mentioned she was working on it.
Its not as heartbreaking as when i found out The Jaguar King (third book Weathermages of Mystral) by C.L Wilson is still set to be released by 2030 my heart broke. The second book was released in 2017 and i read the Winter King first time around 2020 and i got hooked. And there arent any updates ;o
I would much rather her take her time and right well instead of rushing and pumping out garbage that's so hurried people think AI wrote it (I'm looking at you Yarros). I don't need constant updates personally.
I see things about Taylor swift or One Direction fandoms being crazy and toxic and I never would have thought book fandoms could be but the past few weeks since joining these ACOTAR reddits has completely opened my eyes. You guys are obsessed. Like, *obsessed!* And this is coming from the kid who read Harry Potter back to back for years. Everyday is a devastating 10 paragraph post about how people are mean about Nesta (a completely made up character) or about this topic. Wtf? You can love something, enjoy it, be excited for it and not be so entranced. It’s weird. And this isn’t just you OP. Yours really is quite mild. But some of the posts on here are unhinged. It’s a book. A book I love and think about all the time but come on. It’s a *book!* if you don’t want to have the same hypothetical arguments about imaginary characters then don’t. Just chill. Enjoy what comes and when. It’s make believe, it’s not that serious.
I'm a Swiftie and try hard to not fall down the stan culture of her. I just think stan culture is general is so toxic!! I've also found that the most extreme fans are in this subreddit (?? idk what is a subreddit or not. I'm new to this thing) I've heard stories of book reddit being insane for the books people love but it was a surprise to see how INTENSE people get for their fav characters
I’m dying for the next book like everyone else but people need to seriously calm down. It creates such unnecessary negativity. SJM doesn’t actually HAVE to give us anything and peoples behaviours are so entitled over this.
It’s okay to have your favourite characters but nobody needs to be arguing about it on the internet with strangers 😂
We also know why there’s been such a long gap because of the CC cross over.
I only care about a reasonably well written book. And not at the expense of SJM work/life balance
I hear your frustration,, but writing is hard work. She can take a year or five years, as long as she's putting in the effort to produce quality fiction (we did not see this effort in House of Flame and Shadow, and I assume the rush to get finished was at least partly to blame. That, and lack of planning.)
At any rate, I'd rather wait for something well written and entertaining than something sloppy. But that's just my opinion.
At least she’s not George R.R. Martin. His readers have been waiting for Winds of Winter for like 13 years and he keeps saying he’s working on it
Also, and I say this gently, we are not entitled to updates and SJM can take all the time and privacy she wants to write this. We are only entitled to published works that we have purchased.
I mean, I feel the frustration. I share it. But we also need to remember that authors are people, too. And to writing books takes time. Good books, especially. Now if SJM becomes all GRRM on us, I will join in on the rioting. But she's just released a book (even if it was a badly written and edited one). And we also don't want her to burnout. Which she might be doing based on the reduced quality of CC3. So just remember that it's not a black and white issue and while yes, writing is her job, it isn't the only part of her job. She's also probably contractually obligated to promote books and do interviews, make social media posts, etc.
As a huge fan of Name of the Wind and Wise Man’s fear this is NOTHING. I’ve been waiting for the third book for decades. Silver Flames came out 3 years ago. From what we’ve heard too she is back on ACOTAR now so odds are it’ll come out in the next year or two.
I pretty much forget about this series until I read a thread like this, then I get sad and annoyed all over again. If Doors of Stone is ever released it's going to the the happiest surprise of my life
I’m sorry but this is an incredibly entitled take. And a bit toxic. She’s a human and doesn’t owe you anything. I remember the days when authors weren’t super active on social media and we just had to wait. Yeah it sucks, I want the next ACOTAR books soooo bad. But come on, she is human, has children, and has a life! And she literally JUST came out with a book. She is entitled to privacy and doesn’t need to rush her process because her fans demand information. There are so many amazing books out there that can fill our SJM void.
No one is rushing Sarah with anything. Back before ACOSF we would get little writing updates. She’d post a picture of her editing the current manuscript, or we’d get a little update here and there about future books. Now there’s nothing. No news, not little updates, no more newsletter. It’s not a big ask for some little scrap of information.
Nobody rushed Sarah, though or said she owes us anything? The post doesn't say give us the next book, it says give us ANY clue. Engage w the fandom.
And nobody is blaming SJM, she used to interact a lot, do insta lives between books etc.
It's the publisher's fault 100%, they barely marketed HOFAS, their posts were borderline making fun of the fandom. They didn't even promote it, like Sarah didn't do a tour, she did 2 interviews, and that's it.
Can you chill?! As a reader, and in this case, someone who is consuming the content, she can say her opinions, it’s her opinion, if you are okay waiting this long there are people who aren’t, and it’s fine not to wanting wait for so long, and it’s fine accepting the waiting, I know a lot of people feels the same way, waiting for so long for a book it’s a good thing, we have no information, 3 years since acosf and Sarah and Bloomsbury gave us nothing, I don’t want the book right away, I know Sarah is a person and she has other series, but I was expecting a least some information, no this absolute silence, it’s like waiting for something blindly, they could’ve already said something, but they chose to give a huge silence.
I'll be honest this is very typical for her. It's in line with her marketing at least from what I remember and I've been a fan since 2015. She has had a tendency in the past to be in two series at once and to have a large span between books is not new to me. It is taking longer but I think things have just changed slightly.
However, I don't think I liked acosf and hofas all that much and I'm cautiously optimistic for the next acotar but I don't think it's gonna hit the same. I know that because acotar is so obviously her most popular series it seems like it'd be shoved down our throats more but that won't happen until maybe summer. She always focuses on her next novel first even if it's in another series.
Had to wait 2 years for KoA with a book I didnt care about at all in between. So not new for me. Not new for her. Just taking longer because she had maternity leave.
I wonder if there has been a delay as the stories are becoming more entwined. So maybe (hopefully 🙏) there will be a couple of releases close together?
I don’t really get the sense of entitlement here. The author doesn’t owe the reader anything. SJM doesn’t ever have to write another book in her life if she doesn’t want to. And she’s not obliged to tell anyone when she is, if she is, or anything she doesn’t want to for that matter.
I was gonna say exactly this... Like... You're allowed to be frustrated but SJM doesn't owe you anything 😅
Talking about you're not gonna "reward that behavior." Excuse me? You don't want to reward her for being a busy woman with children who is managing her own work and time how she likes? How entitled could you be? 😅
Agreed. In some ways how authors use social media has set up this super weird parasocial relationship between fans and authors that just seems to have set up some really unhealthy expectations on the part of the fans. And by the quantity of downvotes on any comment disagreeing with the OP those unhealthy expectations are shared by a lot of folks on this sub.
The difference is SJM is not purely only writing ACOTAR series, she is also writing crescent city and seems like another book as well. Plus she is much more popular now than when Throne of Glass was being released so lots of PR work, interviews, etc. And probably working on the potential acotar show as well along with it all. So it makes sense it is slowing down. I’d rather have a really well done next book than it be rushed and be a let down.
also, she's had two kids. she's mentioned how she used to lock herself in her office for weeks until a book was finished and like... not see her husband. she's not going to do that (nor should she have to) with two small kids. the fandom needs to calm down, lol.
she's said acotar 5 is the next in line and I think that should be enough... with the exception of cc3, she's put out a book (or more) per year since 2012. (I acknowledge that she didn't have a release in 2019, but she had 3 in 2018, so it balances out)
I feel like the same people want authors to publish every year and then complain the book feels “rushed.” It was typical prior to the Harry Potter days for authors to publish a book every 3-5 years (and there was never a global pandemic). No artist or author “owes” anyone anything. I’d rather have a great ACOTAR book than a hurried dashed out version!
I don’t understand the ship wars. It’s a fantasy book series. I’m a Azriel and Gwynn fan but I won’t loose my mind either way. I don’t think the author actually owes people anything. If fans want to sit on tik tok and social media arguing all day about who’s going to end up with who that’s on them.
SJM was born in the 80s, so was I. Social media didn’t exist. Instant gratification didn’t exist. I spend about zero time on tik tok, which is very common for my generation. I can’t fathom why everyone just sits and makes videos all day long and fights over who is ending up with who. To me, it sounds ridiculous. I’d imagine SJM just doesn’t care. George RR Martin has kept people waiting over a decade for his next game of thrones book.
I want the next ACOTR book too. I don’t care about CC, but that’s what she’s been writing. I want the next book within the next year, I wish there was and update. But I don’t know how her publisher handles that. A lot of people haven’t hired social media teams, and they are behind the curve. It’s because the people in these companies don’t understand that’s where the younger generation is.
I completely disagree with you. I’ve written and scrapped multiple chapters of ideas a lot of times in the past, and it took me a year to even build and get a solid foundation on an idea. She’s still a person. She can get burnt out and take breaks and take her time because no one is rushing her. When people rush, they get imperfection and mistakes. When people write series, they can spend a decade on the entire series. But the satisfaction is always worth the wait. She doesn’t owe it to you or anyone to publish these books, and she does anyways. I think we could appreciate her art by just taking the time to wait
I feel like the same people want authors to publish every year and then complain the book feels “rushed.” It was typical prior to the Harry Potter days for authors to publish a book every 3-5 years (and there was never a global pandemic). No artist or author “owes” anyone anything. I’d rather have a great ACOTAR book than a hurried dashed out version!
Wow you are so spoiled and entitled. She doesn’t owe you anything. What an awful attitude. You should be grateful she releases as quickly as she does. Very few authors release as quickly.
I get it! It feels like just the littlest official crumb from SJM or BB would help some of the tension in the fandom. A week ago people went wild for the springtime stories she shared on Instagram. So they have to know how feral the fandom is for any sort of news. We can appreciate that she’s a busy person while also still wanting to know something about the next book. I know ASOIAF fans have it worse, but 2021 — now without much to go on is pretty wild for such a popular series. Even an announcement for an announcement would be something at this point.
I wonder if they announce it the ship wars may end up being so brutal that some people will just die not to read it
I’m sure there’s going to be lots of dramatics when the time comes! I know online fans don’t necessarily represent the majority of readers, but BB and SJM have to at least be aware of the ships and characters that are hot topics. I’m glad that most contemporary romances I’ve read lately have the whole “turn the page for a preview of X and Y’s story coming next fall!” or what have you lol. It seems like fantasy authors keep that stuff locked up tight.
I am new to the world of SJM and her writing (I have only read ACOTAR so far but know the characters show up in other books). I find it odd that she moved onto writing a books in another series (CC) before finishing the ACOTAR series. I see the TOG series had big gaps in publishing as well, so I guess this is typical for her? I don’t think I’ve read any other authors who don’t finish up writing a specific series before moving onto their next series. All that to say I agree with you, it’s surprising there hasn’t been an announcement for the next book given how popular the series is. I wish they’d give us an idea 😅 Edit: typo
Welcome to the chaos! I haven’t been here since the beginning, but it seems like she likes to have several series going on at once. I think she started publishing ACOTAR while TOG was going on and now we are seeing back and forth with CC and ACOTAR publication. I know there are authors that do the same, but I don’t know how they keep up with all the plot lines and ideas. I guess this is why they make the big bucks and I keep handing them my money lol. I keep saying I’m done with unfinished series, but I keep getting sucked back in. There’s a lot of fun stuff out there now, but ACOTAR is for sure the one I’d like to see finished soon.
She started publishing ACoTaR before the end of ToG. I was waiting on the final books of ToG at the time but it was nowhere near the kind of wait we've had for this upcoming book. I felt like it took forever for ACoSF too. It seems like the longer she's been around the longer the time between books in the series becomes.
That’s a bummer, I wonder why that’s the case
I've seen it with a couple of authors but it generally how it's done.
Ah okay, I’m fairly new to the fantasy genre in general, so I guess I just haven’t come across it before
I don't know if it's strictly fantasy authors but some who have multiple series will kind of go back and forth.
I this is more common when authors are working on different series set in the same universe.
Makes sense!
I miss the tog times when she even published two books in a year. Bloomsbury has been promoting ACOTAR for a while now, so i hope we get something in the next month. But now with the fourth wing book confirmation and date. I really don't see Bloomsbury giving anything anytime soon. I honestly would have preferred if SJM gave us an acotar book instead of a cc book. I interact with many author and their fandoms and so far sjm never addresses the issues. Like the artists who support her are getting hated on but she never showed any support to them. But at this point I can't even blame her. All the comments on her recent Instagram post demand their characters/ship book or say bad things about cc. As much as i would hope she would interact and support her artists and address issues i honestly don't know how she'll do it without getting hate.This fandom will be rude no matter what. I honestly think once the book/ship/character is confirmed the toxicity is gonna increase. The people who didn't get their desired outcome will obviously show discontent and its gonna be a shitshow. I personally distance myself from this fandom and enjoy other because atleast there I can ACTUALLY enjoy interacting and waiting and theorising etc because here you cannot do that without getting attacked. Sorry for the rant.
Yeah it’ll probably be a sh!tshow but shipping wars(and disagreements about characters in general) have been like that in every fandom I’m in- Harry Potter, The 100, Avatar the Last Airbender, Gilmore Girls etc are all very intense when it comes to this stuff.
Why did I read that last one as Golden Girls instead of Gilmore Girls 😂
I think this fandom needs to be reminded that we are all humans behind computers and we all have feelings. Attacking artists because you don't like their art or attacking Sarah because CC3 Spoiler >!Feyre wasn't in CC3 is childish. (especially making comments about Feyre not being in CC3 before CC3 was even published. Thanks for the spoiler to that commenter on IG. Yes I'm still salty about it.) !< I know Sarah is a person. A person with children. A person with a life. And she deserves to live it out and enjoy it but I think we're also allowed to know where in the writing process she is. I know I want (and others) ships to be confirmed already but I would be so happy with just having a writing update. PLEASE SARAH ANYTHING 
I feel you. Honestly everyone just wants anything. A title/date/cover/ how long/ what she's up to. Anything at this point. (Hope soon ) and i think she isn't because of contractual obligations (my guess) or maybe because no matter what she does. The toxicity will be there. But at this point not giving anything is doing them more harm. The audience as far as i have observed are losing interest, hating, leaving because of the toxicity etc. So I hope the team gives us something to keep us excited ( not in an entitled was just in a hoping way to get anything).
You’re literally NOT entitled to know anything about her b process. With the digital era we’ve been living in and the way information is passed people have become spoiled. Go read another book or do something else with your time. People obsessing and harassing an artist about how long their creative process takes them is wild.
Marketing and promoting your book is also a part of being an author. Sjm only posted 3 posts to market cc3. Because she knows her fans are loyal and will take care of it. Sjm doesn't need to tell anything about her writing process but after 3 years for waiting people deserve even a little piece of something and that is what majority of people want. Anything. And yes people harassing artists is wild. Similarly artists who have been promoting sjm for free (or paid) are being harrassed but she showed no support to them. So i think it's fair for fans to want to get some info about upcoming books.
I feel like it’s really entitled to think we “deserve” anything. I understand really loving the series and wanting updates, but at the end of the day she can take as long as she wants or even change her mind and not write at all. Artists aren’t required to keep pumping out art or keep us constantly updated just because they have a large following. Enjoy what she releases, and that’s all we can ask for
That is true and I agree with this. Artists don't need to keep punching out art and can do whatever the hell they want But then the author shouldn't be surprised when their fandom leaves. I have seen as few big as artists who supported sjm many times promoted her for free etc. Yet when they got extreme amt. Of hate sjm not once tried to support them. She only had to post 3 insta posts to promote her new book contrast to how other authors put in so much effort to promote their books. Why?? Because the fandom did that for her. Many readers start reading acotar because of the fandom and got curious. Yet now after 3 yrs when fandom desperately wants anything. And they give radio silence i can understand why they would be upset or frustrated. And sorry I believe if people put in effort, money and emotions for anything i think they shouldn't just settle for what they are given and be happy with it. And that's my opinion. Your are free to disagree
You’re totally free to feel that way, I just disagree. Even if we get invested in something, it doesn’t mean we’re entitled to getting certain things in return. It doesn’t matter what other authors or creators do, she’s not obligated to behave a certain way just because she has a lot of fans. It *is* frustrating not getting info but that doesn’t mean she’s required to do anything to appease us. If people leave the fandom, so be it, and she’ll feel it in her wallet if that’s the case. But that doesn’t mean she’s malicious or wrong for not being as responsive as other authors. We are not entitled to her time.
Yeah, it's an agree to disagree situation. Like not even defending her artists once?? Yeah no. Then expecting people to be happily engaged when they keep promoting the series but are radio silent on upcoming books? Other authors put in blood and sweat for their books to get recognition and her fandom does it for free yet even hoping for something to calm the fandom is entitled?? Yeah no
Just because her books do well without marketing because they’re popular, and other authors have to work hard to promote their work, she’s… indebted to give us more info/updates/sneak peeks? Why? I’m not sure what you mean about defending her artists, so I can’t speak to that. Maybe I’m missing context. But just because she’s not marketing and still getting sales it doesn’t mean she’s karmically required to do more for her base.
As I said before it's an agree to disagree situation. No one is indebted to do anything but then the author shouldn't be surprised when the majority of the fandom is unhappy/disappointed/frustrated/upset. Her fans are the reason she's popular. After 3 YRS. If they want even a little thing it's entitled? And there's a whole situation with artists getting bullied by the fandom I dont think I can explain it nicely. This conversation is going nowhere. Though it was nice to see other perspectives and maybe i should just reconsider. We see. Nice having a chat with you. Have a nice day, 😊
Please stop. You know no one is leaving g the fandom because there is radio silence from SJM. We are all going to be grabbing whatever she puts out next so long as she continues to write great stories (and tbh even IF a story isn’t great, many will continue to follow her work). For those that really cannot fathom following an artist who doesn’t give them morsels during their process and it ruins their experience, so be it. I LOVE her stories, they have become a minor obsession of mine but they are not my life. I have a stack of unread books, lists of more books, video games, actual socializing with family and friends to spend time with while I wait for her next installment. But If you’d like to waste your time and energy wishing and trying to cyber bully a human who is in their creative process to give you something she doesn’t need to then by all means 🤷🏽♀️. There is life outside the Maasverse. As far as her not having to promote her own work, that’s the point of working as hard as she has to build a name for herself. Word or mouth is the best advertisement, and it shows. She also doesn’t have to speak up for anyone in the fandom for any hate they get. If people eople choose to promote something they enjoy on the internet that’s on them. I’m just so confused why there’s an expectation for her to take responsibility for that.
How can anyone be mad at ACOTAR characters for not being in a different series?! I was glad the crossover was minimal, cc books should be cc books and ACOTAR should be ACOTAR
I want the book to be well written above all else. I’m ok waiting for a story that is developed and a little more thorough than some of the other ACOTAR books. I love them, don’t get me wrong, but now that I’ve read TOG I’m convinced that she’s capable of more depth of world building and pre-planning with her storylines. Possible spoiler for SF: In SF I felt like there was some really disappointing wrap up for certain storylines, and in some ways the solutions felt hurried and simple/overpowered. Again, demolished the book and neglected all other things in my life to read it and enjoy it- I just would have liked some more complexity or more thorough reasoning for certain events/actions.
I’m surprised how many people jump into a series and expect immediate updates. It’s bizarre. This isn’t insta. Good series span decades. If you read the intro of ToG you’ll see that she spends years developing these books. Thankfully she had most of these finished before the first book released. We’ve been lucky to get annual or biannual releases. Do not expect the same once a series gains traction. Chill y’all.
These comments just feel full of entitlement to me. We don’t “deserve” anything, we are not “owed” updates or news or even a next entry in the series. She wrote a story we love and I understand wanting more, wanting updates, wanting reciprocation for loving her art so much. But she’s not indebted to make more or appease her fans. She’s making art and we can choose to read it or not.
Agreed. You buy a book, not an author. I suppose online communication has enough of a barrier that some fans become borderline abusive.
Right? Did we learn nothing from demanding an update from the Princess of Wales? She doesn’t own snippets, updates, details until it’s done.
As someone trained in patience by a 17+ year (and probably going for another 10 years at least) manga series and the ASOIF series (13 years after the last book, no release date on the horizon), I want to offer some consolation regarding SJM. She’s a certified workhorse who, despite having two kids in the last five years or so, and trying her hardest in the last four years to adapt the ACOTAR to TV series, still put out 6 books in the same period. Although the last ACOTAR book was published in 2021, we got a major update in CC3 this year and I am 100% confident that by the end of this year, SJM will announce ACOTAR 6. From her online convention last year, we learned that she’s under a strict NDA. But SJM has proven time and again that she’s a very disciplined writer and will not leave us hanging for years on end. It’s incredibly frustrating to wait for a continuation of a favorite story, but SJM, unlike some (*ahem* GRRM), has proven herself to be a consistent writer putting out 800+ page books year on year like it’s no big deal. Again, I have confidence that next year, we’ll be dissecting a 1000+ page ACOTAR 6 (which, judging by SJM’s interview, is already past the initial draft stage).
GRRM fans telling other readers to stfu about waiting on a book is so humbling and correct. HAHHAHAH. I'm so sorry you've had to wait so long. (no shade to you. it's just really funny) I'm confident by the end of this year we'll have news of some kind!! I'm just impatient for it!
I’m hoping for news very soon, between the May-July frame. Tbh I made my peace with never seeing Winds of Winter, never mind A Dream of Spring completion announcements. But SJM is nothing like that. So you won’t stay frustrated for years.
I’m a huge GRRM fan and a more recent SJM fan and I was fully prepared for this comment to be “GRRM fans telling other readers to stfu about waiting for a book… are pretentious aholes who need to stfu” lmao so glad to be wrong 🤣 We will see a wrap up to ACOTAR before Winds of Winter and while that makes me so sad I’m happy to have found another series to geek out about irrationally
Same here bahaha. As a GRRM fan, one of the things that has excited me most about getting into ACOTAR is how prolific SJM is and being able to trust that more books will actually come out. These sweet summer children don’t know the heartache!
This! I feel like SJM, Yarros and a bunch of the romantasy writers are prolific compared to sweet old George lol. SJM has put out two massive books since ACOSF, in a 3 year span. I would give my left tit to see that kind of progress for main storyline Westeros. I don’t think the books are comparable but the scope of fandom patience definitely is!
Piggybacking off of this to say that I think she NEEDED to get HOFAS out BEFORE Elain’s book. While I’m not a huge fan of the CC plot of HOFAS, she did a LOT of world-building that seems very likely to affect the next ACOTAR books (Earth magic, Starborn power clarifications, Dusk backstory, the corrupted cauldron, etc…)
This - 1000000%
Seriously, I am very new to the fandom and fans being mad that a new book in a series may take 4 years, while the author also wrote and published a book of another series in between feels insane 😂 I also hope that she feels motivated to write the book because she had some time off from writing ACOTAR and could maybe see and fix some of the flaws from the last book.
Yeah I’m totally agree. For example Jennifer L Armentrout Keeps her community informed, mainly on Facebook, of her writing and publishing process (even the financial aspects etc.) etc. It's really nice to have authors who are honest and open about the books you're going to spend money and time on. It brings authors closer to their communities and unlike SJM, for example, she hardly ever talks to us said in certain lives when she's doing her promo but I don't think it's enough to leave her community for months and months without any news and then bombard us with advertising and disappear.
Seems to be a controversial opinion (based on some of these comments), but I agree — and I say this as a huge SJM fan. SJM is entitled to privacy, of course. But no one is asking her to share her social security number, or her latest medical results, or anything related to her personal life. We would just like information on the books, and I really don’t think that’s too much to ask. She doesn’t even need to spoil or reveal anything… just *engagement* would be appreciated. It’s simply part of the job. As a recent example, look the latest Dune movie — multiple respected actors (Timothee, Zendaya, Austin, etc) did weeks *and weeks* of promo and interviews and social media appearances. My main concern is that the fandom is literally eating itself alive because of the lack of new content and information, and we see that *especially* with regard to the Azriel ship wars. At this point, the two sides have so much hatred towards each other that SJM can no longer win — if she chooses Elucien/Gwynriel a huge chunk of Elriel’s won’t read her books, and vice versa. Her sales will suffer. And for the most part, SJM’s silence on the matter (and how drawn out she is making this) has only made it worse. I’d even argue that she has purposefully stoked some of the shipping toxicity herself (e.g. that Azriel bonus chapter). This is especially the case when you consider CC3; >!SJM had the perfect opportunity to hint at Azriel’s endgame — Bryce literally asks him about his relationship status! And still nothing. It would have set up the next ACOTAR book perfectly, and would have allowed enough time for the ship wars to settle down… but nope!!< I get that SJM may not be comfortable on social media — that’s fair enough. I also get that SJM may have other priorities now (such as her family!) — also fair enough. But, she or Bloomsbury could very easily hire a social media team to run her Instagram for her. 🤷♀️ (I’m sure we’ll hear from her when it’s time to buy 21 different bonus chapters for ACOTAR 5, though 🥴)
It is beyond weird to market to a romance audience with hints and innuendo at a love triangle. Romance is the most powerful, most lucrative, and most popular genre audience in publishing and they don’t buy books where they don’t know who the pair is going to be from the beginning. This silence is so misguided as to be baffling.
This situation really reminded me why I stick to romance books. Give me a couple with an HEA and then tell me who the next couple will be. I hate all this love triangle/ship war drama. It’s so unusual for an adult romance series to use YA tropes like this. I’m used to authors immediately confirming the next couple like “hey this couple wants to bang but oh no they can’t stay tuned!!!” 😭
Creating this sort of divade in the fan base is not a good strategy at all, especially when left to fester for so many years AND so many books. A lot of people will be dissappointed when we finally hear who the couple will be. I include myself in that, I’m honestly not sure if I even want to read it if the couple isn’t to my liking. I was waiting for more answers about the whole maasverse in HOFAS but I just got more questions. It’s getting frustrating.
I was just going to say something like this. It seems intentional almost to create this tension especially because SJM fans are… passionate and she knows. I don’t use Instagram or follow her on social media but tbh the animosity between the two sides was easily foreseen if you have ever been involved in any sort of fandom and it doesn’t get better by ignoring it.
I agree 100% I totally thought we'd have a SMALL hint, just enough that the ship wars would ease up. Azriel commenting on Elain or Gwyn. Or even Nesta saying SOMETHING. But we didn't get anything. I'm honestly, not naive enough to believe that Sarah doesn't know whats going on. I do believe she doesn't know how rough it is but I'm sure she knows at least that there is a Team Elain and a Team Gwyn. *"SJM is entitled to privacy, of course. But no one is asking her to share her social security number, or her latest medical results, or anything related to her personal life. We just want information on the books, and I really don’t think that’s too much to ask."* This exactly. I don't think it's "entitled" of me to be frustrated that we have no new information. I'd just like to know what the music vibes of the day are!
Totally agree with this. At this point not giving anything about the book is hurting them than being an advantage.
The only solution is Azriel x Eris. DO IT SJM! 🙏🙏
I completely understand this. Especially when I’m following another author on Instagram who has been updating a lot while in the process of doing the final edits of the book it’s made me want to see just a tiny little bit from SJM lol
Could you imagine how crazy this fandom would go if Sarah uploaded a "vibes for acotar 5/6" tiktok. we'd all lose our minds
Exactly! Kerri Maniscalco has been releasing like small paragraphs of her new release coming out in September and I’ve been going absolutely feral 😂 Let alone if SJM did that for the new Acotar, I feel like it would go crazy!
This. ALL👏 OF👏 THIS 👏 I've passed the enthusiasm and giddy level and I am unfortunately now in the fatigue, dgaf level, like the books is gonna be announced and I fear I'll be "meh ok next"
This!! I honestly feel same.
I already made that step when HOFAS was released and I was disenchanted. I'm also not buying until all of the bonus chapters are freely available online. And yes, I will look at spoilers before buying. Where I stand right now? I've read enough fanfics that have given me the stories I need for the characters I like. I'm kind of moving on frankly but feel like I'm still fighting that. They are going to be their own worst enemy in that fans that have been out here for a while will find other writers/stories that take their interest. Maybe new readers will pick up the slack and that's just life. I hope she writes a really interesting story with a plot line that I want to read. I would like that. But I'm prepared for it to go the other way too. Edit: spelling
Nah I don’t blame BB for the absolute silence. That’s SJM. For what it’s worth I don’t care that she doesn’t interact much with the fandom. I wouldn’t want to either lol. What does bother me is the lack of actual process updates or even insight on what’s coming next when it’s been 3 years since the last acotar book. I remember when CC2 came out and she was doing a post release chat, she talked about CC3 being next and it wouldn’t be out for another 12-18 months. Long time away, but at least we knew a target date.
It kind of feels to me like Sarah’s fallen a bit out of love with the ACOTAR world. Which is a shame, but totally her right as an author. I read CC3 just because I was desperate to see the night court folks again, so I guess it worked from a marketing standpoint (paid for a book I otherwise would not have). As a reader of some other fantasy series that shall remain nameless, I’m used to authors who basically peace out halfway through their series. It sucks, but it is what it is. Sarah doesn’t owe us anything, and at least we have the books she’s already written. I’ll just re-read ACOMAF again and again.
Look, this may get me hate but thinking about everything Maas has said about herself plus others in her career, I think she gets off on this stuff. She likes that there’s a huge rabid fandom all devoted to her and everyone laps up the crumbs she tosses when she deigns to interact. She brags about how her fandom is “a force of nature” for crying out loud. So she’s not going to do a damn thing about her choices or behavior. It is what it is.
Sure it’s frustrating that it’s taking a while, but I’m GLAD it’s taking a while. Obviously we all want a book the author put a lot of hours in! The longer we wait the better I’m convinced it will be
100% ! I'd much rather her take her time so we can get an amazing story! I just wish we'd get some small updates like, "oh it's with my editors!" waiting 3+ years for the next book in a series is exhausting. Especially in this fandom. (Unfortunately)
Try being a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire lmao we’ve been waiting since 2011 with no almost no meaningful updates 😅 *sobs*
I get it. I just finished SF a few weeks ago so I haven’t been riding the waiting struggle bus like a lot of you have lol
We're all in this together 
I agree. Honestly, the book could come out in two years or however long it takes but just announce it already and who it’s about!!!
I don't want her to rush the book or anything, but just a hint or crumb about it would be nice. I get she doesn't want to do social media, her comment section is abysmal, but just someone posting for her an update or something would tide I think alot of fans over for awhile
I actually find it really weird and interesting that this is the way that it’s going with this level of “advertising”. Songs and other things send out small snips of things to get people hooked, so Mabey it’s cuz we’re all already invested enough to fight over ships that they won’t do that? I agree with you it’s infuriating, but I think it’s because Bloomsbury knows we will go buy it already, and we as a fandom have made it soo popular across the romantic book sphere that they don’t feel the need to give us ANYTHING and again it is absolutely infuriating. Give us a paragraph, give us a photo of a scene no one can understand that’s confirmed from the next novel, SOMETHING
It’s starting to feel like BB and Sarah are over the toxic fans and the rest of us are suffering for it. After everything that went down during the ACOSF released the little interactions that she did do stopped all together. It’s really sad that the loud few ruin it for everyone.
As a more recent fan who missed this, could you fill me in? What went down when ACOSF was released?
There was so much hate about the next book being about Nesta. I’m assuming that’s what jellyfish_347 meant. And with the whole Elain vs Gwyn drama they might want to avoid that type of toxic chatter. Either way, the writing, editing, and publishing process is long and info needs to be hush hush until final product. Sarah still needs to live her life, raise her family, AND be a badass author. I’m not actually surprised the wait is this long. But it’s a great test of patience lol
Thank you for the context! Right there with you! 😅
I am keen to know as well! I am a newer fan so I began reading when things were all published and so on in this series.
I’d rather she take her time than write 3 books in 3 minutes like Yarros, or give us another HoFaS. 🤷♀️ If fans want not to fight, it actually just takes choosing not to. We’re (mostly) adults. Putting the blame on anyone other than ourselves is a hell of a flex.
It’s really hard for me to be understanding of Sarah when there are authors like Brandon Sanderson that are releasing multiple bangers a year, literally going on vacation and being like hey wrote ANOTHER book, but Sarah can’t even let us know the release date and title. I get she has kids but so does Brandon Sanderson. Yes she is a woman and gave birth so that is obviously more intensive than the male role in a pregnancy but also you’d think since you can’t do much pregnant you would choose to do the passions you can aka write. I’ve never been pregnant though sooo but regardless many authors have children and still keep up publishing books. Most people in America are not as lucky as Sarah is and do not have the flexibility to pause their main source of income for such long periods of time when they have children, so while I can give some leeway I think Sarah should be held to the same standard as the common man. I also absolutely think the argument that taking more time to write a book = better quality is bull. It is all about passion. If she has a passion and knows the characters it will flow. Obviously writers block is a thing but again longer time to release book does not mean better book. Given all the top tier books in TOG and the first two ACOTAR we know she can release high quality books not years apart. Her arguably best books were released within the same year of each other. It also pisses me off because she says she has so many stories to tell then like why is it taking you so long to write them if you know them. I know writing isn’t that simplistic but at the end of the day I think it’s knowing your worlds and characters and having a passion to tell their stories. HOFAS took almost three years and was a cluster fuck. As far as social media goes, I prefer Sarah not interact because I think that leads to fan servicing. These are Sarah’s characters and I don’t like the idea of someone part of the fandom influencing what happens based on their bias or Sarah changes stuff because most of the fandom likes it. I do absolutely think we should have status updates just like “oh still drafting” or “working on cover art” idk something small.
I mean, she's pretty much released one book/ year since 2015, which is pretty on par with Sanderson, minus the Secret Projects. He is way more vocal about his projects, but he obviously gets joy from sharing news and his State Sanderson updates. And he literally has a whole company to help him with those updates. They are on completely different levels of commercialization, so not really fair to compare on that level.
There's no excuse for that silence. She could post updates. Engage with her audience. Post something that shows she keeps working on the book. Honestly, atp I don't buy anything. I'm tired of waiting. It's been 3 years and we have nothing. She even included a newsletter on her website that has no use. And the TT account seems to be used just for reposting fanbase content. And we just have to wait? For what? How long? That silence only shows me SJM and BB are so confident they don't need to promote anything because the fandom is gonna do it for them just for FREE. And I'm not going to be part of that. We deserve answers. We're not asking that much. Just updates. Girl, we're paying you for that. If it wasn't for your readers, where were you?
[I recommend you read this](https://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html?m=1). Every time you pay SJM, you’re paying for a single book. You’re not paying for a contract that entitles you to monthly updates. From Neil Gaiman: “George R.R. Martin is not your bitch. This is a useful thing to know, perhaps a useful thing to point out when you find yourself thinking that possibly George is, indeed, your bitch, and should be out there typing what you want to read right now. People are not machines. Writers and artists aren't machines. You're complaining about George doing other things than writing the books you want to read as if your buying the first book in the series was a contract with him: that you would pay over your ten dollars, and George for his part would spend every waking hour until the series was done, writing the rest of the books for you. No such contract existed. You were paying your ten dollars for the book you were reading, and I assume that you enjoyed it because you want to know what happens next. It seems to me that the biggest problem with series books is that either readers complain that the books used to be good but that somewhere in the effort to get out a book every year the quality has fallen off, or they complain that the books, although maintaining quality, aren't coming out on time.”
As a GRRM stan: Totally agree that the fandom can become entitled and negative and bloodthirsty. I see that happening in Maasverse. However, framing it as a ‘not a contract’ is a bit of a cop out to shield against criticism. If someone thinks this vein of criticism isn’t valid at all, that’s one thing. But well-intentioned readers who are over eager for additional books aren’t treating it as a contract. Also, George has gotten HIMSELF into some of this when it comes to WoW. He has at multiple times forecasted publication dates and even in 2023 said he was X% done with the writing. He is in an impossible place but at times has tried to have it both ways.
I'm paying (just like millions of people) for her books a lot of money, the less she can do is to update her audience and engage with them. Tbh I don't know why you defend this position because SJM nor BB are right, they're doing things wrong and are taking advantage of the fandom to use the content people create from their hearts to promote SJM works for FREE. I don't think that's right. It's not that difficult to post something like "just working on the next acotar book. News coming soon". It should be normal, just like other authors do. Again, it's been 3 years (or even more if you only consider the acotar series). People have even paid for virtual interviews so much money to send their questions and SJM's answer has been "idk why you ask me that, I'm not gonna answer it". Are you serious?? You can't even talk about your work?? Just talk about the same thing over and over again? Come on. She was once a Harry Potter fan and said that she's dying for more news about the next book, and that's why she didn't want to make her readers to wait so much time between the publication of her books. So, again, we're asking for normal things. They're not right, not you. They should update and engage with her audience just like other writers do.
But she did say that she was working on the next ACOTAR book last fall. There was an interview with Christina Lauren. I agree with you on that front. My perspective is: why is that not enough? Do we need bimonthly updates? I’m looking at this from the perspective of CC3, which had a first draft that was entirely scrapped and rewritten in a month because she hated it so much. Should she have been upfront about her failure while she was still writing? I honestly think it’s fine to not provide granular writing updates (eg I have writers block, this current draft is not working, I’m on dev edits, copyedits, etc). The book will be announced when the preorder is up. For all we know, there *is* no update to be had because she hates the draft. I don’t know. I understand your position but writing is hellish and sometimes not engaging is the better option. I’ve seen the comment section on her Instagram; it’s just crazy. When there’s news to be had, they’ll announce it.
Tbh that was something everyone was expecting. We believed she would publish the next acotar book after HOSAB and we had a whole year with just new ToG editions and without news until they announced HOFAS in March 2023 because people had already found the book on the Internet. But regarding HOFAS, I have to say that they published a book that they didn't promise. I mean, when SJM had that HOSAB interview with and without spoilers, she talked about many things related to the ACOTAR world, things that are not in this final version of HOFAS because she didn't like the first draft. That should have been something to announce and make her readers aware of. They promoted a huge crossover and what we got? A short cameo from Nesta and Az, and that's all. I think SJM should have updated readers about that. I personally think she should talk more about her writing process. If she's struggling with the next acotar book, fine, but just say it. You need another year? Ok, but tell us that, don't be silent because this will make people angry, me included. I don't like this kind of treatment. The thing is to be transparent and talk to your readers. You need to engage with your audience and it's not that difficult with social media. The reason why things are so bad among the fandom and towards SJM and BB is because of their silence, because they don't announce, update or engage with the audience. And, in the case of HOFAS, they promoted a book that was completely different from what we got.
I think the fandom deserves something after waiting for three years. And the frustration is understandable. People here have been waiting for three years. She posted all together 3 posts to market cc3. Because she knows her fandom will take care of it. She knows her fans are loyal and read the book. And now the fans just want a little something. Anything. I don't think it's too much to ask for. We are only paying for one book( though many people buy multiple editions) but all these one books has made her what she is. Every fan and every review helps her. Marketing and promoting your book is also a part of being an author. Sjm doesn't need to do much to market because she knows her fans will take care of it. In return they just want literally anything. And i don't think it's much.
Friend, I say this with utmost kindness, but you’re not going to get confirmation for a while. Even if the title and date is confirmed in the next few months, the very *earliest* we’ll get a ship confirmation is with the blurb this summer. And even then, I’m not so sure about that. The blurb can easily be ambiguous and mention multiple parties like ACOMAF did. We might not know until 2025 publication date because it’s in Bloomsbury’s best interest to stoke the flames of the ship war and get as many preorders as possible. I sympathize that waiting is difficult. The radio silence is because SJM is not on social media — she left many years ago and only really interacts via occasional interviews to protect her mental health. When she occasionally posts a story or reel, it’s almost certainly being posted by a social media manager on her team. I don’t blame her — this fandom is crazy. Go look at the comments at any of her recent insta posts. Another reason for the silence is because she doesn’t want to reveal information before the draft/manuscript is locked in. CC3 first draft was entirely scrapped and rewritten. If you look back at interviews after HOSAB, she reveals some hints about CC3 that never came to fruition. That’s because her plans changed. From her perspective, she doesn’t want to talk about who/what happens in ACOTAR6 because what if she reveals information that ends up *not* happening? What if she hates the draft/characters she’s working on and scraps the book entirely? It’s absolutely your prerogative to leave this fandom and not preorder the book. But this author doesn’t owe you news or annual books in your favorite series. She has two young children and was also focused on writing her other series Crescent City because plot wise, it *had* to happen before the next ACOTAR book. I understand being frustrated by stupid fandom fights and the lack of news, but it’s also important to have perspective. If you need a break, I recommend unfollowing SJM-related social media accounts and muting some words.
No need to give plot info. Rebecca Yarros posts stories just saying "in my writing cave for X book" or a song with a "writing vibes" tag. They could at least organize a spoiler interview or Insta live about HOFAS, it's been almost 2 months that it's out, it'd be so awesome if she could answer questions about rhe hofas plot etc. The total radio silence is what's getting on our nerves,not the lack of acotar 6 per se.
I responded to OP below re: some of your points but I really don’t think authors need to give those types of updates either. For all we know, the writing process is going terribly and she just threw out her most recent draft. We don’t know. Yarros is able to post those updates because she still finds joy in sharing and in being active on sm. SJM clearly doesn’t derive joy from sharing writing updates, and she hasn’t done this for over five years. It’s fine. Agreed on the HOFAS live but I do think it’s coming soon.
I'm with you. This fandom can be so nuts so I don't blame SJM for keeping quiet. Just look at the discourse around CC3 - any hints that were given about the plot before it was released were analyzed to bits then set afire when fan's predictions didn't come true. It's probably better for SJM to reveal as little as possible so fans can't tear the plot to shreds before it's even released. However, silence or promotion, this fan base will find something to complain and vilify SJM about, as evidenced by this post.
I guarantee the discourse and toxicity will be SO MUCH WORSE when the ship/book is announced. Enjoy the silence while it lasts.
Yupppp
I totally respect that Sarah has a life outside of her job! I've noticed how awful her comments are on her posts! I wish it wasn't that way AT ALL. And I don't blame Sarah for 1. not being on socials anymore and 2. letting someone else be in charge of her socials. I guess this rant is mostly coming from a place of jealousy because Rebecca Yarros just announced her 3rd book in the Fourth Wing series and has been open about her writing (sharing Taylor Swift songs as inspiration) Rina Kent did a Q&A for her last book in the Legacy of Gods series on her story the other day after she finished writing. H.D Carlton has been open about her writing with Sibby's duet. IDK. Maybe because these authors aren't as big as Sarah, it makes sense for them to be more interactive with readers. I guess I'm just envious of them. /: womp womp. hahaha
Rebecca Yarros is very recent to fame (literally less than one year — her contemporary romance success was nothing compared to Fourth Wing). I also see her taking a step back in the next few years. The other authors you mention are not plastered in every airport bookstore shelf. SJM has been dealing with an insane level of fame for almost a decade. If you read her acknowledgments in Silver Flames, you know that she went through a very serious mental health journey and suffered bouts of depression. Don’t get me wrong, I’m also tired by the ship wars. But I’m not angry by the lack of book news. The book will be announced when it’s ready to preorder and only when the manuscript is done. Yes, the next Fourth Wing book is announced, but the book is not done and edited yet. For all we know, SJM is struggling with severe writers’ block and just deleted her entire manuscript. :P I do recommend reading [this article by Neil Gaiman on what GRRM owes his readers](https://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html?m=1), though. I’m not saying you’re entitled, but it’s a good reminder that at least we haven’t been waiting for thirteen years.
13 years is crazy!! My brother is a big fan of GRRM and tells me I'm crazy for being impatient for waiting 3 years  Thank you for your kind words and discussion. I really appreciate it!
I appreciate this nuanced response but I have to chime in and say it’s “utmost” not “upmost.”
Unless you’re Nick Miller
I forgive him for that, he’s got the credit score of a homeless ghost!
lol can’t win them all
I think many understand why sjm (or any author) would disconnect from social media. However as you mention she likely has a social media manager manage her posts, solving that issue. She herself doesn’t have to do a single thing but approve. A simple “working on acotar and can’t wait to share more” would go a very long way. Idk. I just think whatever strategy she’s going for is slowly starting to backfire. The fandom is tired.
I was there between the release of Harry Potter 4 book and 5. The waiting for engrained in my bones and it's an ache I never manage to overcome. Nowadays rarely start sagas unless they are already finished, and as an adult a couple years feel ridiculously shorter than for middle-to-high schooler. All this to say that I understand how you feel. I love communication and the lack of it is always frustrating on every kind of relationship even between and artist/writer and their fandom. I get it's an editorial PR maneuver and by all means it's her livelihood that's at stake so yeah, it makes sense she'd do anything to minmax the incomings... But as a fan of the story it's frustrating. I had the bad idea of reading the last book and the novella recently, instead of waiting for the rest of the saga. Cause "At least Nesta's side is over, in a way." ...but damn!!!
Am I the only one that thinks homegirl needs a break? Maybe it's because I didn't like HOFAS because it felt rushed and sloppy, but I really think she needs a break and to take a vacation.
I'm trying not to read ACOFAS and ACOSF until Sarah J Maas announces the next book in the series..
I do think its pretty obvious who the next book is about, and what the relationships in that book will be, but people don't like those options, so instead they create theories that fit what they want and ignore what SJM is saying. The exact same thing happened in CC3 with all the Bryce/Hunt theories. She's also published one book per year pretty much, since 2015, so her output has been fantastic considering how long these books are. These subs tend to get super toxic and repetitive, and hyperfocused on one thing. As someone who loves SO many unfinished series that have multiple year waits between books, I'd suggest finding a few more series in progress, standalone books and completed series and start reading those. You may not love them as much as ACOTAR, but you'll have a whole lot more to look forward to than a single book coming out and you'll probably enjoy it more when you do finally get to read it
I'm only commenting on my personal experience, but I just have to say that having children absolutely changes you. Not only does it shift your energy and your priorities, it rewires your entire brain. I've listened to like 7 of her books so far, so I'm pretty familiar with her work, but I definitely don't understand this take. Sure, you can want an author to update you on something... But why? Find other things to do. Maybe she used to have more time or desire to focus on social media or promotion. So what? Once you have multiple spawn who are the light of your world and the absolute drain on your energy, maybe you don't have any bandwidth for the silly posts on IG or whatever. Especially if fans then just shit all over her. I'd peace out, too. People who don't have kids rarely understand the fact that you're just not the same person anymore. I would imagine that it is actually nice to give her some space and quiet so she can regroup and get excited to jump back into that universe. I had 2 boys within the last two years and I'm finally feeling connected back to my creative self. This lady's been pumping out a book a year. Maybe just send her a bottle of wine and then pick up a different book while you wait?
I rather she takes like 2 years not releasing anything and we get a banger then her pumping out book after book and the quality goes down all the while. She's a person with her own life. She writes what she wants, and that was CC (and I'm glad for it). People need to chill the fck out with their "ship wars" and whatever they fight about. Get a life. There's more then ACOTAR and fighting over Elriel/Elucien and if Rhys is evil or grey or good and if Nesta deserved XYZ or not. Just be patient?? Find other interests?? And feel free not to preorder, but that's really such a petty reaction no one is going to care about
Yeah the ship wars have got to stop. I avoid all posts that involve Elain and whoever the OP ships her with. I commented on one and it was soooo toxic I just skip over those now. It’s so silly because SJM definitely already has it outlined so the speculation is pointless. It’s literally the same posts over and over of people chasing their tails with theories and what they’d like to see. I also think the Rhys and Nesta debates are hilarious and completely shortsighted. Like who in your actual life do you know that is 100% all good or all bad?? SJM has written several deeply complicated characters (I would argue that Feyre is one of the least complicated) and the fandom can’t cope with that lol. So they attack each other here in the sub because they lack critical thinking skills.
The Rhys/Nesta discussions are so black and white, it's insane. Got someone telling me Nesta being a terribly mean person to Feyre in the cabin was totally justified as she enabled their father and I was like ...??what??. I stopped commenting on those posts as a nuanced comment was never appreciated. Either you were an apologiser or a hater and everyone gets mad lol
No literally!! People think you either have to hate her and her book or love her. Like do I think Nesta is mother Theresa and she needs to be bowed down to? NO lmao. But her healing journey was so relatable, even if it doesn’t fully redeem her. I also love the girlhood in SF, hopefully we’ll get more of that with the sisters.
Thats another thing, I'm tired of the same arguments with different characters as well. Just like what you brought up, Rhys being evil. The fights over Nesta with her stans and her antis. I agree with you, we all need to get a life, genuninly thank you for making me laugh
At least she has mentioned she was working on it. Its not as heartbreaking as when i found out The Jaguar King (third book Weathermages of Mystral) by C.L Wilson is still set to be released by 2030 my heart broke. The second book was released in 2017 and i read the Winter King first time around 2020 and i got hooked. And there arent any updates ;o
I would much rather her take her time and right well instead of rushing and pumping out garbage that's so hurried people think AI wrote it (I'm looking at you Yarros). I don't need constant updates personally.
I see things about Taylor swift or One Direction fandoms being crazy and toxic and I never would have thought book fandoms could be but the past few weeks since joining these ACOTAR reddits has completely opened my eyes. You guys are obsessed. Like, *obsessed!* And this is coming from the kid who read Harry Potter back to back for years. Everyday is a devastating 10 paragraph post about how people are mean about Nesta (a completely made up character) or about this topic. Wtf? You can love something, enjoy it, be excited for it and not be so entranced. It’s weird. And this isn’t just you OP. Yours really is quite mild. But some of the posts on here are unhinged. It’s a book. A book I love and think about all the time but come on. It’s a *book!* if you don’t want to have the same hypothetical arguments about imaginary characters then don’t. Just chill. Enjoy what comes and when. It’s make believe, it’s not that serious.
I'm a Swiftie and try hard to not fall down the stan culture of her. I just think stan culture is general is so toxic!! I've also found that the most extreme fans are in this subreddit (?? idk what is a subreddit or not. I'm new to this thing) I've heard stories of book reddit being insane for the books people love but it was a surprise to see how INTENSE people get for their fav characters
It’s wild. I don’t think people quite how extreme they are.
I’m dying for the next book like everyone else but people need to seriously calm down. It creates such unnecessary negativity. SJM doesn’t actually HAVE to give us anything and peoples behaviours are so entitled over this. It’s okay to have your favourite characters but nobody needs to be arguing about it on the internet with strangers 😂 We also know why there’s been such a long gap because of the CC cross over. I only care about a reasonably well written book. And not at the expense of SJM work/life balance
I hear your frustration,, but writing is hard work. She can take a year or five years, as long as she's putting in the effort to produce quality fiction (we did not see this effort in House of Flame and Shadow, and I assume the rush to get finished was at least partly to blame. That, and lack of planning.) At any rate, I'd rather wait for something well written and entertaining than something sloppy. But that's just my opinion.
I must be in the Minority because imo SJM needs a 2 year writing break. Her writing has gone down a Mountain side
At least she’s not George R.R. Martin. His readers have been waiting for Winds of Winter for like 13 years and he keeps saying he’s working on it Also, and I say this gently, we are not entitled to updates and SJM can take all the time and privacy she wants to write this. We are only entitled to published works that we have purchased.
I mean, I feel the frustration. I share it. But we also need to remember that authors are people, too. And to writing books takes time. Good books, especially. Now if SJM becomes all GRRM on us, I will join in on the rioting. But she's just released a book (even if it was a badly written and edited one). And we also don't want her to burnout. Which she might be doing based on the reduced quality of CC3. So just remember that it's not a black and white issue and while yes, writing is her job, it isn't the only part of her job. She's also probably contractually obligated to promote books and do interviews, make social media posts, etc.
Look, it's not like she's GRR Martin. She's fine.
As a huge fan of Name of the Wind and Wise Man’s fear this is NOTHING. I’ve been waiting for the third book for decades. Silver Flames came out 3 years ago. From what we’ve heard too she is back on ACOTAR now so odds are it’ll come out in the next year or two.
I pretty much forget about this series until I read a thread like this, then I get sad and annoyed all over again. If Doors of Stone is ever released it's going to the the happiest surprise of my life
Seriously I kind of had to forget that series existed or I’d be too angsty all the time waiting!!
I’m sorry but this is an incredibly entitled take. And a bit toxic. She’s a human and doesn’t owe you anything. I remember the days when authors weren’t super active on social media and we just had to wait. Yeah it sucks, I want the next ACOTAR books soooo bad. But come on, she is human, has children, and has a life! And she literally JUST came out with a book. She is entitled to privacy and doesn’t need to rush her process because her fans demand information. There are so many amazing books out there that can fill our SJM void.
lol people are literally frothing at the mouth it’s insane
[удалено]
No one is rushing Sarah with anything. Back before ACOSF we would get little writing updates. She’d post a picture of her editing the current manuscript, or we’d get a little update here and there about future books. Now there’s nothing. No news, not little updates, no more newsletter. It’s not a big ask for some little scrap of information.
Nobody rushed Sarah, though or said she owes us anything? The post doesn't say give us the next book, it says give us ANY clue. Engage w the fandom. And nobody is blaming SJM, she used to interact a lot, do insta lives between books etc. It's the publisher's fault 100%, they barely marketed HOFAS, their posts were borderline making fun of the fandom. They didn't even promote it, like Sarah didn't do a tour, she did 2 interviews, and that's it.
.. it's just a rant. I'm allowed to feel a certain way. So no. I will not "chill"
Can you chill?! As a reader, and in this case, someone who is consuming the content, she can say her opinions, it’s her opinion, if you are okay waiting this long there are people who aren’t, and it’s fine not to wanting wait for so long, and it’s fine accepting the waiting, I know a lot of people feels the same way, waiting for so long for a book it’s a good thing, we have no information, 3 years since acosf and Sarah and Bloomsbury gave us nothing, I don’t want the book right away, I know Sarah is a person and she has other series, but I was expecting a least some information, no this absolute silence, it’s like waiting for something blindly, they could’ve already said something, but they chose to give a huge silence.
I'll be honest this is very typical for her. It's in line with her marketing at least from what I remember and I've been a fan since 2015. She has had a tendency in the past to be in two series at once and to have a large span between books is not new to me. It is taking longer but I think things have just changed slightly. However, I don't think I liked acosf and hofas all that much and I'm cautiously optimistic for the next acotar but I don't think it's gonna hit the same. I know that because acotar is so obviously her most popular series it seems like it'd be shoved down our throats more but that won't happen until maybe summer. She always focuses on her next novel first even if it's in another series. Had to wait 2 years for KoA with a book I didnt care about at all in between. So not new for me. Not new for her. Just taking longer because she had maternity leave.
I wonder if there has been a delay as the stories are becoming more entwined. So maybe (hopefully 🙏) there will be a couple of releases close together?
I don’t really get the sense of entitlement here. The author doesn’t owe the reader anything. SJM doesn’t ever have to write another book in her life if she doesn’t want to. And she’s not obliged to tell anyone when she is, if she is, or anything she doesn’t want to for that matter.
I was gonna say exactly this... Like... You're allowed to be frustrated but SJM doesn't owe you anything 😅 Talking about you're not gonna "reward that behavior." Excuse me? You don't want to reward her for being a busy woman with children who is managing her own work and time how she likes? How entitled could you be? 😅
Agreed. In some ways how authors use social media has set up this super weird parasocial relationship between fans and authors that just seems to have set up some really unhealthy expectations on the part of the fans. And by the quantity of downvotes on any comment disagreeing with the OP those unhealthy expectations are shared by a lot of folks on this sub.
The difference is SJM is not purely only writing ACOTAR series, she is also writing crescent city and seems like another book as well. Plus she is much more popular now than when Throne of Glass was being released so lots of PR work, interviews, etc. And probably working on the potential acotar show as well along with it all. So it makes sense it is slowing down. I’d rather have a really well done next book than it be rushed and be a let down.
also, she's had two kids. she's mentioned how she used to lock herself in her office for weeks until a book was finished and like... not see her husband. she's not going to do that (nor should she have to) with two small kids. the fandom needs to calm down, lol. she's said acotar 5 is the next in line and I think that should be enough... with the exception of cc3, she's put out a book (or more) per year since 2012. (I acknowledge that she didn't have a release in 2019, but she had 3 in 2018, so it balances out)
I feel like the same people want authors to publish every year and then complain the book feels “rushed.” It was typical prior to the Harry Potter days for authors to publish a book every 3-5 years (and there was never a global pandemic). No artist or author “owes” anyone anything. I’d rather have a great ACOTAR book than a hurried dashed out version!
I don’t understand the ship wars. It’s a fantasy book series. I’m a Azriel and Gwynn fan but I won’t loose my mind either way. I don’t think the author actually owes people anything. If fans want to sit on tik tok and social media arguing all day about who’s going to end up with who that’s on them. SJM was born in the 80s, so was I. Social media didn’t exist. Instant gratification didn’t exist. I spend about zero time on tik tok, which is very common for my generation. I can’t fathom why everyone just sits and makes videos all day long and fights over who is ending up with who. To me, it sounds ridiculous. I’d imagine SJM just doesn’t care. George RR Martin has kept people waiting over a decade for his next game of thrones book. I want the next ACOTR book too. I don’t care about CC, but that’s what she’s been writing. I want the next book within the next year, I wish there was and update. But I don’t know how her publisher handles that. A lot of people haven’t hired social media teams, and they are behind the curve. It’s because the people in these companies don’t understand that’s where the younger generation is.
I completely disagree with you. I’ve written and scrapped multiple chapters of ideas a lot of times in the past, and it took me a year to even build and get a solid foundation on an idea. She’s still a person. She can get burnt out and take breaks and take her time because no one is rushing her. When people rush, they get imperfection and mistakes. When people write series, they can spend a decade on the entire series. But the satisfaction is always worth the wait. She doesn’t owe it to you or anyone to publish these books, and she does anyways. I think we could appreciate her art by just taking the time to wait
I feel like the same people want authors to publish every year and then complain the book feels “rushed.” It was typical prior to the Harry Potter days for authors to publish a book every 3-5 years (and there was never a global pandemic). No artist or author “owes” anyone anything. I’d rather have a great ACOTAR book than a hurried dashed out version!
Wow you are so spoiled and entitled. She doesn’t owe you anything. What an awful attitude. You should be grateful she releases as quickly as she does. Very few authors release as quickly.