Very soon, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin will travel to the United Kingdom for a trip that is, as he puts it on his Not a Blog, "part business and part pleasure." He'll stop by the Worldcon convention in Glasgow, visit the set of Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and meet with his British publishers from Harper Collins Voyager while he's in London.
Whenever Martin mentions meeting with his publishers, fans think the same thing: does this mean that he's going to talk about The Winds of Winter, the long-in-coming sixth book in his Song of Ice and Fire saga? Might it even be close to done? IS AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FORTHCOMING?
The answer is no. Martin lamented that the last time he mentioned meeting with his British publishers, "the internet went nuts" with theories about the imminent arrival of The Winds of Winter, which fans have been waiting for since 2011. But that's not what's happening. "Making contacts… which often turn into friendships… is a huge part of publishing," Martin wrote. "Most of my communication with my editors and publishers is conducted via emails, phone calls, zooms, and texts (in the old days, we had letters written on paper too). There’s not a lot of face to face, especially when we’re talking about people who live across an ocean… so when I travel, if I have a day or two to catch up with one of my editors or agents, I jump on it."
"Every time I travel to NYC, I get together with my literary agents, and my editors at Bantam and Tor.. along with old friends, family, and the like. That’s true everywhere I go. If I fly to Germany for a con or book fair, I will see my German agents, publishers, and translators. If it’s Italy or Spain or Finland, same thing. If I ever find myself in Brazil or Japan or Egypt, I’d try and connect with my Brazilian or Japanese or Egyptian publishers. This is just the standard way of doing business, guys. It does NOT signify that some momentous announcement is at hand. It doesn’t signify anything, actually… except a desire to touch base, catch up, renew old contacts or make some new ones… and enjoy a nice meal. So calm down, please."
That's a lot of words to basically say that Martin meeting with his publishers is an example of him conducting ordinary business as an author, and not an indication that he's close to completing The Winds of Winter. "When WINDS OF WINTER is done, the word will not trickle out, there WILL be a big announcement," he wrote. "here and when I cannot say."
Fans are very accustomed at this point to hearing that Martin does not know or will not say anything about a potential completion date for The Winds of Winter. This is news that is no news. One day there will be news, but not today.
The 13-year-itch for The Winds of Winter is legendary at this point. To scratch it, consider watching the second season of House of the Dragon, based on Martin's book Fire & Blood. New episodes air Sunday nights on HBO and Max.
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