#i'd be screwed bc i'm a pantser

[emmashouldbewriting]

Possibly morbid question to ask but if an author who has a big selling series story passes before it's finished would the publishing company drop it or can they have someone finish it off?

And in case anyone wonders why I'm asking it's because even if George R R Martin lives for another 20 years I'm doubtful that we'll ever get the last two books for a song of fire and ice but as someone with OCD I would really like to finish the story before I die.

Of course if he finishes Words of Winter and A Dream of Spring I'd rather read it knowing he fully wrote it but if he's not inspired to finish it then I'd take anything to get the book series finished 😂

ummmm lol

it would likely depend on the circumstances? it's not uncommon for a written book to be published posthomously - or if one is largely written and there's a lot of plotting, it can be finished off by a friend/family member in collaboration with the editing team. I doubt an entire series would be finished. part of what makes us unique as writers is our voice, and replicating that is so hard. there's also the point that copyright passes to next of kin and they would then have to okay it.

one of my friends passed a couple of years ago unexpectedly and she had a finished book she hadn't published, and the community fundraised so her husband could publish it in her memory.

in the case of GRRM something would probably be finished, he likely has extensive notes detailing his plans even if the book itself isn't written, but there's also the "bonus" of there being a material to pull a conclusion from in the TV show. i'm pretty sure he's said that's not his ending, which means he knows how it all ends.