By Edward Nawotka

In today’s feature story Glenn Taylor writes about the various questions an author is confronted with on publishing a book. One of those questions is whether or not there really is a sophomore slump. It’s an important question, particularly for Taylor, who is facing pressure to deliver a follow-up to a debut that was unexpectedly shortlisted for the National Book Award.

Personally, I think that in many cases, the slump does exist. But is easily explained: An author will spend much of their young adult and adult life honing that first published novel, most likely with a number of false starts and/or inferior manuscripts sitting sitting in a drawer somewhere. The aggregate time, effort, and emotion that goes into that first novel far surpasses the one or two years they’re typically given to deliver a follow-up. It only makes sense that the second book may be somewhat anemic when compared with first and is entirely excusable. That said, it’s not a rule — there are plenty of great second novels, even ones that outdo the first — and Taylor’s firmly fits into that mold.

What do you think? Read the article and let us know in the comments.