When Art Becomes Obligation: How the Publishing Machine is Failing Our Favourite Authors

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab was one of my most anticipated reads this year—and it ended up being one of the biggest disappointments.

This isn’t a gleeful takedown. Quite the opposite: it’s a heartbreak.

Schwab has long been an auto-buy author for me. Her talent is undeniable. Books like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Vicious are brilliant—layered, lyrical, imaginative. But with Bury Our Bones, something felt... off. The story was slow, meandering. The plot barely existed. The characters were hollow. And the writing, which once felt fresh and meaningful, read like recycled echoes of her past work.

It didn’t feel like Schwab’s voice was missing. It felt like her energy was gone.

And that’s when I started to wonder: maybe the problem isn’t just this book. Maybe it’s the system around it.

The Publishing Hamster Wheel

We don’t talk enough about how the publishing industry demands output from authors as if they were content machines. Annual releases. Prequels. Bonus novellas. Marketing tie-ins. Audiobook exclusives. Author tours. Newsletters. Social media presence. Writing retreats that are really PR marathons.

The expectation? Always be working. Always be visible. Always be selling.

It’s no wonder that even the most brilliant writers start to sound tired.

V.E. Schwab isn’t the first and won’t be the last to put out a book that feels like a ghost of their earlier work. And I don’t believe it’s a lack of talent or passion. I believe it’s burnout dressed up in beautiful prose.

The Cost of Constant Creation

When an author becomes a brand—an “auto-buy”—publishers see dollar signs. Suddenly, it’s not about whether the story needs to be told. It’s about whether it needs to hit shelves in Q4. Readers aren’t just audiences anymore—they’re consumers being fed a release schedule.

What happens when the creative well runs dry? Authors are pushed to keep digging anyway. And what we get is stories that meander, characters that don’t connect, and writing that feels hollow no matter how pretty it sounds.

Let Authors Breathe

This post isn’t a call to cancel or criticise Schwab. It’s a call to protect her. To protect all authors. We have to rethink how we engage with art and creativity.

Not every year needs a new book. Not every book needs a tour. And not every beloved author needs to deliver their next masterpiece on a deadline.

Let them rest. Let them live. Let them find their inspiration again.

And maybe then, the stories we love will feel full of life once more.