A popular pet peeve when reading is the insertion of the author’s voice within a book (particularly in immersive fiction). It’s jarring when the story feels put on pause so the author can make a comment to me the reader. Something similar that I also find irritating is hearing a publicists voice within a book. I find it even more frustrating than an author’s voice because at least the author is being themselves. When a publicist steps in it usually detract from the story because whole sections are added in order to pander to the market, not the artistic vision of the author.
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A book may start into a detour that seems unrelated to the rest of the story, and as I keep reading it becomes more apparent that a publicist stepped in and said “the book will be more likable if you do X” “The book will sell more copies if you do Y” “Z is very popular right now, add it in”. The author, understandably wanting their book to succeed, then awkwardly adds in a section to meet the publicist’s criteria. This usually messes with the pacing of the book and pulls me out of the story.
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A good example of this is the ending of Leigh Bardugo’s *Six of Crows.* The plot itself had resolved nicely and the story was wrapped up with a neat bow… except there is another chapter? The last part felt like I was reading the next novel in the series- probably because it was. It’s pretty easy to image that a publicist got antsy and wanted Bardugo to end the book on a cliffhanger to increase interest in a sequel. Her first trilogy (Shadow and Bone) had just ended a year prior, so it was important time to solidify Bardugo’s name with the populous. It makes sense from a business stand point to add the cliffhanger, but I didn’t like the decision as it muddled the otherwise great experience of finishing the book.
by mattie_hayes