"Fortunately, many people also enjoy a stand-alone as a sample of something new, like trying the special at a favourite restaurant one night instead of going for the usual"
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Stand-alones are pitched here as the literary equivalent of ordering off-menu: a little risky, potentially delightful, and crucially, not a lifelong commitment. Sarah Zettel’s comparison does quiet rhetorical work. It normalizes novelty by embedding it inside habit. You’re still at your favorite restaurant; you’re just letting the chef surprise you. For readers trained by franchise storytelling to treat new worlds as investments (Will this become a series? Will it “pay off”?), Zettel reframes the decision as low-stakes pleasure rather than strategic planning.
The word “Fortunately” tips her hand. She’s not merely observing a preference; she’s relieved, maybe even pushing back against an industry bias that treats stand-alone novels as commercially precarious. In publishing, series are predictable revenue machines and reader retention tools; stand-alones can look like one-and-done gambles. Zettel’s line smuggles in a defense: sampling is a legitimate mode of engagement, not a failure to commit or a sign of fickleness. The “special” isn’t second-tier; it’s where experimentation lives.
There’s also a subtle argument about taste. “The usual” suggests comfort and identity: what you order when you want to be yourself. Trying the special suggests a reader who’s curious without being disloyal. Zettel flatters that reader - not with grand claims about art, but with an everyday, recognizably modern consumer logic. It’s a savvy, craft-level appeal: stand-alones aren’t homework. They’re one good night out.
The word “Fortunately” tips her hand. She’s not merely observing a preference; she’s relieved, maybe even pushing back against an industry bias that treats stand-alone novels as commercially precarious. In publishing, series are predictable revenue machines and reader retention tools; stand-alones can look like one-and-done gambles. Zettel’s line smuggles in a defense: sampling is a legitimate mode of engagement, not a failure to commit or a sign of fickleness. The “special” isn’t second-tier; it’s where experimentation lives.
There’s also a subtle argument about taste. “The usual” suggests comfort and identity: what you order when you want to be yourself. Trying the special suggests a reader who’s curious without being disloyal. Zettel flatters that reader - not with grand claims about art, but with an everyday, recognizably modern consumer logic. It’s a savvy, craft-level appeal: stand-alones aren’t homework. They’re one good night out.
Quote Details
| Topic | Food |
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