Editing A Song of Ice and Fire (section)

===Fandom===
{{main|A Song of Ice and Fire fandom}}
{{Quote box | quote="After all, as some of you like to point out in your emails, I am sixty years old and fat, and you don't want me to 'pull a [[Robert Jordan]]' on you and deny you your book. Okay, I've got the message. You don't want me doing anything except ''A Song of Ice and Fire''. Ever. (Well, maybe it's okay if I take a leak once in a while?)"| source =—George R. R. Martin on his blog in 2009<ref name=grrm_blog_090219/> | width =250px | align =right}}

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Martin's novels had slowly earned him a reputation in science fiction circles,<ref name=nytimes_dreaming/> although he said to only have received a few fans' letters a year in the pre-internet days.<ref name=deepmagic41/> The publication of ''A Game of Thrones'' caused Martin's following to grow, with fan sites springing up and a [[Trekkie]]-like society of followers evolving that meet regularly.<ref name=nytimes_dreaming/> Westeros.org, one of the main ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' fansites with about seventeen thousand registered members {{as of|2011|lc=y}}, was co-founded in 1999 by a Swedish-based fan of Cuban descent, [[Elio M. García Jr. and Linda Antonsson|Elio M. García Jr., as well as Linda Antonsson]], who introduced him to the series; their involvement with Martin's work has now become semi-professional.<ref name=newyorker/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.westeros.org/About/|title=Westeros: About|website=www.westeros.org|access-date=2019-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421125809/https://www.westeros.org/About/|archive-date=April 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Brotherhood Without Banners, an unofficial fan club operating globally, was formed in 2001. Their founders and other longtime members are among Martin's good friends.<ref name=newyorker/>

Martin runs an official website<ref name=nytimes_vile_hobbits/> and administers a lively blog with the assistance of [[Ty Franck]].<ref name=newyorker/> He also interacts with fandom by answering emails and letters, although he stated in 2005 that their sheer numbers might leave them unanswered for years.<ref name=deepmagic41/> Since there are different types of conventions nowadays, he tends to go to three or four science-fiction conventions a year simply to go back to his roots and meet friends.<ref name=chictrib_daenerys/> He does not read message boards anymore, so that his writing will not be influenced by fans foreseeing twists and interpreting characters differently from what he intended.<ref name=chictrib_daenerys/>

While Martin calls the majority of his fans "great", and enjoys interacting with them,<ref name=grmm_iv_ew/> he lost some of them because of the six years it took to release ''A Dance with Dragons''.<ref name=newyorker/> A movement of disaffected fans called GRRuMblers formed in 2009, creating sites such as ''Finish the Book, George'' and ''Is Winter Coming?''<ref name=newyorker/><ref name=globeandmail/> When fans' vocal impatience for ''A Dance with Dragons'' peaked shortly after, Martin issued a statement called "To My Detractors"<ref name=grrm_blog_090219/> on his blog that received media attention.<ref name=newyorker/><ref name=guardian_getting_hooked/><ref name=guardian_exitement/> ''The New York Times'' noted that it was not uncommon for Martin to be mobbed at book signings.<ref name=nytimes_dreaming/> ''The New Yorker'' called this "an astonishing amount of effort to devote to denouncing the author of books one professes to love. Few contemporary authors can claim to have inspired such passion."<ref name=newyorker/>