Here is my new benchmark:

Does the author seem to take their authoring seriously? Do they seem dedicated to finishing their series?

Yes to both example:the king of serious authoring, Brandon Sanderson. At any point one can look at his website and see exactly where he is at with multiple series. He also does a lot of conventions and Facebook chats and other social media moments.

Yes to the first/no to the second: GRRM. He does enjoy writing in general and loves to shore up his main magnum opus with side stories to flesh out the world. However, I think a combination of being too much of a Gardener and the show having an ending has killed his ability to finish the series.

No to both: Rothfuss. Not only has he scammed with his charity but he seems no closer to doing anything. Lol.