The Adversary, Amazon, and You
At the moment, we have a problem, dear readers.
A distribution issue has left Amazon without any stock of The Adversary hardcover. If you pre-ordered from them, you have likely gotten an email by now informing you it will be 3-5 weeks before you receive your books. If you were planning to order this week, you will find that the current estimate for delivery is the same. You cannot order a copy from Amazon at this moment, and get it by Christmas.
This, in a word, sucks.
Right now, those pre-orders that you so thoughtfully made, don’t count as sales. Assuming that Amazon is unable to remedy the situation post-haste, they won’t count as sales for some time. And while first and foremost I want to tell a good story and make readers happy, I also need to get paid so I can justify doing. it instead of taking editorial clients, doing office work, or selling my Scribe Award to the highest bidder.
First week sales mean a lot. They decide whether my publisher sees my book as a success or a flop. They can make another publisher decide whether they want to buy a book from me or not. And right now, a big chunk of my book’s first week sales are tied up in a distribution snafu.
Equally important: Your books are tied up in a distribution snafu.
So for both of us, here are some options:
1. You can wait for your pre-order. Inertia is a powerful force, and there remains the possibility this gets fixed fast.
2. You can cancel your pre-order and order instead from another site, such as barnesandnoble.com. You will get it faster than Amazon. You will also be supporting a book store who has been very enthusiastic about The Adversary!
3. You can cancel and go to a brick-and-mortar store near you. Even better, if you’re Seattle local, come to University Book Store on December 9th and get your copy SIGNED.
4. You can cancel and purchase a book through the slushlush.com esigning. I have a limited number of books, but I’m not out yet! (EDIT: Due to rising demand, I’ve expedited two more cases. All orders will go out Monday, December 9th!)
Obviously, this does this impact the Kindle edition, right? Also–early sales of Kindle editions does count towards your total, right?
More importantly, you going to be doing Authorgraph for this book?
Looking foreword to the Good Reads discussion of this!
It does not impact the Kindle edition OR the Audible audiobook. Both are still available and count toward first week sales.
And yes! Thanks for reminding me I need to add it.
So Erin, I just bought your new book. Then I read on Candlekeep that your first two Brimstone Angel’s Books are most excellent. I bought all three on Audible. Couldn’t put any of them down. (as in put my phone down.) These are great! GREAT!
Its disgusting how the kindle book is almost as expensive as the hardcover edition on amazon. The paperback even costs less than the kindle version. Its either you or amazon that are the money grubbing people that feels its ok to charge a person $15 dollars for a DIGITAL data book that doesnt need to go through nearly as many steps as what producing an paper book does. Thanks to the extremely high price of the kindle version I have decided to boycott this book. I own every other Forgotten realms novel but I wont tolerate paying a hardcover price for a book in cyberspace that doesnt even come with a back cover to read.
You have the right, of course, to spend your money as you wish. I hope you reconsider. Sometimes Amazon will drop the price at their discretion. Perhaps this is how you came to read the other Sundering novels? I would also add:
1) Since I am neither the one who sets the MSRP, nor the one who decides what Amazon will be selling their books at, your ire and your insults are misplaced. The only authors who decide how much their books will sell for are those who self-publish, and even then Amazon decides what they will sell the Kindle version for, as all vendors do.
2) This book has exactly the same pricing model as ever other ebook WotC has produced since they started doing so. Namely, the MSRP is the same as the least expensive print version of the book, and Amazon usually cuts that by a percentage. If you wait for the mass market paperback to release, the price will drop. So if you have purchased every other FR book in the Kindle version (or purchased even one), I am sorry to tell you that you have already fed this beast.
3) The back cover of this book is an excerpt from the book. So you’re not missing anything.
Many people are also misinformed as to the steps an ebook has to go through. A quick google leads to this article which explains why ink, paper, and warehouses don’t actually add that much to the cost of a book, as well as how views that ebooks are somehow less valuable affect publishing models.
Lastly, if you are the same felow who left the one-star review on the Adversary’s page, I would point out Amazon doesn’t read those. They will not get any message you are trying to send.
Happy holidays.
Any deals for additional Brimstone Angels books yet :)?
Yes! I am currently working on FIRE IN THE BLOOD, which comes out September 2014. I also have two other books contracted for 2015 and 2016.