8 things you can do to help.: seanan

8 things you can do to help.

Around this time in the release cycle, I get lots of people asking me what they can do to help. This is because people are awesome sometimes. So here is a handy list for day eight of our pre-release countdown, telling you what you can do to make the release of A Local Habitation as good as a book release gets.

8 Things You Can Do To Help.

8. Post book reviews. Your blog, Goodreads, Amazon, wherever. (Don't post them in the comments of someone else's blog unless they've asked you for book recommendations. That's rude, and may have the opposite of the desired effect. But other than that...) Book reviews give people an idea of a thing, and can tell them whether it's something they want to read.

7. Check with your local library to be sure they have a copy of A Local Habitation on order and, if they don't, fill out a library request form. Spread the paperback love!

6. While we're on the subject of libraries, remember that many libraries, especially on the high school level, are really strapped for cash right now, and that book donations are frequently tax deductible. If you have a few bucks to spare, you can improve the world on multiple levels by donating books to your local public and high school libraries.

5. Do not expect immediate email response from me for anything short of "you promised us this interview, it runs tomorrow, where are your answers?" I normally make an effort to be a semi-competent correspondent, but with the book dropping in eight days, I've hit the stage where I flail around and scream "ICE WORMS!" a lot, which doesn't help me answer email.

4. Do not email me my Amazon reviews. I don't read them, I don't want to read them, and I really, really don't want them ambushing me in my inbox. Please show mercy, and don't share.

3. Please don't ask me when book three is coming out. I may cry (also, the answer is "September").

2. When you visit a bookstore and discover that they don't have any copies in stock/on order, don't be unpleasant. Just politely suggest that it may be something they'd want to carry. Unless they're, like, a non-fiction bookstore specializing in travel books. In that case, don't.

1. Buy the book. Brick-and-mortar store purchases are best, as they encourage reordering. After that, Amazon or mail order purchases, and after that, e-book purchases (which do not count the same way against my sell-through). If you've already bought the book, consider buying the book again, as a single copy might get lonely. They make great gifts!

bercilakslady

February 22 2010, 16:22:10 UTC 7 years ago

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I didn't know that about ebook purchases. Good to know.

Good luck with the awesome and crazy.

seanan_mcguire

February 23 2010, 19:54:28 UTC 7 years ago

Thanks, darlin'.

autographedcat

February 22 2010, 16:22:34 UTC 7 years ago

Unless they're, like, a non-fiction bookstore specializing in travel books. In that case, don't.

Until San Francisco on $50 a Daye, the travel guide which recommends you give Toby $50 and she shows you around the city, comes out.

(No one is entirely sure what the authors of this guide are up to, or why they seem terribly interested in getting you killed, but these are mysteries for another venue.)

trektone

February 22 2010, 18:57:26 UTC 7 years ago

This! This!

A short story or a chapbook or something. In one's spare time, of course.

7 years ago

February 23 2010, 19:54:42 UTC 7 years ago

...wow.

She would HURT somebody.

dornbeast

Deleted comment

February 24 2010, 15:32:23 UTC 7 years ago

The best way would be to contact me, and hash out when I might be/could be back up in the area. I'm always happy to have an excuse to go to Seattle.

swevene

February 22 2010, 16:43:03 UTC 7 years ago

I am SO EXCITED. *bouncebounce* My fingers are itching for the book already.

February 24 2010, 15:33:33 UTC 7 years ago

Glee!

tikiera

February 22 2010, 16:54:51 UTC 7 years ago

Ah, will be buying it first in e-book then, but instead of waiting to get in hard format during a random 'by all that is green and growing I am in actual bookstore event', I will have to seek out this illusive beast and buy a copy there.

Tomorrow I preorder! Tomorrow I preorder!

March 2 is the day that far, far too many good books come out, but at least I know what I will be ready as I take the bus that morning. Toby and I will both have not had enough sleep.

February 24 2010, 15:33:48 UTC 7 years ago

Awesome. Thank you!

janetmiles

February 22 2010, 17:28:50 UTC 7 years ago

Just so you know, I got a lovely email from Borders Books this morning reminding me that I bought _Rosemary and Rue_ and might be interested in _A Local Habitation_, available March 2.

dimloep_suum

February 22 2010, 18:33:45 UTC 7 years ago

I came over here to post that same thing. *bounces* Cannot wait.

February 24 2010, 15:33:57 UTC 7 years ago

That's so cool.

tsgeisel

February 22 2010, 20:23:31 UTC 7 years ago

Does it matter which brick-and-mortar store I buy it from? B&N versus my local independent bookseller?

dormouse_in_tea

February 23 2010, 02:31:24 UTC 7 years ago

In terms of 'the publisher knowing people LIKE this stuff' and selling through her advance, a sale is a sale is a sale. Bookstore sales are awesome because books selling encourage the store to reorder, and possibly order enough for a display, or maybe start specifically recommending it, all the lovely things bookstore employees can do to make author's lives so grand.

That said, it's always fabulous to support your local independent, as long as you don't have to make your way in a solitary kayak through iceberg infested frozen coastal waters to get to it. In that case, we'd all totally understand if you hit the chain instead. :P

February 24 2010, 15:34:28 UTC 7 years ago

Not specifically, no, and your local independent is likely to need your immediate business more.

gorgeousgary

February 23 2010, 00:20:04 UTC 7 years ago

What about buying from new-book dealers at cons? Since they presumably reorder as well, I figure that's equivalent to an independent brick-and-mortar bookseller.

February 24 2010, 15:34:37 UTC 7 years ago

That's good, too.

rhoda_rants

February 23 2010, 04:11:04 UTC 7 years ago

I'll be all over 7 and 2, ma'am. *salutes*

(And 1, of course. I kinda figured that's a given 'round here.)

February 24 2010, 15:34:58 UTC 7 years ago

Yay!

Some options

allaboutm_e

February 23 2010, 15:26:02 UTC 7 years ago

http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780756405960

http://www.mystgalaxy.com/event/new-books-sale

Re: Some options

February 24 2010, 15:35:06 UTC 7 years ago

Very cool, thank you.

alicetheowl

February 24 2010, 06:09:13 UTC 7 years ago

On point #6: When the last Harry Potter book came out, my husband and I wanted to read it at the same time. So, we bought two copies, so we wouldn't fight over it. The first of us to finish (turned out to be him, but he cheated by not sleeping) donated his book to the library.

I thought the librarian's eyes were going to fall out of her head. "You're GIVING it to us? Have you any idea how long the waiting list is for this book?"

So, if you want to pass books on to where you know they'll be loved, you could do worse than bringing them to the library. I should really drop off more new releases as donations.

February 24 2010, 15:35:15 UTC 7 years ago

See, that's fantastic.

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