Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: crushed
  • Music: No music right now.

An awkward situation, and a plea.

All right: here's the thing. Discount Armageddon is officially released March 6th. That's the date we've been talking about for months, that's the date you should be able to obtain the book, that's the date when sales begin counting against my first week numbers. Any books which escape into the wild before then count against my overall sales, but do not count for that all-important first week. Also, because I am number-based OCD, any books which escape into the wild before then make me feel sick, cry hysterically, and basically become non-functional with stress. It's THE BEST THING.

As of midnight Monday/the very beginning of Tuesday, Amazon has been shipping copies of Discount Armageddon. Consequentially, Barnes & Noble is doing the same thing. I haven't been saying anything because DAW is trying frantically to fix it, and I didn't want to drive sales to the sites which have chosen to release my book early. (I don't blame B&N for reacting when they saw that the book was on sale; they're a business, after all. But it's not helping my stress level any.) Please, please, do not buy my book early. I know it's hard. I know that the urge to have the shiny thing now is strong within us. I've ordered dolls from Japan and Australia, and DVD sets from Canada and the UK, for just this reason. But those things were legitimately released in the regions where I was ordering them, and Discount Armageddon has not been legitimately released anywhere at all. Please wait until March 6th. Don't punish independent bookstores, and local brick and mortar stores, for some computer's hard-to-fix mistake. Please. I am literally begging you here.

It doesn't help that so much of a book's success is measured by their first week. I've basically thrown up every time I thought about my week one numbers (including just now), because these early sales could mean the difference between a series and an accidental duology. It's unlikely—DAW is very loyal, and they stand by me—but it could happen, and I am very much worst-case-scenario girl when I'm this flipped out. So please. Do not buy early. Wait until March 6th.

And then there are the ebooks.

Both Amazon and B&N have put the physical edition of Discount Armageddon on sale, but are still holding the electronic edition for the actual release date. People who receive their physical books early are reaping the benefits of a fortuitous, author-breaking error. People who have to wait for their electronic books are not being denied anything; they're doing what was supposed to happen in the first place. This has not stopped the exciting emails from rolling in. They mostly stopped after the first day, but on that first day, I was called...

...a bitch.
...a whore.
...a cunt.
...stupid.
...greedy.
...ungrateful.
...narcissistic.

All of these were mix-and-match, with "greedy," "bitch," and "cunt" being the most popular. "Greedy bitch" was the most common, followed by "stupid bitch," "greedy cunt," and "stupid whore." One person kindly suggested that sexual violence would be the appropriate response to my forcing Amazon to withhold ebooks. Another offered to slap the stupid out of me. And several stated that they would now be pirating all my books, because I had given up my right to their money (I had a right to their money?).

See, apparently, the ebooks are being withheld because I, personally, am trying to force everyone to buy my preferred format (physical). So sexual threats and relentless abuse are totally acceptable, because it just shows me the error of my ways.

I have nothing to do with the books being available early. I wish they weren't.

I have no control over whether the electronic editions are available early. I'm glad they're not, but it's not because I'm a greedy bitch; it's because I don't want any editions available early.

I am literally sick with stress, and this is not in any way helping. Please, don't buy my books before their actual release date. Please, don't place an order with a site which is offering my books before their actual release date. Please, don't call me horrible names because you can't have what you want the second that you want it.

Please.

(Because it must be said...comment amnesty. I'm already crying hard enough.)
Tags: cranky blonde is cranky, discount armageddon, freaking out, grief, hysteria, shameless plea, technology, things go boom, utterly exhausted
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  • 743 comments

evaleastaristev

February 23 2012, 20:02:09 UTC 5 years ago

It's not often I see red for someone who's not my close friend. But I'm seeing it now that I read what people have been saying to you. Please, don't ever tell me who they are. I might end up in prison.

tiferet

February 23 2012, 20:15:31 UTC 5 years ago

I actually do want to know who these people are, because it disturbs the fuck out of me to think that I might ever acknowledge their existence politely, or even offer them a kind word or a favour, simply because I have no idea who they are and they happen to be at a con that I'm at. The cops are legitimately often too busy to deal with people who are statistically highly unlikely to make good on threats of this nature (nobody who hasn't got the patience to wait 2 weeks for an ebook is going to be planning a crime and succeed) but honestly, I think a good old-fashioned shunning by the entirety of fandom would be thoroughly justified.

mephron

February 23 2012, 20:55:05 UTC 5 years ago

As the old curse goes, these are people I want to know of, so I know that if I found them dying of thirst in the desert, I would not spit on them, for that bit of moisture might give them the strength to crawl to water.

tiferet

February 23 2012, 21:06:55 UTC 5 years ago

Basically.

phoenixdreaming

February 23 2012, 22:39:58 UTC 5 years ago

yes, this.