Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

  • Mood:
  • Music:

A few quick followup comments.

Pre-ordering books.

I've seen some people going "Oh, no, I pre-ordered! I'm sorry!" and variants on this theme. I want to state, for the record, that pre-orders are awesome. Pre-orders are the rainbow sprinkles on the delicious sundae of a new book: not always necessary, but always an improvement. Pre-orders tell bookstores that there is a demand for something, and can increase initial on-shelf orders. They also tell publishers how many copies of a physical book are likely to be needed. Pre-orders rule.

The issue here is not pre-orders: it's that some retailers started releasing books early. Normally, your pre-orders do count against week one sales, because normally, that's when the pre-orders are charged and delivered. In this case, due to no fault of my publisher or anyone who ordered a copy ahead of release, those pre-orders will be counted two weeks ahead of week one. My sales for week -2 are going to be awesome!

Calculating bestseller lists.

I want to say this plainly: all sales count. Period. If you buy a book, your sale is counted. That said, not all sales count for purposes of making bestseller lists, because those lists are snapshots of certain measures of time. In the case of the NYT list, it's calculated on a weekly basis, and a new book's best shot (not only, but best) of making the list is week one, when all the pre-orders are delivered and all the bookstores have the book on their "new releases" shelf.

Not making this list doesn't mean your book is a failure. I'm pretty sure Feed is my best, steadiest selling book, but it didn't make the NYT. It's simply continued to sell, week after week, and that demonstrates good long-term health for both book and author. But that's long-term. In the short-term, making the list is a good way for publishers to know that they have something worth holding onto. That's why authors hope to make it; because they want that position of "see? People like me" to support them when they try to sell the sequel.

Early sales are still counted against your overall "my book sold this many copies." They just don't count against snapshots of release week.

My publisher is awesome.

My publisher rules. They did not release my book early; some online retailers did that. They are not dropping me if I don't make any bestseller lists; they've already bought the second InCryptid book, and the next two Toby books. I worry about my sales partially because I want my publisher to be happy with me, and partially because I want to be able to sell them the next three books in both my series, but also because I love them and want them to benefit from everything they've done for me.

To recap: DAW rules, DAW did nothing wrong, DAW is standing with me, DAW is very annoyed about people calling me names.

You are awesome.

All the support and kind words have been just amazing. Thank you so, so much. I really appreciate it.

I feel a little better because you're here.
Tags: a few facts, busy busy busy, discount armageddon, gratitude, incryptid, publishing news, state of the blonde
  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

  • 100 comments
Previous
← Ctrl ← Alt
Next
Ctrl → Alt →
Yay for Seanan feeling better!

I've already stopped buying anything at all from Amazon, but this discussion has led to me realizing that, while I don't have ALL the money, I can at least afford to buy the books of my three favourite writers (one of whom is you) from my local indie bricks & mortar.

(For anyone who's looking for one in Canada that also ships, this is Collected Works, in Ottawa).
That is awesome.

Thank you.

dewline

5 years ago

*hugs* You are handling this mess with real grace and style.

I'll be buying my copy fropm my local indie bookstore when it comes out. That way I get the bonus of flirting with the cute guy behind the counter.

Hey, a girl's gotta have hobbies.
Dude, your hobbies rule.

mac_arthur_park

5 years ago

Deleted comment

Seconding this.

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

how do your non-US sales figure into all this? presumably they count towards overall sales but not to US bestseller lists?
Pretty much. So order through whatever channels you can. <3
Okay. I will still be getting my copy in the specified week so as to help push it toward the bestseller lists. But it's good to know the other stuff.
Awesome, and thank you.
Awwwww

I'm glad DAW appreciates what they have.
(Am I weird to imagine them as a company run by giant crows?)

If DAW is run by giant crows, that gives a whole new meaning to the "Counting Crows" song...

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

I just read all this. I am so sorry that people took it out on you that they couldn't have what they wanted the instant they wanted it. None of it was under your control. And even if it had been, no one has any excuse for calling you horrible names for not giving them something they wanted. They should have learned that in the candy aisle at age three. Want isn't need. Hurting someone for what you want is beyond not okay. I'm really sorry some folks decided to behave this way.
Thank you.
I'm glad you're feeling better. I know how much the name-calling from the faceless internet hordes sucks.

I'm getting my copy from a locally owned brick and mortar, on the sixth. I think they know by now that they need to have your books ready, I'm usually just the first in a mad dash around here.
Thank you.
So many hugs, and ideally so many sales on March 6. :D
I hope so, sweetie.
DAW hang the moon. I'm so glad this is now somewhat resolved.
DAW definitely did.
Glad you are doing better. Hugs for you and skritches for the cats. I realize that saying something bad about idiot internet trolls may be doing a disservice to all other species of trolls but "idiot internet trolls!!!! Please do not take them to heart".

I am one who pre-ordered on-line. I should make sure in future I order from someone like Uncle Hugo's but didn't this time. Actually visiting a bricks & mortar store isn't physically possible at this time.
I completely understand. Some people are not in the position to swan down to their local store, and I hate that the online retailers made this uncomfortable. :( I'm sorry.
Because of this whole situation I ordered a physical copy from my dad's bookstore, instead of just getting it on my Kindle like I was planning. And I made sure that he understood that it wasn't to count until 3/6. :)

He said that Amazon does this all the time, but that doesn't make it right.

The only author I have ever heard of that had a HARD street date was Rowling....maaaaybe King. And that is 15+ years of working in dad's independent store and other chain bookstores.

What I learned from this is that even though bookstores put books out before street date all the time, I had no idea it didn't count for that all important first week NYT list sales. :(

I am hoping that maybe this will put you on that list yet again! :)
Thank you.
I'm glad you're feeling better! I was having a bit of a day myself yesterday so I didn't comment but I was appalled anyone thought it could ever be your fault that something like this happened. Mine didn't ship but I was going to make a point of buying another at the local brick and mortar store to give away if my preorder had.
Thank you.
I'm so glad you're feeling better. I just read yesterday's post a little bit ago, and since I'd also pre-ordered the book, I was feeling kinda bummed about it. But as long as you're doing okay, I'm happy.

Manymuch hugs and chocolate to you. The kind of abuse you received over the e-book stuff is completely unacceptable. I will now growl cutely at them.
Yay, cute growling!

Deleted comment

Thank you.
Amazon seems to have become very arbitrary about how they handle pre-orders and release dates these days. I had just the opposite problem with a book that was released this past Tuesday. I pre-ordered the book at the very beginning of December and they didn't ship it until Thursday - TWO DAYS AFTER the release date. You would think with over two and a half months notice they could send it out on time.

Hugs and hoping to meet you at Chicon - stop by the art show and say Hi (I doubt I'll get out of there much since I'm running it.)
I should definitely swing through.
I think this has made my decision that I'll only do in-store reserves from now on, no online preorders.

It still really really disturbs me that online retailers are actually allowed to do this. :(
I gather it's not "allowed" so much as "it's a slap on the wrist" if they ignore the street date. (I also recall that one or both of the big chains would do this as well, with physical books; what were publishers gonna do when a Big Chain, a huge part of their market, jumped the gun? Not ship them any more books?)

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

Deleted comment

Thank you!
Thanks for reminding me that I wanted to call Borderlands and order a copy. Not that I WOULD HAVE FORGOTTEN LONG TERM BUT I'm baking dessert for 200 todau (breast cancer fundraising dinner tomorrow) and I'm kinda busy :)
Thank you!
*squishes*

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better. I hope all of this gets sorted out to your satisfaction.

I'd actually like to thank you for reporting all of this - to see how stressing this situation is for you is just very eye-opening for the struggles an author has to go through to see her books published and thriving. I think you're handling it really well and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.
Thank you!
You deserve to be on the NYT Bestsellers list! I noticed yesterday that Amazon had the books for sale and all I could think was....that can't be right...since I have been paying attention to you saying the release date was March 6th for awhile now and even though I kept double checking b/c I want the book so bad, I have been patiently awaiting that date. So, I am going to run out on March 6th and buy a copy for me and I believe a few more copies for people I know who will enjoy your work and also make sure I spread the word. You are one of the few authors that I actually write in my planner the release dates for your books, so keep up the good work!!!
Thank you so much.
Hang in there! I really glad that Daw appreciates you as well as most of your readers.
DAW is wonderful.
Hi, I came here from Elizabeth Moon's LJ post.

I just wanted to add my little voice to all the ones telling you how shocked I was at the emails you received. I'm glad you're feeling better today and I can only try to imagine how you felt when those emails came in.

I believe that being a good and decent person means that I must speak up when something like this happens so that my voice can be heard in protest. Too many voices don't cry out so that type of abuse continues. Depending on your email service provider, you might be about to block and even report the abusive emails, especially any that include the threat of physical violence.

Unfortunately, money is very tight for me so you'll be added to the list of authors I want to read when I can get books again. I'm very sorry that you are going through this and hope your future works sell well.
Thank you. The community support has been amazing.
I'm going to have a review up for the ARC this weekend, and I'll be buying some extra copies of Discount Armageddon (and one or more Rosemary and Rue) for a random giveaway. Because I can afford to, dammit, and I want more people reading your books so I can squee with them.
Yay!
All the support and kind words have been just amazing. Thank you so, so much. I really appreciate it.

I feel a little better because you're here.

That's what friends are for eh?
True. :)
Previous
← Ctrl ← Alt
Next
Ctrl → Alt →