Well, which is it? Good or bad?
That depends. Let me explain.
I wish you would.
Indeed.
As most of you know, Subterranean Press is set to publish the only hardcover edition of my
cross-genre anthology, At Home in the Dark. It’s limited to 500 signed and numbered copies, and for quite some time now it’s been sold out at the publisher, with all copies spoken for well in advance of the April 30 pub date.
I’d say that’s good news for you and Subterranean.
And for those of you who managed to pre-order from the publisher. If you didn’t, it’s bad news.
Aww, too bad. Still, it all seems simple enough…
You think? Here’s where it gets complicated. Amazon has never stopped offering the hardcover for sale. They’ve even been dropping the price of late, and the last I looked they had this $50 book on re-order for the low low price of $33.06.
That’s quite a bargain. What’s the catch?
The catch? They don’t have any books. I’m sure it’s an honest mistake on their part, and that they figure they’ll get their order in before the end of April and will thus be able to fill whatever orders they get. That usually works fine, but not with limited editions that the publisher is enjoined from reprinting. Now it’s possible Amazon may be able to round up some copies from distributors, but even that’s by no means a sure thing, and I can’t believe they’ll haul in enough copies that way to fill all the orders they’ve been getting.
So if I ordered a hardcover of AHITD from them—
You may get it. But there’s an awfully good chance that you won’t.
That doesn’t seem right.
No kidding. Bill Schafer at Subterranean finds the whole prospect very dismaying, and gave me the go-ahead to start selling the ebook and paperback editions right away, rather than hold back until the end of April.
You’re saying they’re available right now? The AHITD ebook and the paperback?
The ebook’s been available for pre-order for a while. What we’ve been able to do now is move up the release date from April 30 to March 19. If you already pre-ordered it, you don’t have to do a thing; it’ll be delivered to you on Tuesday, March 19. If you held off out of a reluctance to place an order ages ahead of time, you can order now—and get your ebook on Tuesday.
And the paperback?
Amazon doesn’t do pre-orders for POD paperbacks. So it’s live right now. All you have to do is order it.
Which will set me back—
$14.99. Or $9.99 for the ebook.
Suppose I pre-ordered the ebook from another platform? Nook, say. Or Kobo or Apple or Thalia or—
Just sit tight. I’ve been able to move up the release date on those platforms to March 20. If you’ve pre-ordered, that’s when you can expect delivery. If you haven’t ordered yet, now’s your chance.
And if I’ve ordered the hardcover from Amazon—
You may get it and you may not. Inquiries lead me to suspect that nobody at Amazon really knows. Perhaps you can obtain the information on your own. We couldn’t, and not for lack of trying.
There must be a lesson here.
I’d say so. When you want a limited edition, or indeed anything from a small-press publisher, you’re best advised to order it directly from the publisher. This may prevent you from getting the discount some platforms can offer, but it also saves you from getting shut out altogether.
And don’t start foaming at the mouth and demonizing Amazon. They didn’t knowingly do anything wrong here. The problem lies in the fact that a high-volume online bookseller like Amazon is not set up to handle limited editions and special printings. The answer, and it couldn’t be much clearer, is to order directly from the publisher.
Even then, as soon as you spot the diem, you’ve better carpe it. Limited editions sell out, oftentimes in a hurry. So here’s another piece of advice—whenever you find small-press publishers you’re fond of, get on their mailing list. (For Subterranean, email “Please put me on your mailing list” to info@subterraneanpress.com)
Um, other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how’s At Home in the Dark doing?
Ebook preorders have been strong. I’ve been running a 1000-word excerpt from each of the stories in turn every couple of days, with photos of the authors and their other works, and whatever else might whet readers’ appetites or increase their store of information. Here’s a link to the page where I’ve posted 15 previews to date, with Warren Moore and Duane Swierczynski soon to follow. And on the right-hand side of the page you’ll see how to subscribe to the blog and get posts of this sort in your email box.
So I could read a thousand words each of every story in the book. Isn’t that like having one bite from each of 17 desserts?
Would that be so terrible? But, due to the generous enthusiasm of Crime Fiction Lover, you can read one complete story right now. It’s free, it’s easy, and all it takes is one click and you’re good to go.
And I too am good to go, so—
Just like that? No books of your own to plug? No books by other authors to recommend? No overlooked prose masterpiece that changed your life?
Not just now. But you know what I will do? I’ll point whoever’s interested in the direction of a techno-triumph that has in fact changed my life, and very much for the better. Perhaps it will do the same for you, and perhaps it won’t. For in this instance I can’t think of a more apt phrase than Your Mileage May Vary…
