I just got home after a week of visiting family in Sacramento. A week of fun-filled family, shopping, and most importantly…searching high and low for Acheron by SK. My husband was thrilled when I insisted on stopping at every single Wal-Mart we passed. And let me tell you, we passed many. Unfortunately, no luck. That got me to thinking about buying books before their release date.
A couple years ago I was in Chicago where Judith McNaught was celebrating the release of Every Breath You Take (the special edition). She talked about what happens when readers pre-order books and buy books before their “official” release date. Ever since then, if I find a book early, I buy a second copy after the release date. I’ve done this with Nalini Singh, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Brenda Novak. That’s just a few. So if I do find Acheron when I go searching Boise tomorrow, I’ll also buy a copy after August 5th. As a reader, it’s important to me that I support the authors that I like. At the same time, I won’t pass buying a book early if it’s on the shelf. By buying two copies, I feel like I’m making myself happy while still supporting the author.
What about you? Do you ever buy books early? Do you specifically look for them before their release date?
I buy as early as I can for the books I have on special order (i.e. my auto-buys). I like feeling smug, particularly about Acheron. *g* Mostly, I’m just impatient. I don’t buy a second copy, and particularly not when I’ve had to buy a hardcover book just to be one of the first to read it.
I do look for books before their release date but I put them on my wishlist and order them once they’ve been released. The only exception to this was Harry Potter.
I always look for my fave’s early..always. And I’m always uber excited when I find them, too.
But..I don’t buy a copy after the release date if I find it early. Sorry, but..no.
Alas, I cannot afford to buy two copies of pretty much any book, so I wait until release date.
Now that I know how the first week’s sales numbers affect an author’s career…
I generally wait till release date to buy the books on my list. If I happen to see them early, I’ll buy them. HOWEVER… just recently I went out intentionally to buy Patricia Briggs’ latest, Cry Wolf early, but couldn’t find it anywhere. Even had my husband scouring the bookstores on his way home from work. I was very sad, and slightly obsessed with getting my hands on it. In the end, I got it two days after release day. But it was worth the wait. I just finished it today and loved it!
I used to, then I found out that if a company sells it before the official release date they can get in major trouble and not be able to sell books from that publisher anymore.
Now I hit the bookstore teh day it comes out.
Yes, I do.. but I usually rely on the store indicator on their website. Rarely go to Wal-mart or other stores like that…
Well, if I find a book early, yeah I’m buying it…and I don’t buy a second copy. Do I search for books early -no, mostly because the stores around me are mean and never have anything out early. They barely manage to have stuff shelved on the day of release.
Is pre-ordering a bad thing? Does it mess up the list situation?
If I’m at Borders or Barnes & Noble and I happen to see that one of the books I want is out early, I usually go ahead and buy it. Borders rarely has them out more than a couple of days in advance, but B&N often jumps the gun by a week or more.
That said, I rarely buy brand new books. I have so many TBR books that I usually have no problem waiting a few weeks (or months) for a book.
I always wait, I know that if I buy early it effects the authors numbers & I don’t want to be the reason they don’t make it on a list like the New York Times Bestseller list.