This morning I happened across a book review of The Martian by Andy Weir. (I won’t go into a synopsis here. You’ll understand why in a moment.)
The review seemed interesting and I Amazoned the book’s listing page and saw No Price Available. After a little research I discovered Mr. Weir had sold some publishing rights to Random House. Don’t know which rights, don’t care. Still, I hope Andy got a
really good deal because everyone knows all the big, New Yawk City publishing houses are run by…well, never mind.
The review listed the eBook originally priced at $.99. I don’t care about that, either. If a Kindle eBook is under five bucks I’m okay with it. But, I’ll be curious to see The Martian eBook price once pricing is under the control of Random House. I’m a betting man – I’ll wager $9.99 Kindle, $8.99 paperback.
Whenever the paperback comes out, of course.
Because Random House is releasing a hardcover first. That’s no big deal.
In February 2014. Now it’s a big deal.
I want to read The Martian now. Not in February. But I can’t unless I pirate it. (I’m not interested in the aubiobook format still available on Amazon.)
This reminds me of J.A. Konrath, a thriller, horror writer I like who blogs about writing and publishing. Konrath says this about
pirating, and I paraphrase. Make your books easy and cheap enough to purchase and you won’t have to worry about piracy.
And even if they do pirate you, so what? That just means more sales down the road sparked by pirates telling everyone about
your great book. And don’t worry, it’s not pirates all the way down.
So, Random House has not made it difficult to purchase The Martian. They’ve made it impossible. Until next February.
And who knows when they’ll finally release it in paperback?
Here’s my point. Andy Weir wrote a popular book that was selling well enough to pique the interest of a major publisher. And
Random House can’t figure out how to strike while the iron is hot.
But don’t fret, Andy. I’m not interested in pirating The Martian. Actually, I’m not interested at all, anymore. I don’t have time to wait. I mean, really, can you imagine how much new Konrath stuff I’ll have to read by next freakin’ February?
Now, I wish Andy Weir all the success in the world. I really do. I want writers to win this publishing game. And honestly, neither Andy, nor Random House, will miss my single purchase of The Martian.
It just pissed me off because I want it all. And I want it now. That’s the whole point of Kindle. I get it now. And if you can’t give it to me now, another writer will.
And even if all the other writers were kidnapped by space aliens and couldn’t write new stuff, well, you should see their backlists.
- Chester
The review seemed interesting and I Amazoned the book’s listing page and saw No Price Available. After a little research I discovered Mr. Weir had sold some publishing rights to Random House. Don’t know which rights, don’t care. Still, I hope Andy got a
really good deal because everyone knows all the big, New Yawk City publishing houses are run by…well, never mind.
The review listed the eBook originally priced at $.99. I don’t care about that, either. If a Kindle eBook is under five bucks I’m okay with it. But, I’ll be curious to see The Martian eBook price once pricing is under the control of Random House. I’m a betting man – I’ll wager $9.99 Kindle, $8.99 paperback.
Whenever the paperback comes out, of course.
Because Random House is releasing a hardcover first. That’s no big deal.
In February 2014. Now it’s a big deal.
I want to read The Martian now. Not in February. But I can’t unless I pirate it. (I’m not interested in the aubiobook format still available on Amazon.)
This reminds me of J.A. Konrath, a thriller, horror writer I like who blogs about writing and publishing. Konrath says this about
pirating, and I paraphrase. Make your books easy and cheap enough to purchase and you won’t have to worry about piracy.
And even if they do pirate you, so what? That just means more sales down the road sparked by pirates telling everyone about
your great book. And don’t worry, it’s not pirates all the way down.
So, Random House has not made it difficult to purchase The Martian. They’ve made it impossible. Until next February.
And who knows when they’ll finally release it in paperback?
Here’s my point. Andy Weir wrote a popular book that was selling well enough to pique the interest of a major publisher. And
Random House can’t figure out how to strike while the iron is hot.
But don’t fret, Andy. I’m not interested in pirating The Martian. Actually, I’m not interested at all, anymore. I don’t have time to wait. I mean, really, can you imagine how much new Konrath stuff I’ll have to read by next freakin’ February?
Now, I wish Andy Weir all the success in the world. I really do. I want writers to win this publishing game. And honestly, neither Andy, nor Random House, will miss my single purchase of The Martian.
It just pissed me off because I want it all. And I want it now. That’s the whole point of Kindle. I get it now. And if you can’t give it to me now, another writer will.
And even if all the other writers were kidnapped by space aliens and couldn’t write new stuff, well, you should see their backlists.
- Chester
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