Monday, July 12, 2021

Guest Blogger: Musings on Preorders

 
Today I'm welcoming to the blog my sister, Michele!  Many of our conversations revolve around books and we recently had a discussion about preorders - personally, I'm sometimes intimidated by them because if a book was so highly anticipated for me that I took the time to preorder it, I have really high expectations that I'm worried won't be met, so I usually end up putting them off.  Keep reading for Michele's thoughts!

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As I have gotten back into reading the last few years and started following many authors on social media, I have learned how important preorders are to those authors. When a reader preorders an author’s next release, it helps them earn spots on bestseller lists, allows their publisher to extrapolate early demand, and assists book stores in properly stocking their shelves. Showing early excitement and enthusiasm is one of the best things we can do for the authors we enjoy.

 

I have a number of auto-buy authors and I always eagerly anticipate their latest release. Sometimes I will even preorder it a number of months in advance. However, I typically don’t actually end up reading it anywhere near release day. Even though it’s something I have been looking forward to, I feel like putting off reading it right away helps me savor it just a little bit more.


I recently noticed that my book hauls for 2021 have contained a number of preordered books and I decided to designate the month of June to finally catch up on those titles. I am glad I did because there were so many good reads!


We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This – Rachel Lynn Solomon

The Soulmate Equation – Christina Lauren

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba – Chanel Cleeton

Take Me Home Tonight – Morgan Matson

To Love and To Loathe – Martha Waters

Life’s Too Short – Abby Jimenez


Do you dive into your preorders as soon as they release? What authors do you preorder books from?
 
* This post contains affiliate links; I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

24 comments:

  1. Some of my preorder authors are Eoin Colfer, Kate Quinn, Cara Kooney and Stephanie Dray

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    1. Very nice! My list of preorder authors has been going way up the last couple years!

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  2. I used to not pre-order, but i would get the books right away when they are out: Jim Butcher, Simon R Green, JK Rowling at one stage for example. Now, Candice Fox is a get-immediately, and Jane Harper has gone from a get immediately to wait for reviews to see back to get immediately and now I’m at the point where I have to see reviews and wait several months before I’d get a book from her. For the life of me though, I cannot explain why i am so moody like this. 🤷🏽‍♀️

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    1. I totally get it - if you have a bad experience with a book it could definitely make you really have to consider preordering from them in the future.

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  3. I have quite a few preorders every year that I do to support many of my auto-buy authors. Those incentives are nice to have as collectibles as well. :)

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    1. I agree! Authors like Christina Lauren and Rachel Lynn Solomon have been doing art prints lately with their preorders and I love being able to display them!

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  4. I am an ebook/library book reader, so I don't pre-order. There isn't really much incentive for ebook readers, as all the perks are normally for physical book purchases. The self-pub/indie authors will sometimes do a slight price reduction, and then I will pre-order, but it's not often.

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    1. I agree, I have noticed that a lot. Depending on the author, I will take them up on the preorder price reduction. I have seen some authors that will consider you recommending their book to your library as a preorder.

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  5. Hi Michele, how fun to have you guest blogging with your sister today. :) I don't do too many preorders but I definitely have a few favorite authors like Taylor Jenkins Reid, Kristin Hannah and Victoria Schwab that I always preorder. I'm with you though. I don't usually read them until months after they're actually released.

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    1. Thanks! I am going to try in the future to read them more quickly!

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  6. What a great guest blogging idea! I feel like I tend to do the exact same thing with preorders and somehow keep putting them off. I think it's a mixture of wanting to save the excitement and also fear from my expectations, haha. Plus, I'm a mood reader so sometimes it just doesn't work. I tend to preorder from my favorite authors, like Haruki Murakami and Christina Henry, as a small example (unless it's just something that truly doesn't interest me) or maybe if I read an ARC of a book and loved it.

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    1. Thanks! Yes, you put it perfectly - prolonging the excitement but also saving myself from it not living up to my own hype!

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  7. I have to admit I don't usually pre-order, but I do have some fave authors that I should support with pre-orders some more, like Annette Marie or Christina Lauren.

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    1. I used to never preorder and actually rarely bought books in general, but I have really found some amazing authors over the last couple years who my library doesn't generally carry so my preordering has greatly increased!

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  8. Michele, I feel like you're my book twin when it comes to pre-ordering and then savoring! :) I do this All. The. Time. I have my handful of auto-buy authors and I will typically preorder their new releases, but it is a very occasion that I read it immediately. I like hanging on to it, knowing I still have it to look forward to. I'm all about the anticipation! :)

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    1. yay! I'm glad I'm not the only one! And yes, I agree, part of it is definitely to always have something to look forward to!

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  9. I really need to preorder more, it is so helpful to authors and I don't do it nearly enough.

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    1. I've only gotten into it the last couple years - I have a few favorite authors who are generally not carried in my library so I usually make a point to preorder their new releases.

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  10. I never realized all the "science" behind preorders! I'm that person that will preorder something six months before the release date and then get mad that I have to wait - but still won't read the book right when I get it!

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    1. Yes, I never knew all of the behind the scenes stuff until recently!

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  11. My pre-order author is Ruth Ware. I love her books!

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  12. I have a bunch of indie horror authors I preorder books from. I'm the worst at remembering what I've preordered though... I've bought the same book twice an embarrassing number of times.

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    1. Ha, that's funny! I've definitely gotten books from the library that I already have on my Kindle, having forgotten I bought them.

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I'm so glad you stopped by, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments are always greatly appreciated!