My release day glitch for WHERE SHE BELONGS is turning out to be a bigger SNAFU than I realized. I’ve learned from other Five Star authors with the same release date that some readers who have pre-ordered December 16th “release date” books from Amazon and Barnes and Noble have received notices that the books aren’t available and do they wish to cancel their pre-order?
Well, the books ARE available, but not until the “On Sale” date of January 6, 2012. Now, I always knew that the books were considered to be shipping on December 16th and would not be available in libraries or for sale in bookstores (that have ordered them) until the January “On Sale” date. But I did not realize that Amazon and Barnes and Noble would show them releasing on December 16th (ie. available for shipping on that date) and then turn around and switch to the “On Sale” date of January 6th. Mea Scratchy Laser-Surgery-Recovery-Mode Eyeballs! What a SNAFU.
Somehow, my brain thought that “On Sale” date applied to brick and mortar establishments. Turns out—heh heh—it applies to on-line venues, as well. No matter what those on-line venues were saying a week ago.
So…if you’ve pre-ordered my book and received one of these emails asking if you want to cancel your order, please know that supposedly the books will magically appear available again on January 6th. Do what works for you. Cancel your pre-order, or keep it going, cancel and re-order when the books appear on-line, or cancel and don’t re-order because Cindy is an airhead and who wants to read an airhead’s books?
How about if you win a free book?
My hardcover author copies of WHERE SHE BELONGS are all already spoken for, however, I still have trade paperback ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies) that Five Star/Tekno supplied me with for garnering reviews, etc. These trades paperbacks feature the same cover and the insides are the same except for a handful of typos that I found at the proofing stage (the ARCs were also used for proofing).
To make up for my release day SNAFU, I’m giving away one of my remaining WHERE SHE BELONGS ARCs. Autographed! And, while I’m at it, you can choose one of either HEAD OVER HEELS or BORROWING ALEX (trade paperback) to go along with the ARC of WHERE SHE BELONGS.
If you’ve read both HEAD OVER HEELS and BORROWING ALEX, I will mail you two copies of WHERE SHE BELONGS in ARC form and you can give one to a friend. They aren’t perfect—some minor edge wear. But they’re totally readable and enjoyable!
To enter to win an ARC of WHERE SHE BELONGS along with your choice of either HEAD OVER HEELS or BORROWING ALEX, please leave a comment at the end of this post. I will choose the winner’s name December 24th and email you at the email address provided for your snail-mailing info. The books will go in the mail around December 27th (post offices aren’t open on December 26th in Canada).
The winner must live in North America.
Meanwhile, the excerpts I had planned to share this week will wait until I know for sure this time that the books are available to order.
Happy Holidays, and good luck!
Note: If you are reading this post at a feed at Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon, etc., please note that you must leave a comment at Muse Interrupted to enter.
Sorry to hear about your disaster . Hopefully it will be a minor glitch in terms of sales. But a good learning experience so thanks for sharing with your unpubbed friends and readers.
I hope this doesn’t affect the sale of your book but your true fans will wait. 🙂
Thanks for the chance to win
Sorry bout the problem. Thanks for the giveaway.
That’s too bad about the SNAFU – but thanks so much for the Giveaway! It is a good learning experience for us unpublished newbies, so thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing the mysteries of sales/deliveries of new books! So much to learn, stumbling along in the dark! I’m looking forward to the giveaway – since I read a book a day, it’s a challenge finding new books. Oh, right, I’m supposed to be writing them… :-)) Cheers – hope your sales are stronger than you even hoped for! – Celia
January seems a perfect time for a release. Excitement of the holidays over + winter at its dreariest = the perfect time to immerse oneself in a fabulous romance. Best wishes for the real ‘available at an online retailer near you’ date and mountains of sales to come.
Cindy,
Fingers crossed that your readers will have patience with the system and look at January as the time to begin the year with a great read! ^5 Merry Christmas!
Crazy-making stuff and at Christmas time too! Have a great Christmas anyway. Thanks for the opportunity to take part in your snafu remedy and I wish for you a 2012 free from bureaucratic irritations. Cecelia
Wow, Cindy, just the kind of stress you needed during the holidays. NOT. Sending my best to you on big time sales once the books are readily available!
Bleh! Sorry about the SNAFU. Hope it all works out for the best.
Cindy,
the publishing world is a crazy place and easily misunderstood across the board; I certainly wouldn’t fault you for it, and won’t judge.
best of luck with all your books!
David
happy holidays thanks for the giveaway. please enter my name.
thanks
Julie
hey cindy,
wow, so what exactly is a release date if they don’t release your book? hope you won’t lose any customers.
thanks for the contest and happy holidays!
nora
Publishing gets more nuts all the time, doesn’t it? Merry Christmas!
Don’t worry about it Cindy – People will wait and with all the talk, you’ll end up with more sales. One of my books, Breakfast in Bed was a month late, turns out the red metallic on the cover stuck to everything but the book and the whole shipment of books had to be reprinted. We tried to move the launch date but at the last minute, we just kind of went with it. It turned out fine, I’m sure you’ll do great too!
It will all work out. It always does. Thanks for the chance! And Happy Holidays!!
bacchus76 at myself dot com
I am always looking for new authors to read. I would love to win one of your books.
Thanks, everyone, for all your kind comments. I’m looking forward to when WHERE SHE BELONGS is actually on the shelves and available for sale or borrowing from your local library.
The winner of the ARC of WHERE SHE BELONGS plus the choice of either HEAD OVER HEELS or BORROWING ALEX is…Julie Barrett!
Congratulations, Julie. Please look for an email from me in your in-box.