Oh, and About The God Engines
Posted on February 5, 2010 Posted by John Scalzi 20 Comments
Some folks noticed that Amazon has a fairly large delay on delivery for The God Engines, and wondered if that was somehow related to what was going on with Macmillan. No, quite the opposite: The darn thing sold so quickly that additional printings had to be made and those are now working their way towards Amazon and toward other retailers. They should be delivered presently. In the meantime remember that Subterranean Press has copies to sell, being the publisher and all.
Hate to break this to you, but it’s sold out at Subterranean. At least that’s what it claims when I follow the link you posted. :(
That’s the limited edition. The trade edition is available.
I am therefore suitably thankful that I already have my copy.
Loved The GOD Engines!
Sounds like an intriguing book. Hoping an ebook version becomes available.
Can’t wait have this book! Hopes it will be in theater soon!..
Coming soon to a side table near me, John Scalzi’s The God Engines brought to me by Subterranean Press in association with Scalzi Scribblings Inc.
Congratulations!
I have it on order at my library. There are eight holds.
BTW: given recent discussions about the different ways of supporting authors, where do we library patrons fall in the hierarchy of blessed and damned beings? On the one hand, libraries pay for books and taxpayers pay for libraries, right? On the other hand, I feel like I’m kind of getting to read the book for free. On the other other hand, it would be financially irresponsible of me to order my own copy of every book I read, as well as possibly constituting a safety hazard as I couldn’t fit them all in my home. Your thoughts?
I’m surprised that they underestimated your initial sales so badly that they’ve sold out. Aren’t you established enough by now that they should know your stuff will sell?
David:
It’s a novella, not a novel, and it’s sometimes hard to gauge interest in shorter works.
Anonyma:
I like people who use libraries. I’m one of them.
mhm how much less reading time is a novella compared to a novel ?
Read it in one day.
http://eviljwinter.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/review-the-god-engines/
Hopefully not spoilerish. Hard to avoid with short work.
I went and just checked out Subterranean Press. :(
Price is 50% higher, and shipping to NZ almost doubles the price of the book!
Looks like shipping goes down as you buy more (US$17/first book, US$5/additional book), which is good, I just wish I could get the rest of my order there (Stross, Doctorow), then the shipping might become affordable!
I’m guessing that there is a lot of manual labour in their shipping process.
Funny you should mention that story, John, since I just finished reading my local library’s copy and came over here to tell you that I’m not sure whether I want to nominate you for every award there is, or punch you in the face.
Love,
Me
Anonyma,
8 holds at the library means the library thinkin’ about buying some more! Also, in my experience, many library readers are also book buyers. Books breed the need for more books. I’m just glad for books, for this blog, and other worldly wordy ways.
Michele
I just picked up my copy from the public library and am feeling some trepidation about starting it.
Judging by the positive review at Fantasy Book Critic this is not my cup of tea. Damn it, I *like* lighthearted banter and happy endings. I do not like dark fantasy. I shy away from the “horror territory.”
And I only go to “to a dark and chilling world” when I am sure my hero will warm things up, whip ass, and change the light bulbs to something with a rosy hue. If Scalzi had not written this book, I wouldn’t touch it with a 3.048 meter pole.
I know I don’t have to read it. But I am nothing if not a faithful reader, with at least a moderate amount of curiosity. Just note that if I come back with positive feedback, it will truly be a trumph of writing over genre.
Still waiting on Sub-T to actually get me my limited copy, ordered five weeks ago.
Mr Mailman just delivered my copy. Got a 4 hour drive coming up – can’t wait to crack it open then.
Unfortunately, trade, so no Scalzi scribble to grace it ;-(
Also in the mail, books by Kage Baker, whom i discovered just before she passed away. Reading them is going to be a bittersweet experience.
Jason, @13. For shipping overseas (to Bahrain in my case…), I use DHL, which sets up a P.O. Box for you in the US. You can then group your B&N, Indiebook, etc purchases with you ST books.
Shipment remains expensive, but grouping gives you lower rates.
I’m sure other companies do the same.
Oh, I just wanted to say that I picked TGE up last week and it was good. A teensy bit scary and dark in its goodness like dark chocolate fudge sauce. But oh, so very good.
John, do you and/or Subterranean Press have plans to put out cheaper and/or collected editions of your short works for them? I want to make sure that my library has these stories at some point (and I desperately want to read The God Engines), but the current physical editions don’t feel like a hugely effective use of my limited money and my library’s limited space, and I don’t have a good digital library story yet. I worry especially that the books will be a flight risk when they inevitably go out of print and their price on the used market skyrockets. A (potentially but not necessarily cheaper) low-quality print-on-demand paperback version of the e-book might be ideal.