New Book FAQ

Posted on February 11, 2020    Posted by John Scalzi      1 Comment

Whenever I announce or talk about an upcoming book, I often get asked these following questions. I’m answering them here in one place because I get tired of typing the same answers over and over. Now all I have to do is post the URL to this piece! Everyone wins!

When will the book be out? In the absence of me stating it directly, check the pre-order page at your favorite online retailer, which will be posted several months in advance of the publication of the book.

Should I pre-order? If you’re sure you’re going to get the book, it’s a nice way of letting the publisher know there’s interest. While pre-ordering online is usually how people go about doing this, you can pre-order from your local bookseller as well; they will be happy to take your order and have the book for you to pick up on the day of release.

When will the ebook be out? The same day as the print version. These days print and ebook rights are almost always bundled into the same contract; certainly mine are.

Will the ebook have DRM? If the book is from Tor US or Subterranean Press, no. If it’s from some other publisher, maybe. My personal estimation is that DRM is entirely useless, but that doesn’t stop some publishers from having it, so.

When will the audiobook be out? If it’s one of my Tor US novels, the audiobook will be out day and date with the print/ebook release. That’s unlikely to change for the next decade at least. Nearly all of my new fiction through Subterranean Press also tends to have day/date release with print and ebook. My non-fiction books don’t tend to have audio releases and I honestly don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Note: Sometimes I will do an audio-first release (see: the “Dispatcher” series), which means the audio version will be available first, followed by a print release after the audio-exclusive window runs out. That’s usually six months to a year after the audio release.

Will the audiobook have DRM? Probably, since Audible/Amazon seems to like it and Audible is my most frequent audio publisher. Please see above for my opinions about DRM; I would be pleased if my audiobooks didn’t have it and Audible/Amazon knows this. But to date they seem resistant to my arguments on the matter.

Who will narrate the audiobook/will [insert person here] narrate the audiobook? If I haven’t already announced the narrator for the audiobook, it will be either because I don’t know yet, or because I’m not allowed to say yet. I usually announce who the narrator is when I am able.

What version of the book should I get? Honestly I get paid about the same regardless, so get whichever version you like the most — print, eBook or audio.

Will this book/ebook/audiobook be available in [insert country here]? For English language print versions of my novels, they are often available (either in the Tor US or Tor UK versions) via the local instance of Amazon, or you can (probably) special order them from a local bookstore. eBooks are more problematic because there are certain territorial rights involved and honestly it’s very complicated and annoying and I know almost as little about them as you do. English language audio should be available through Audible worldwide.

Will this book/ebook/audiobook be available in [insert non-English language here]? It depends on whether a publisher who puts out books in that language wants to publish it (and wants to publish it in those various formats). I am most reliably published in German, French, Japanese, Hungarian and Spanish; everything else, it depends. Publication in those languages usually happens between six months and two years after the English language version comes out. I have absolutely no control over what books get published in which languages and when they come out.

Will this book/ebook/audiobook be available in my library? Depends.

Print: It depends on whether your library decides to purchase it. If you request it, it is more likely they will purchase it.

eBook: Again your library would have to purchase it (or more accurately, purchase access to it). Some of my publishers have arcane rules in place about how many eBook copies can be in circulation and when. I didn’t make those rules.

Audiobook: Right now Audible doesn’t license audiobooks to libraries. Sorry.

I wish for you to inveigh upon your publishers to change their library access policies and here are several paragraphs — indeed, several pages — why: One, that’s not a question, and two, you can be assured that I have already expressed in no uncertain terms my opinions about library access to my various publishers, and will continue to do so when the occasion arises. With that said, please understand that the weight of my opinion, while not utterly insignificant, is only one datum in a sea of data by which these publishers have come to their current practices. Additionally, at this point you are better off going to them directly with your arguments.

Will there be a movie/TV show/video game/[insert other media type here] of this book? If someone options the book for that medium, then maybe! But they have to be the ones to make an option offer (at which point my team will then evaluate it and decide if we want to be in business with those folks). Even after an option is taken there is still quite a lot of work to be done, and you should know that most options of any sort fail to pan out.

Are you going on tour? Will you come to my town/country? I have generally (but not always) toured the US for my novels, and whether I come to your town is entirely dependent on some entity, usually a bookstore or library, making a bid to have me appear when Tor sends out a tour interest sheet. If the tour has already been announced, it’s almost impossible to add additional cities to the tour, because we’ve already booked flights and made other such arrangements. Also, I don’t tend to tour other countries (most of my foreign publishers don’t wish to spring for the cost of a tour), although I may occasionally show up for a book fair or other such event.

Will you sign/personalize my book? Yes, if you see me on tour or at a convention/book festival, or if you purchase a book from one of the places I go when on tour, or via Jay and Mary’s Book Center in Troy, Ohio, which is my local bookstore. Here are some details on all of that.

I won’t buy your book because [insert reason here]: Again, not a question, and also, I don’t care, although going out of your way to tell me directly that you don’t intend to buy my book(s) may indicate you’re a bit of an attention-seeking dillweed. Work on yourself, please, away from me.

That should hold us for now! I will update this with answers to additional questions when/if needed.