The previous news post about
Backup prompted a flurry of questions from fans! I spoke with Bill Schafer of
Subterranean Press, and here is his response.
I asked:
Many fans are curious about "Backup" orders placed through Amazon and other online retailers. The other stores still list the release date as 10/31 or 11/1, whereas it looks like fans that ordered directly from you might receive their copies a week or more before then. Do you know if Amazon plans to ship out their orders as soon as they receive the books, or if they intend to wait until the set release date?
Also, your website mentioned that you guys spaced on creating a new design for the Limited Edition's dust jacket, and we've gotten a bunch of questions as to what that entails! They're curious about if there will be a dust jacket at all, or if you've considered having one designed after the fact and sending it separately to the fans that ordered the Limited Edition. They're also curious as to whether the Lettered edition will have a separate cover design.
He replied:
Here's how shipping is planned. We'll be sending out all of the copies of BACKUP, trade and limited edition, ordered through us. After that, we have to ship out the five lettered editions sitting in our warehouses, because folks have been waiting so long for those. Following the lettered edition shipping, we'll then ship the large online retailer and wholesaler orders for BACKUP -- so indeed, those who ordered direct will receive their copies a bit before bookstores. I can't speak for certain, but it's likely Amazon, etc. will ship their copies as soon as they receive and process them, and not hold the books until the announced release date. They've not held books before, so I see no reason they'll do so this time.
I haven't considered having new dust jackets done for the limited edition of BACKUP. We'll turn our thoughts to a way to make it up to fans after all the shipping is done. The lettered edition will indeed have a dustjacket on it, the same one as the rest of the copies.
While you're reminding folks of stuff, you might want to mention that we will NOT be filling large online retailer or wholesaler orders for STORM FRONT. Oh, and on the plus side, we're already working on FOOL MOON and GRAVE PERIL. We have fully designed versions of those and are sending them out to be proofed, and talking to Vincent Chong about when he can fit illustrating them into his schedule.
To address SailorYue's concerns:
Me: I just noticed from your earlier email that you seemed to suggest some brick and mortar retailers will be getting copies, as well. Clearly, the release won't be nearly as wide as the novels themselves, but will some fans be able to find "Backup" at chain bookstores or Wal-Mart?
Bill: I'd be VERY surprised if more than a handful of copies made it into such venues. They're free to order them via the wholesalers, but I doubt many will go to the trouble. The only brick and mortars who I know will have copies are a few sf specialty shops.
If you guys have any more questions, post them here and I'll pass them on to Bill!
