# Anybody pre-order Ken Follett's new book



## yogini2 (Oct 27, 2008)

Ken Follett has a new book out and the publisher wants $19.99 for it.  Insane!!!!!  I was so looking forward to reading it.  I'll wait a year or two if I have to and wait for the price to go down.  Who would pay such a ridiculous price for an e-book novel?  Not me.
kathy


----------



## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I see that it's the first in a trilogy.... I wouldn't read it until they were all available anyhow...


----------



## PiedTyper (Aug 27, 2010)

Not only that, the e-book price is 50 cents more than the pre-order price for the first edition hard cover. Totally unreal. I'll wait until the line at the library thins out and then borrow it from there, for free, unless the price has come down substantially by that time.

I have first editions of _Pillars of the Earth_ and _World Without End_, but those are actual books that can be loaned, swapped, sold, or might increase in value over time.

I guess they think $20 instead of the $36 list price once issued will look attractive by comparison.

Regards, Typer


----------



## cjpatrick (Jan 4, 2009)

Just ordered it. A Ken Follett historical is worth it to me. Most other books would not be. Thanks for the heads up.


----------



## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

I will not be pre-ordering, but I have been debating on whether I would pay that price or not.  There are at least two of us on my account that would read it, which justifies the price a teeny bit.  But I have not read WWE yet, so I can wait for a while for the price to drop.  Maybe it will when the paperback is released.
I realize I should know the answer, but typically how long is it after the release of the HB before the PB comes out?
Thank you,
deb


----------



## Anne (Oct 29, 2008)

I would love to read the book. I will not pay 19.99 for it. I quess I will have to skip this one unless th price goes down.


----------



## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

World Without End was 12.99 at the beginning of the summer.  I watched it for a few weeks and it dropped to 8.99.  
So I have hope that at some point the new book will drop.  
deb


----------



## Anne (Oct 29, 2008)

drenee said:


> World Without End was 12.99 at the beginning of the summer. I watched it for a few weeks and it dropped to 8.99.
> So I have hope that at some point the new book will drop.
> deb


Deb: I was thinking the same thing. I hope the price does drop like World Without End did.


----------



## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Drenee
I think it's 8 months to a year before the paperback
Although that's just a guide
There have been some books that stayed as a HB because sales were so good (Just off the top of my head, the old Bridges Of Madison County was a HB for more than two years before going to paper as well as the more recent DaVinic Code (if memory serves) stayed a HB for a bit longer than the norm.)

I think certain publishers are trying to push the envelope
1  I think Follett got a huge multi figure million dollar advance (this is a trilogy) so naturally they'll try to get it back. Book II isn't scheduled til 2012 so a paperback might be awhile off....and my guess is they would do a TRADE paperback next anyway before doing the most popular mass market paperback verison

My guess on this would be...
Hardback September
Tradepaperback 2011
Big mass market paperback push the summer of 2012 when Book II is due out

Why not check your junk mail?
Surely they'll offer the book  under a "6 books for a buck" umbrella and you can get it for a song that way.
Or just go online to book of the month club and order it now

2  Follett's Mini series adaptation of his Pillars of the Earth was just on cable so their riding the success of that
That is currently on netflix and then will head for DVD/Bluray 2011

3  The book paper side of the book business is still in a slump so why not grab the money from the more popular e-book side?

This is just everyday business sense.
Me? I'll wait til 2014 when the first 2 paperbacks are out but I DO plan to get the series


----------



## Raffeer (Nov 19, 2008)

My cutoff is 12.99 even for Follett. Count me as waiting for a price drop.


----------



## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Thank you, bww.  
Another question.  What is the difference between trade and mass market paperback?  

deb


----------



## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

A trade is a bit smaller in size than the hardcover and has a glossy papercover. It's kind of a large paperback.
A mass market paperback is the popular version that you see at grocery store checkouts. Fits easily in a purse.

Next time your at the bookstore look around the shelves and you'll see the differences in sizes, paper stock etc.

Not all books follow this route though. I believe it depends on the author and popularity of the books (especially if they are a series) as to wether the book goes to trade or straight to mass market paperback

A good online publication that provides news on this kind of stuff is....
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/home/index.html


----------



## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

In Australia, the Hardback version of that book would be around $50; and the paperback, well into the $35+ range.  So ebooks are very cheap for us, even at $19.99

I have many kindles on my account; for that price it is a bargain.


----------



## Pawz4me (Feb 14, 2009)

I don't have a set-in-stone price limit, but no, I wouldn't order that.  I'm never in a hurry to buy the first book in a series.  I prefer to wait until at least the next-to-last book is out, if not the entire series, so I can read the whole thing in a relatively short time span.


----------



## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Hey Pushka, not to sound totally naive, but why are hardcovers so high in Australia?

I know here in the states books have the designation of noting to the consumer that the book (say, a paperback) is 9.99 and the Canadian price is, say, 11.99

Hardcovers are getting up there here...Stephen King's Under the Dome sold for 35 bucks

I can't imagine how Australian bookstores are able to stay afloat at those prices?


----------



## Taborcarn (Dec 15, 2009)

I've noticed that lately, some ebooks have a higher preorder price, then it drops down once the book is released.  Jonathan Franzen's Freedom was $14.99 for preorder, but two weeks after it's release it dropped to $12.99.

This doesn't make any sense to me.  Isn't the preorder supposed to be a lower price, or at least supposed to come with some sort of incentive to get the customer to pay money now for something they won't receive for another few weeks or even months?  The only reasoning I can see is that once again the publishers are trying to scare people away from ebooks and get them to buy the hardcovers when they're released, to influence the hardcover bestseller lists.


----------



## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

I agree Taborcarn

But then, if they ARE trying to steer readers towards paper product, they should try harder discounting those hardcovers to entice people to not only buy hardcovers, but to buy more than just one per visit.

Now, Borders and Barnes and Noble do discount certain hardcovers (30, 40 percent off) during the first couple weeks plus if you belong to the club you get even more off. But I have always felt they should make a bigger effort to discount, if not all hard hardcovers in the first few weeks of release, since that's impractical....than at LEAST, first time authors.

But yes, I recall a time when pre-ordering was a better deal

Bottom line is that they are playing on our insatiable need to that "GOTTA HAVE IT NOW" hunger from the latest big screen TV to brand new hardcovers.

I think they should be having a good old fashioned price war between competing publishers to entice people to buy THEIR author's book (in hardcover or e-book) instead of the four other books that are due out that same week.

And yes, they'd lose money on THAT book (wether people buy the hardcover or e-book) but then again-- maybe the readers BUYING that book will think that since they've saved money...and as long as they are already online (or in the store) they might consider buying an additional book

See, not only do I remember pre-ordering being a better deal, but I also remember businesses going out of their way to take care of their customers with deals. Because they knew that if the customer thinks they're saving money, they would spend the money they saved. The way things look lately, people are just going to snap that wallet shut and go look for other forms of entertainment. When that happens, everyone in the book world loses.


----------



## prairiesky (Aug 11, 2009)

Nope...I won't pay that.  I still do a reserve list from my library for the hot, new best sellers.  I usually only wait a week or two.  IMO the public library is still the best deal in the world.....all those books for free!  I usually alternate a new library book with a book on my Kindle.


----------



## Gordon Ryan (Aug 20, 2010)

yogini2 said:


> Ken Follett has a new book out and the publisher wants $19.99 for it. Insane!!!!! I was so looking forward to reading it. I'll wait a year or two if I have to and wait for the price to go down. Who would pay such a ridiculous price for an e-book novel? Not me.
> kathy


While at first glance this price would certainly seem ridiculous, the book does come in at 1,000 pages. In any thriller genre, that is three books at least. At that size, it boils down to just over 6.50 per book and that is not really too much for a first run, named author publication on ebook. Follett is certainly one of the premier authors in his field and someone who enthused me to start writing about fifteen years ago. I just might pay the asking price. I certainly would have for the hard back version several years ago.

Gordon Ryan


----------



## Gordon Ryan (Aug 20, 2010)

drenee said:


> Thank you, bww.
> Another question. What is the difference between trade and mass market paperback?
> 
> deb


Deb, a trade paperback is usually 6 x 9 in size, the same as many hardbacks. Mass market paper is the old pocketbook size, designed to carry in your purse or back pocket. Used to be referred to as pulp fiction size.

Gordon Ryan


----------



## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

yogini2 said:


> Give me a break. What a bunch of rationalized bull kaka. Its an e-book. It gets formatted and sent out thousands of times. They are selling the hardbacl book price for less than the e-book price. E-book-no cost to print, bind, deliver etc, etc. Its ONE book, ONE book. No matter how many pages it is, it is ONE book. You can rationalize this highway robbery all you want, but many, many, many, many, many, many, many people will not go for it.
> Kathy


I think thats a bit harsh, it seems like you give no credit to the authors who can write 1000 pages and keep you engrossed. Would you feel better if the Paperback versions of books became more expensive? It seems like you are too focussed on the medium, and not the quality of what is written.


----------



## Jen (Oct 28, 2008)

I am SO upset about this. I have been looking forward to this ever since Deb made me aware of it - I even have the release date in my calandar! NO WAY will I pay even more than $10 for it. I'll get it from the library first, there is just no way! Sorry!



Pushka said:


> I think thats a bit harsh, it seems like you give no credit to the authors who can write 1000 pages and keep you engrossed. Would you feel better if the Paperback versions of books became more expensive? It seems like you are too focussed on the medium, and not the quality of what is written.


I give all the credit to the author, which is why I'm willing to buy it in the first place. But regardless of the argument, $20 for an e-book is absolutely ridiculous.


----------



## cjpatrick (Jan 4, 2009)

It's all about quality. I know I have spent more than 20 dollars on books I couldn't stand by author's that couldn't write. At least the level of risk is low here. I know how Follett writes and I know that it's a huge book. For me that's a lot of entertainment I am going to get for 20 bucks. About half the price it would cost the wife and me to go to the movies once (with popcorn and diet soda.) And yes, it most certainly could be a terrible book. But the risk is lower than if it were an author I had never read before selling me a book at that price. There's a reason headlining bands charge more for their tickets than the four guys playing at your local pub on Saturday.


----------



## Archer531 (Aug 13, 2010)

As someone else said I would easily pay 20 bucks for the hardcover, heck i've paid that or close to it recently for a few hardcovers that were not even half the length of this book. And if this takes you a while to read and divide that by 20 bucks it's still incredibaly spent money for your entertainment. I have some other books to read first I think but if the price doesn't come down when I decided to get it I will probably spend the 20 bucks anyways knowing that it's worth the cost.


----------



## PG4003 (Patricia) (Jan 30, 2010)

Here's a heads-up to anybody who has a second ereader that can read Epubs, the Philadelphia Free Library has this book available to put on your Holds List.  I have a Nook in addition to my Kindle, and I use it for reading books from the library.  I already have this on my Holds List, I'm number 5 out of 5 on the list, hopefully it won't be too long!  Getting this one book from the library pays for my $15 annual membership to the Philadelphia Library.


----------



## strawhatbrat (Aug 20, 2010)

I must read that!


----------



## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

brickwallwriter said:


> Hey Pushka, not to sound totally naive, but why are hardcovers so high in Australia?
> 
> I know here in the states books have the designation of noting to the consumer that the book (say, a paperback) is 9.99 and the Canadian price is, say, 11.99
> 
> ...


We dont really have a choice - if we want to buy it, so we just pay or wait for paperback. Actually until I got the kindle last year I just thought that everyone paid that much. But now I know differently. And just received the pre order about an hour ago.


----------



## kdawna (Feb 16, 2009)

I have been going back and forth ordering this, because of the price. He is such a great writer, and I love very long books. This morning I sat reading in the Book Corner on here and ordered quite a few good bargain books that sounded good to me and I also bought this book! Looks like I will be occupied for a long time!
Brenda


----------



## Archer531 (Aug 13, 2010)

kdawna said:


> I have been going back and forth ordering this, because of the price. He is such a great writer, and I love very long books. This morning I sat reading in the Book Corner on here and ordered quite a few good bargain books that sounded good to me and I also bought this book! Looks like I will be occupied for a long time!
> Brenda


Well for all the attention the price is getting we don't know how good the book is. I can't wait to read your review and others of this book. It could be EPIC and well worth the price!!!


----------



## Anne (Oct 29, 2008)

kdawna said:


> I have been going back and forth ordering this, because of the price. He is such a great writer, and I love very long books. This morning I sat reading in the Book Corner on here and ordered quite a few good bargain books that sounded good to me and I also bought this book! Looks like I will be occupied for a long time!
> Brenda


Brenda let us know how you like it. I download the sample to read later.


----------



## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I got my hold notice from my library at 12:04 AM (so I'll be reading it as soon as I finish my current read)


----------



## Anne (Oct 29, 2008)

Luvmy4brats said:


> I got my hold notice from my library at 12:04 AM (so I'll be reading it as soon as I finish my current read)


Heather: I cannot wait to hear how you like it.


----------

