Friday, July 06, 2007

WHERE'S LOTTERY?

YOU'VE HEARD OF WHERE'S WALDO?
Well...
Today you are going to learn about release dates.
NOTE: More Reviews. Check them out.
EASY WRITER
RAY

6 am and 79 degrees.
It's not official yet but it's happening.
LOTTERY is on sale in bookstores.
A vigilant blogger and her handy dandy camera phone took this picture. At first I was perplexed. Is this OK? Will the publishing police come out of the woodwork and require the book store owner to do extra book reports?
(Wait. No. That was my sixth grade teacher.)
So I did what every self respecting author does.
I sent an SOS message to my editor.
"LOTTERY IS ON SALE!" I said. "WHAT GIVES?"
And this is what she said:

"There are different kinds of on-sale dates:

* There are embargoed books*Harry Potter being the most obvious example*and
no one is supposed to have a copy, or open a box, prior to the on-sale date.

* There are also what are called “strict” on-sales. This means that
bookstores are expected not to sell the book prior to the on-sale date.
Those “strict” on-sale dates are reserved for books where you know you have
to get maximum sales velocity in a single week in order to grab the highest
possible position on the NYT list. These strict on-sale dates are for books
where you’re aiming to hit one of the top 15 (or even 10) positions on the
list immediately upon publication (so, for instance, Nora Roberts and Khaled
Hosseini would have strict on-sale dates).

* For the vast majority of books, on-sale dates are not strict, and it’s
fully expected that many stores will have books on display in advance of the
on-sale date. This is actually a good thing, and can contribute to word of
mouth prior to the official on-sale date.

The reason that this staggered book availability occurs (and this is
industry-wide) is that the release date*the date at which books start
shipping from the warehouse---is usually about 6 weeks in advance of the
on-sale date. In that 6 week window, the books are loaded onto trucks, etc.,
and depending on how close a store is to a warehouse, some stores might get
their books weeks in advance of others. It’s pretty typical to see a book on
sale two weeks in advance of pub."

Well now I know. It's OK! It's good! It's GREAT!!!!!!!
So where is it on sale?
I will let you guess. Go down to your neighborhood bookstore and LOOK.
Just in case!
And while you are looking...ruminate on these.
A nice mention by LITERARY LOTUS.
TOP 50 BEST SELLING AUDIOBOOKS
and this:REVIEW.

43 comments:

Craig said...

Patricia,
I am an bookseller for Barnes and Noble. I received an Advanced Reader copy of Lottery a few days ago and just started reading it. I am thouroughly enjoying it. What a wonderful character!

Every so often a book comes along that I'll go to bat for and try to hand sell as many copies as possible. This will be one of them.

Lisa R said...

That's so exciting and almost a month early! Wow. Do I have to guess where? I'll say Seattle? Fascinating to learn about release dates. Who would have thought?

LadyBronco said...

WHOOT!

That is one kick-ass display, Pat!

Brava!

Anissa said...

Wow! How cool is that?! I may have to plan a trip to the bookstore. The hell with might...I'll be staking the place out for the next month! :)

I'm so excited for you! And yay Craig! Hand sell those puppies!!!

David L. McAfee said...

That is too cool, Pat. I’m going to check my locals and see if they have it on the shelves.

My guess for the bookstore in the photo?

Everett, WA.

Did I win a cigar? 

Anonymous said...

Silly girl! This is obviously a display in the single English-speaking bookstore in Sven's hometown of Adak. Notice the entire section devoted to reindeer in the back left. Nobody could mistake the tell-tale marking on the bookspines indicative of all scholarly tomes on the subject.

The question remains - which of Sven's no-good relatives snapped this pic and why would he send it to you? Was a ransom note included?

Ray said...

Awesome, Pat.

The Anti-Wife said...

This is so wonderful. Congratulations!

benbradley said...

Wow, that's a big end-of-shelf display with nothing but copies of YOUR BOOK! This must be every author's dream! Congratulations!

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Too cool!! Congrats, Pat! And good to beat Harry Pottermania.

Adrienne said...

OMG.

Pat.

You must be so totally excited! What an awesome picture! And what the heck is with you being only 40 on the audio book sales! You should be number one! I am most distressed!
(seriously though, congrats!)

Holly Kennedy said...

Clearly, this is my book store down the road. Us Albertans are such non-conformists. A book to sell? Put it on a shelf.

And Craig?
You have impeccable taste!

Anonymous said...

Wow. That picture gives me goosebumps. I think it is about the most exciting thing I've ever seen. I shall begin trolling all my area bookstores to see if I can find it.

Gay said...

You mean if I didn't pre-order, I might have been able to get a copy SOONER?

Ack!

ORION said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ORION said...

Well Gay you could buy one now and give the one that is coming in August to a friend! How about that. In fact I think everyone should buy early Christmas presents. Yeah! That's it! We should all go to Craig's Barnes and Noble store and buy mass quantities of Lottery from him and give them to everyone we know!
Sounds good to me!

Kimber Li said...

I can feel your anticipation all the way over here in Alaska! Your very first published novel. It's happening. It's reeeeally happening!

I'm reading my Advanced Copy right now and will be reviewing it next week on my Enduring Romance blog. Not this coming week, but the week after.
:o)

Josephine Damian said...

Errr, Pat? Does this mean you have to post multiple count-down clocks? :-)

Let's hope those JK Rowling fans pick up an early release of "Lottery" when they flood the stores to get "Harry."

Did my myspace bulletin help at all?

Anonymous said...

Excellent! Can't wait to read it!

Laura said...

Woohoo! I put the Seattle date on my calendar. Hope to meet you in person and have a fancy autographed copy (or more - lots of birthdays coming up!).

ORION said...

Laura I LOVE to meet my blogging buddies!!! How very cool.
Any of the rest of you (LURKERS and all!)
If you are going to be in Hawaii August 2 or 4th
Or if you will be in Portland (Beaverton) August 8 or Seattle August 10!!Come by and see me. Look on the side bar for details or email me!!! I'd really enjoy meeting you.
And Everett...we can't forget Everett on Sept 16!

Josephine Damian said...

Pat, my local BAM said they will not get your book in until 8/3.

Josephine

ORION said...

Like I surmise --
The independents may get it earlier and put it on the shelves faster and the bigger chains stick to the release date.
Interesting.
My eagle eyed blog buds will keep a look out!

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Hey! Just got home. Finished Lottery yesterday. Did cry. Will write all about it later... quick question--if I am to judge this prestigious contest, what happens to the readers at my blog who come over and tell you they are here because they read about Lottery at Manic's?

PS--I'm also going to email you about OTHER QUESTIONS, like WHAT'S THE BAD WORD THAT STARTS "CH!"!!!!????? !!!

billie said...

Hi, Patricia,

Fellow Backspacer and horsewoman here... :)

I've been awaiting Lottery and went today hoping our local indie would have it, but they didn't. :(

Congratulations on the release - I'm really looking forward to the read!

Frank Baron said...

What's that sound?

Oh, I know!!

It's good buzz - building.

Ride the wave and enjoy. And continue to keep us in the loop. :)

ORION said...

OK guys.
I happen to know that BestSellers in Honolulu Hawaii also has LOTTERY on the shelves already.
Their address is:
BESTSELLERS
1001 Bishop Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
(808) 528-2378
email is: BestSell@aol.com
You just might persuade them to send you a copy.

Bernita said...

Just. Beautiful.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

The review is up. I hope I did it justice.
Steph

Liane Spicer said...

Hi Orion,
I have been haunting Miss Snark's blog, catching up on the posts that I missed this year (after lurking and commenting anonly all of last year) and one of your comments made me click on your link on impulse. And this is what I find!

Congratulations! This is utterly wonderful. I have no idea how it must feel to see your book in stores, but hopefully I'll find out late this year or next, since I've just had an offer for my first book.

I'm really excited for you, and for the other Snarkaholics whose work is getting the attention it deserves!

Good luck in everything.

Now I'm off to check out your website...

Liane

Tyhitia Green said...

Awesome display, Pat. Congrats on having your book out early. I see the bestseller list coming! :*)

Josephine Damian said...

OK, Manic Mom, consider this my official entry in the "read-your- Lottery-review-on-your-blog-and came-here-and-said-so-contest."

Josie D.

Anonymous said...

Pat,
Congratulations. How exciting. I am traveling now, just wanted to say whippeeee.

Unknown said...

Josie D. beat me here! I'm another of Manic Mom's "read-your- Lottery-review-on-your-blog-and came-here-and-said-so-contest" entrant. :)

I must admit, though, I was looking forward to reading it before she actually posted her review, but only because she forced us all to go look it up on Amazon after you sent it to her.

ORION said...

That's what I like. A bossy blogger teller her commenters what to do!
I will do a new post tomorrow with a current list of constestants (sounds like a beauty show!) and just so I don't miss anything - and then talk to manic mom about the judging criteria.
OH!!!!This is SO exciting.
I am off now to the city and SIGN SOME STOCK!!!
MWA HA HA!!!

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Sign that stock, baby! Sign it!

Zany Mom said...

Great. It's 8:38 pm and now I have to drive to the bookstore. Thanks, Pat!!!

;)

eatmisery said...

I am very interested in reading Lottery. I read Manic Mom's review and I'm hooked.

Any chance you can enter me in your raffle?

The Anti-Wife said...

I read Manic Mom's review too. Even though I'm a regular reader of yours does that still count? Am I one of the contestants? Please, please please!

ORION said...

Manic mom email me!!!!
yes you are all entered...
It's got to be a LOTTERY!!!!!

Mia King said...

Istanbul. Beijing. New Delhi? (*cough*)

Pat, you're on a roll ...

Zany Mom said...

Bummer -- no Lottery here. :( But I finally managed to snag one of Holly's books. :)

Anonymous said...

There are a couple copies of the book available at Half.com too.