5.02.2011

Pre-order etiquette?

Recently I've been thinking about my past; my pre-order book past.  See, there's a book release coming up from Chloe Neill, that I'm nearly desperate for. And it doesn't help that a couple bitches friends I know received advanced readers copies, and are screaming about whatever developments happen in the book; making me even more crazy for the freakin thing. So anyway, a week ahead of time I went to the interweb to set-up my pre order, making sure I have my title on it's release date May 3rd like a good book addict, and about halfway through the prebook I started wondering why, when it comes to those highly anticipated releases, I find myself HAVING to purchase the digital edition instead of supporting my local book store. 



See, I have an amazing fantasy book store, Mysterious Galaxy, here in town, and it's one of my favorite places on earth.  They have author events all the time, have amazing stock, and everyone who works there is crazy for sci-fi/fantasy just like me. And I musn't forget to mention the smell.  I swear they could bottle the air and sell it... well maybe to just me.  The minute I walk in, I can't help myself from taking in a deep breath and letting out an embarrassingly vocal sigh. It completely transforms me into a non-stressed, leisurely shopper who swears she feels instantly more intelligent.  So anyway yeah, I do my best to support them instead of a big box or on-line store.


Like I said though, I recently started thinking back to some of the books I just HAD to have on release day and I realized that I almost always pre-ordered the digital edition rather than buying the physical one.  Why?  OK, well a lot of times the digital edition can be less expensive, which is always a plus (think Shadowfever) but this title wasn't.  It's a paperback and it's $7.99 whether it's digital or physical. So there blew that excuse. I can't blame it on stock issues, because as I mentioned that isn't an issue with my store. Maybe I feel shame for looking so desperate that I'm waiting outside their door, coffee in hand, when the manager arrives to open the store?  No, I stopped caring what other people thought about me when I hit 30. I could lie and say that I have too many books on my bookshelf and buying the digital edition every once and a while cuts down on clutter.  But I just cleaned out my bookshelves and donated/swapped a ton away. So, I'm out of logical excuses.   


But I still couldn't stop myself from hitting that way too easy "BUY" button, ensuring that my book is nestled safely on my ipad when I open it at 7am Tuesday morning. Am I that much of a junkie, that I can't wait until 10 am to go out and physically buy a copy?  Yes. Yes, I'm afraid I might be. 


But it makes me wonder.  Am I alone? How do you pre-order?

14 comments:

  1. I can't pre-order because Sony Reader Store doesn't have that option. If not I'll do it for sure.
    Also where I live it's very difficult to find titles in English and they take sometime to arrive. They are usually imported from UK. So I don't have any other option than the ebook format.

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  2. Cat: You can't pre-order?!?!?! That's crazy. lol

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  3. Who you calling a bitch ;) You can't pre-order on the Sony E-Book store but they usually show up at 11pm EST the night before release ;)

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  4. I normally pre-order books from Amazon because my local store doesn't get releases in til 2 weeks after the date but my store got Savage Nature in before amazon sent it to me *cry!*
    But I've just bought a kindle and I already have two books on pre-order for the 5th and one of them is one I would have normally bought via amazon in actual paperback format, so I think it might be catching :D

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  5. I have such a huge tbr pile that I can normally wait for most books until the store opens or two days later when it comes in the mail.

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  6. WLP: I'm get touchy when im jealous ;P

    Ally: I'm sad for you that your local store lags so bad :( I think you're going to reallllly enjoy your Kindle then

    Alexa: LOL My tbr is a little outta control too, but there's always a book or 2 that I can't wait for... this is one of those

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  7. Oh Good God! You know what I say! Order it through Barnes and Noble if they have it and open it tonight! I didn't know that the next Chloe Neill book was so good that it was giving you addict drama! But if it helps I already pre-ordered it yesterday! I am currently reading the Sabina Kane books....

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  8. OMG Carrie, everyone I talk to on Twitter is freaking the F out. There's suppose to be an incredibly "wicked" ending. My palms have been sweating for a week ;)

    Yay Sabina!

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  9. If I want the print edition of a new book, pre-ordering is my only option. Amazon Japan keeps a small stock of English-language best-sellers in its local warehouse, in which case I can get next-day delivery, but less popular books are shipped from the States after I hit the purchase button. Time varies, but it's usually 2 to 3 weeks. For some reason, if I pre-order weeks or months ahead, the book shows up at my house on the same day as it's released in the States. In one instance, I had a copy in my hands one full day before readers in the US and UK. Maybe that's the time zone difference at work.

    I purchase e-book versions only if I'm in a real hurry, and only if they're not locked into something like Adobe's DRM system. Plus, because my credit card is registered with a Japanese address, many online services (iTunes, for one) will refuse to sell from the US or UK stores and will keep redirecting me to the Japanese store. Bad, bad, bad.

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  10. LOL I am loving this post! I can't pre-order for my Kobo. The book just shows up on release day and you can buy it then.
    And what you said about your bookstore makes me want to check it out!
    Oh, and p.s. I'm too cute to be a bitch. ;p

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  11. I love digital because it arrives on time. I have one used/new book store in town, and they never have any of the titles I want. The closest B/N is about a 25 minute drive from me~and I'm lazy. I love getting the book right there. I can't wait for Hard Bitten-I'm just debating on if I should wait for my copy to come from the library or break down and buy the digital copy of it. (but the digital copy is almost as much as the paper version, so I've been hesitant on buying it.)

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  12. I typically pre-order from Amazon. They make it so easy! If I pre-order through a store, I actually have to go into the store and waste time getting signed up to pre-order. Sigh, I do want to support my local book store more though.

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  13. I've been guilty of the same darn thing, and usually feel bad afterward. I think it's the magic of the book "appearing" on my Kindle on release day, but it quickly wears off.

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  14. Jud: Gosh sounds like you have to plan way ahead. That's dedication my friend :)

    Julie: I'll take you there when you come visit ;)

    Colette: My digital copy was actually ¢30 more LOL But I HAD to get it... of course. Read with me!!

    Meg:I support because I would be so so sad if bookstores went away. I just get all warm and tingly when I visit a bookstore, there's nothing like it.

    Kristin: You're right. Next time I'm going to challenge myself to actually go through the store no matter how BAD I want it instantly

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