As these things sometimes do, a paperback edition of the Death Star novel has been scheduled to hit the racks in late November, just in time for Christmas shopping.I got in today's post a few cover flats. On the flip side, it tells the who-where-what-when stuff about pub dates, author info, marketing, and notes that might convince booksellers to stock more copies. Pretty much the same cover, different slug on the back.
People who weren't willing to shell out twenty-six bucks for a hardback book are sometimes willing to plunk down a third as much for the paperback version. My own reading habits are such that there are writers I will buy in hardback because I don't want to wait for a year for the paperback; there are others for whom I will wait. It's a matter of economics -- if you can get three new paperback novels for what one hardback costs, or six used paperbacks for the same amount and you read a lot? More cost effective. I read a lot. The books I have in my house totaled up? Cost way more than my car. Probably more than we paid for this house, though not what it is worth now.
Um. The SW's hardback made the NY Times bestselling list, though not by much. We hope the pb will also do so, and maybe a little higher. The royalty rate on these is so tiny that we have to sell a whole bunch before they'll give us any more money. Plus, if you sell a lot of a title, that disposes the book stores to pick up on your next title.
3 comments:
Beautiful cover. All SW books have beautiful covers. I’m sure they get the pick of littler when it come to cover artists. Authors, too. How does an author land a SW book, anyway? As a well established author, do you tell the powers that be that you want to do one, or do they come to you?
SS
It is a buyer's market. Lot of folks would like to do a SW's novel, so they get to pick and choose. I got asked to do the first one because a couple of folks suggested my name to Lucasfilm -- Tom Dupree, the SW's editor at Bantam, and Mike Richardson, of Dark Horse. Tom felt like he owed me a favor for a movie-novelization I did in a hurry (and on the cheap) for him; Mike liked what I did with the Aliens novelizations he gave me to write.
You can apply, but there is a long waiting list, and if you don't have some decent credits, you likely won't get on it.
Not only a great cover, it is a great book.
TD
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