IT’S OUT IT’S OUT! The Killing Moon is officially out in the US! UKians, it’ll be out on Thursday for you. Not sure about Australia or other English-language markets, or the audio version (yes, there will be one), or anything else at this point. Tell you later. Too busy squeeing because IT’S OUT MY FOURTH NOVEL IS OUT!
Of course, the book has been appearing in stores for several days now, so we’ve had what most people in the business call a “soft launch”. Not a bad thing for readers, who don’t have to wait to get their hands on a copy; not the best thing for writers, since soft launches reduce that critical first-few-weeks sales velocity. Velocity is what dictates bestseller status. But I’m content that it already seems to be selling well. In a bit of purely anecdotal evidence, I stopped in at the downtown Brooklyn B&N last night and offered to do a stock signing — and couldn’t, because they had only one copy left. They’d had more, but sold them all. (And the clerk basically palmed the last copy once I signed it, saying that her son had been asking for it. Fortunately there were more on order.)
Chapter 3 of The Killing Moon is up now, by the way. In which we meet Nijiri, the third protagonist of the novel, who demonstrates how little Gatherers are made. (Hint: it involves violence and death.)
And to reiterate what I’ve said at every book launch thus far, if you’re interested in how best to use your dollars to help me (thank you!), here are some suggestions:
- Buy the book if you can. If you can’t, see last point.
- Read the book. (This is kind of necessary for the next step.)
- If you like the book, tell everyone you know. This includes everyone on Goodreads, Library Thing, and all the retail bookseller sites, especially if they let you post reviews. (The Amazon “post your own review” feature should be active now, BTW.)
- Under the category of “tell everyone you know”, blog about the book. Tweet it. Tumblr it. Status it on Facebook. You’d be surprised at how useful word-of-mouth is to authors.
- If you cannot afford the book, that’s OK. Put in a request for it at your local library. Readers often think this won’t help authors, but it does! The more requests a library receives for a given book, the more likely that library is to order more copies of the book. More copies = sales for me, and you get to read it for free. Everyone wins. Then please tell everyone about the book, blog about it, etc.
- And if you’re in a non-English-language country and you’d like to read the book, tell a local publisher! Start with any publishers who’ve imported and translated my other books in your country. Not all of them will be able to buy the rights; I know the recession’s hitting everyone hard, especially in Europe. But publishers are more likely to try if they know there are local people who want to see a book. (Though if you want it in English, you can get it here.)
In the meantime… The Dreamblood is very much a labor of love for me. It’s my homage to epic fantasy — as opposed to the Inheritance Trilogy, which was more my eyeroll at epic fantasy — and I’m hoping it’ll win me new readers from among those who missed or didn’t like the Inheritance Trilogy. But it’s also another of my Quixotic attempts to change the genre that I love so much from within, by putting my money where my mouth is on non-medieval-European settings, diverse casts, women who are strong and not “Strong”, and all the other stuff I constantly bitch about. Most importantly, though, it’s another attempt on my part to write a solid, thinky, exciting story that’ll keep readers hooked all the way to the end. That’s my only real agenda, ya’ll: a story that welcomes all, and satisfies most.
Hope you like this one.
Happy Release Day!
For some reason the Kindle version isn’t out until May 3. I guess I’ll have to wait a few more days ;)
Actually, it looks like the Kindle version is out (in the US, at least). They may have noticed the discrepancy and fixed it, as I was just able to purchase and download it.
@Jeremy: You’re right! It’s out today. The problem was I was checking on my iPad and perhaps it thought it was an international (Chile) location.
I just bought The Killing Moon and can’t wait to read it. For some reason in Barnes and Noble it was under the “New Science Fiction” section… Anyway I can’t wait to read it!
Is it okay to tag you on Facebook when we mention it in a status? Just asking because some people are iffy about that. I’m just bummed that I can’t get it yet. Tomorrow, maybe. I need a new book to read.
Forgot to mention that my teacher chose 100K for one of our class readings next semester.
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Arg, it’s been three days and no one is willing to sell me the damn book, is it because I don’t live in the USA, I can’t read the book with every body else? I’ve tried every online book seller and they either don’t have it or wouldn’t sell it to me, and to think how excited I was and waiting impatiently for it since I finished reading “The Kingdom of Gods” last November :(
P.S. congratulation for the release of your book, not that I could read it anyway…but I’m sure it’s very good
Farah,
Where are you located? The book only officially came out in most English-language markets today, May 3. It was only out on May 1 in the US.
hello, I’m really sorry, yesterday I was so upset I shouldn’t have taken it on you, but for my defense, I really wanted to be one of the first to read your book…
I’m from Iraq, and if the books is released worldwide as you say, I’ll go and check my booksellers again
sorry again for yesterday’s rudeness, I’m a big fan…The Broken Kingdoms is one of my favorite books ever
Hi Farah,
It’s not rude to express frustration about not being able to buy my book. I’m flattered that people want it so much… even though there really isn’t anything I can do about it. -_- Were you able to get a copy?
yep, I got it ..and I’m starting to read right away…I’m so excited
but I have a confession to make…I got it as a free download, I got so desperate last night I just googled the book’s name and found a forum that offered it for free, at the point I was willing to do anything, and if nobody wants to sell it to me, I’ll get it in any mean possible, I hope that’s ok with you…
Farah,
Of course it’s not okay with me.
I recognize that people are going to steal books. I get that copyright laws and the vagaries of foreign rights mean it’s hard for people, especially in other countries, to get hold of my stuff legally. But if you’re going to acquire it illegally, good grief don’t tell me about it. My book might be just a few days’ gratification to you, but to me it’s four years of labor and a whole lot of sleepless nights. I could see it if I’d chosen to give my book away for free — a few authors do that. But I don’t, because I’m not okay with it.
oh, i’m really sorry…I’m buying the paperback…promise… though it will cost me three times it’s original price and will take about a month to get here…in time to start looking for the next book.. but you’re a great writer…I really think you should get more precognition…Hugo nomination and finalist are not enough in my opinion, and I’d love to buy your books just so I’d support your writing…
sorry to have upset you… but I can’t see why because I live on the other side of the world I can’t buy and read books like everybody else
this is a list of the websites I tried
Barnsandnoble.com
readerstore.com
deisel-ebooks.com
http://www.ebooks.com (thy didn’t have your book at all)
play.google.com/store/books (this one wouldn’t even let me into the website)
I didn’t try Amazon because I don’t have a kindle, I wish they start selling epubs or even PDFs
sorry again, but I didn’t want to lie to you, I guess it was better if I did just that.
oh and i’ll be a silent fan from now on, you won’t hear from me again.