Release Date Announced: Jan. 8, 2013

[Luckers]

Harriet is hardly alone. A lot of people who work in the publishing industry--especially those who are old hat--are deeply wary of e-books.

[Graendals favourite]

I'd suspect some of the wariness should come from examples from the music industry. There's obviously loads of opinions on that, but one fact is that total sales are dropping while consumption of music is increasing. Piracy might be a concern. Any business does need to make a reasonable profit, particularly those products that actually sell, or it's just bankruptcy and end of story. Dunno, books seem a little different, and I understand the reading devices have become more handy.

[The Fisher King]

Harriet is hardly alone. A lot of people who work in the publishing industry--especially those who are old hat--are deeply wary of e-books.

 

Ive never understood it. This may need its own thread, but, in the States, the ridiculous "SOPA" was defeated recently. Thank GOD. ... Neil Gaiman, who rubs people the wrong way sometimes (including me, lol) has a video interview floating around (I apologize for not having a link) where he, rather progressively, shares his discovery that the more available his work is made digitally, and the more it is shared, the MORE profit he makes - NOT the opposite. ... I could have stood up and cheered.

 

"Piracy"..."Sharing"...."Ebooks"...."Digital Content"......these are all loaded and controversial terms. Imo, it is because they are misunderstood. Which is where most fear comes from. Understanding that these things can be your ally - not your enemy - make you a visionary, progressive, and ahead of the pack, in my opinion.

 

A personal example: Two years ago, after much reservation, I plunged into the Ebook world. With a Kindle...and fell madly in love. HOWEVER, Guess what??? Though I am heavily dependent on my Kindle I have bought FOUR "physical" copies of the latest WOT Books. One hardcover of TGS, One hardcover of TOM and two paperbacks of TGS (because I fancy the Orbit covers)....plus, I can NOT imagine not having physical copies on my bookshelf even though my Kindle goes everywhere with me.

 

I feel frustrated on this issue because IMO, writers, musicians, filmmakers etc are reacting negatively without an accurate understanding of the medium.

 

Am I making any sense?

 

 

Fish

[Luckers]

Oh yeah, its definately the boogeyman of publishing--as in a lot of the fear is baseless--but alot of those in the industry are scared of it nonetheless.

[thom_merrilin]

The big glaring thing there is Harriet and books not having an external power source. Guess what audiobooks do, and they're released the same day as the hardback. Kind of her favouring one medium over another. I just hope that she changes her mind. We have several months to wait and see as I'm sure there will be date announced for the ebook version. I still buy the paperbacks despite not reading them. I owe it to RJ and BS to do so. But the Fisher King my Kindle goes everywhere I do.

[Mats Spare Hat]

Hey man, blind people like books too... lol,

 

Who knows, probably costs less to put out an audio version than to have to do a production run of so many copies in braille.

 

...If that has anything at all to do with things, of course.

[Bob T Dwarf]

There's a whole lot we don't know despite what's been said in interviews.

 

It would not be surprising if there were royalty incentives based upon Hardback sales, Softcover sales, and possibly Audio Book sales. We all need to remember that the contracts covering the additional books that have gone into completing this saga were all negotiated years ago before Kindle was a gleam in Jeff Bezos' eye.

 

In one way or another most things come down to money in the end. As soon as TOR offers Harriet the right percentage for the eBook rights, there will be no more enthusiastic fan of eBooks than she.

[Nightstrike]

In one way or another most things come down to money in the end. As soon as TOR offers Harriet the right percentage for the eBook rights, there will be no more enthusiastic fan of eBooks than she.

Yes, and it's a lot better than waiting to read the library's dirty old copy of "Mao's little red book", whilst eating whatever disgusting food "the elite" lets you choose (and that's the best possible alternative).

 

Even China itself has abandoned that path now, btw.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

The vast majority of WoT's readership does not come online to chat about the series. They don't go looking for author interviews. They've probably never heard of Alan or Maria, have no idea what RAFO means. ...

... online fandom is a minority of the readership. More than 90% of WoT fans will never hear about this announcement. Yes, the readership will be limited for the most part to people who read the series already, it won't be attracting many new people. But most readers are not on tenterhooks waiting for the next book. They hear it's coming out aroun November, and think that maybe they'd make a good Christmas present. A hell of a lot of people will only know it's out because their local book shop has them in stock - a nice big display of AMoL.

Quoted for truth. This is absolutely the case.

[The Fisher King]

The vast majority of WoT's readership does not come online to chat about the series. They don't go looking for author interviews. They've probably never heard of Alan or Maria, have no idea what RAFO means. ...

... online fandom is a minority of the readership. More than 90% of WoT fans will never hear about this announcement. Yes, the readership will be limited for the most part to people who read the series already, it won't be attracting many new people. But most readers are not on tenterhooks waiting for the next book. They hear it's coming out aroun November, and think that maybe they'd make a good Christmas present. A hell of a lot of people will only know it's out because their local book shop has them in stock - a nice big display of AMoL.

Quoted for truth. This is absolutely the case.

 

Oh, God, Nooooooooo!!!! Do you know what you've done, Man??? - His head will be bigger than EVER, now!!!! ;)

 

 

Fish

[yoniy0]

Quoted for truth. This is absolutely the case.

Yes, I totally agree. However, that doesn't make it any less understandable that some fans would feel frustrated after having yet another date pushed back (just as THAT in turn doesn't make it any more of Brandon's fault).

 

Since your coming here presents an opportunity, I can't help myself. I'm asking that you point out to Brandon that there are quite a few countries whose citizens have no other method (except ebooks, I mean) of reading the book when it comes out. Combined, this community probably doesn't even register in comparison to the series's followship in the US, but we're still here. If that's not the argument that tips the scales, that's just fine. I would be loath to learn, in retrospect, that it was just never put this way to the folks who make these decisions, however, and Brandon (through you) is probably the only open channel I have to reach them.

 

Either way, you have my thanks for keeping an eye on this discussion.

[The Fisher King]

Quoted for truth. This is absolutely the case.

Yes, I totally agree. However, that doesn't make it any less understandable that some fans would feel frustrated after having yet another date pushed back (just as THAT in turn doesn't make it any more of Brandon's fault).

 

Since your coming here presents an opportunity, I can't help myself. I'm asking that you point out to Brandon that there are quite a few countries whose citizens have no other method (except ebooks, I mean) of reading the book when it comes out. Combined, this community probably doesn't even register in comparison to the series's followship in the US, but we're still here. If that's not the argument that tips the scales, that's just fine. I would be loath to learn, in retrospect, that it was just never put this way to the folks who make these decisions, however, and Brandon (through you) is probably the only open channel I have to reach them.

 

Either way, you have my thanks for keeping an eye on this discussion.

 

Peter, if you pop back in, here is MY wish list for you!!!

 

1 Get Maria to ease up on the RAFOs when asked a WOT question!

 

2 Regarding AMOL, Please hypnotize Brandon with these words: "Black Tower...Black Tower...Black Tower..."

 

3 Please encourage Brandon to keep trying his best to help Harriet understand about E Books and today's Digital World.

 

Ok, ok, the first two were jokes - kinda, lol!!! Seriously, thanks for popping in and thanks to all of you - especially Harriet and Brandon!!!

 

 

Fish

[The Fisher King]

Oh, and we REALLY want to know what those poor, dead Tinkers wanted to "Tell the Dragon Reborn" back in LOC!!! LOL!!! ;-)

 

 

Fish

[Nynaeve Sedai]

I don't know if I can stand another 11 months!!!! What if the Mayan calendar thing is right or a world war breaks out!!!

I just finished reading 13 of the books.. Some of them for the 5th or 6th time.... Well at least I know what to ask for as a birthday present.. Sigh.. My birthday is January 9th...Oh if I only had the patience of a wise one!!! Oh well guess I will have to start ToM again and read very slowly...

[Aliriel]

Hey man, blind people like books too... lol,

 

Who knows, probably costs less to put out an audio version than to have to do a production run of so many copies in braille.

 

...If that has anything at all to do with things, of course.

 

Ahh... Actually you are very correct in this, one of my uncle's is blind and he has a whole wall in his lounge and all up his hallway packed with bookcases with books on tape/cd going back to the mid 70's (shelves and "covers" are labled in braille). Also a friends child who is 12 has severe learning difficulties and only reads at a 5 year old level loves listening to audiobooks, because it means she "read" the same books as all her friends.

Personally, I just like the easy of them, listening to them on packed buses or while driving.

 

Also, while I'm actually really hacked off that the release date has been pushed back again, it's one of those things that I'll just have to live with... No use crying over spilt milk soft of thing.

 

A.

[arianrose]

Just weighing in quickly on a couple of the things, now that I have some time.

 

I was deeply disappointed with the announcement to hold the release until January. I'm willing to admit that - my instant gratification button is all about WoT right now. That said, I get why they're doing it. I'm disappointed, but I'm not going to wait to buy it in some sort of protest that would only be the old case of cutting off my own nose. But to those who think we should all be happy about the date: look, I'm happy they're taking extra time. I understand why the release date is in January. But the news still doesn't actually have to make me emotionally happy, even if I'm completely intellectually fine with it.

 

Ebooks ... gods, how I would love a simultaneous ebook release. I wish there were more visibility for those of us who would actually cause an increase in sales if the ebook were released. I would buy both a hardcover and an ebook on the first day of release. The hardcover to have at home and curl up on the sofa with. The ebook to take to work with me to read on breaks because I just couldn't stand not reading again until I got home.

 

Of course, that's probably not true for this one. I expect I'll buy the hardcover (and the ebook, if it's available), and take the day off work. :)

[Mubz]

Ok I was thinking that as the release date for A Memory of Light is very close to the release date of The Eye of the World (7 days). Why do Tor not just wait and release it then. It would give the series a nice ending in my opinion. If we have to wait nearly a year then another 7 days would not really matter.

 

We're going to be waiting nearly a year to make the book perfect then having the release date on the 15th instead would just tie up the series perfectly. What do you think?

[Bob T Dwarf]

Ok I was thinking that as the release date for A Memory of Light is very close to the release date of The Eye of the World (7 days). Why do Tor not just wait and release it then. It would give the series a nice ending in my opinion. If we have to wait nearly a year then another 7 days would not really matter.

 

We're going to be waiting nearly a year to make the book perfect then having the release date on the 15th instead would just tie up the series perfectly. What do you think?

 

Yea, verily, on that day there shall be weeping and lamentations, fear, anger and the renting of garments, for it is long proven that any product of man is flawed and imperfect.

 

All they're doing is setting themselves up for disappointment and failure. No matter how they try there will be a minimum of 50 typos and at least three continuity screwups. Remember, TOR prints offshore. Where English is at best a second language. The first batch printed and shipped may even have whole sections out-of-order.

 

The more time and energy they pour into the undoable the redder the faces we will be on the actual day of release.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Brandon's recent books with Tor (including the Wheel of Time books) have been printed in the USA in various places on the east coast. For black & white books, printing overseas doesn't save enough money to be cost effective when you factor in shipping costs. Books are heavy. Also, binding errors (misplaced pages etc.) happen in a small percentage of all books. It becomes more obvious when you have a book with a huge print run.

[muddasssir]

I have just one fear with such long editing. They are going to find that things are not adequately covered so they need to split the books.as after ll the polishing and styling it will become prohibitively large and they will have promises to keep and you know the works

[Treemaster]

 

All they're doing is setting themselves up for disappointment and failure. No matter how they try there will be a minimum of 50 typos and at least three continuity screwups. Remember, TOR prints offshore. Where English is at best a second language. The first batch printed and shipped may even have whole sections out-of-order.

 

The more time and energy they pour into the undoable the redder the faces we will be on the actual day of release.

 

This "logic" is incredible. So because Team Jordan can't make the book perfect, they shouldn't even try to make it as good as they can?

[Feral]

What the heck?! Over a year's worth of editing? I was expecting it out this Spring! Gah...

[Suttree]

What the heck?! Over a year's worth of editing? I was expecting it out this Spring! Gah...

 

Editing and revisions, the second "rough" draft hasn't even been turned in yet...

[Cybertrolloc]

Yah, I was going to bring up the realities of writing and the differences between RJ and BS writing in the other train wreck thread, but didn't see the point because, train wreck.

 

BS was way optimistic in his it's done post (even though he mentioned first draft a few times), so expectations being a mess are his fault. Granted he probably thought that fans were less childish :)

 

So when's the paperback release? (Oh, from consumer standpoint E-editions are stupid over-priced.)

[algspkr]

I just wish they would release the ebook to the masses at the same time they send the final draft to the publishers. I would gladly blow $100 to not wait for it to be printed and shipped.