Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: Eudaimoniac on March 03, 2009, 08:56:30 AM
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Hey - just wanted to share with you guys that AMoL has received an official releasedate . My bookstore has a date and i asked with some sceptisism but when they have the releasedate it holds up in 95% of the cases.
In Denmark the book will (according to my bookstore) be released Oct. 1st .
They did not however have the information regarding the possible splitting of the final book nor how many pages AMoL would contain. So, i am still a bit sceptical, but the lady at the bookstore assured me that when she had the information that she had, it almost always came through !
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Is that a Danish edition? That would be some fast translating, let me tell you! I can believe the (first half) book will get released in the US/UK in October, but I'm with you, skeptical about a Danish edition on that date.
Brandon is keeping us quite up to date on where he is in his writing and where he's going to be when. When official release dates come they're not going to be a surprise.
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No, it's not Danish.
It's 'just' the releasedate for the book in Denmark, not in Danish :)
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So what country would it be imported from?
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The danish bookstores all use 'Gardners' a Book Wholesaler and it is located in the UK. But where they get their books from i don't know...
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That's interesting. TOR has Nov. 3rd as their release date, at least here in the US. That's not official, supposedly Harriet will announce it at Dragon Con, but that's what I've been hearing.
http://www.createyourcountdown.com/page/torbooks Yeah, it looks fake, but it was announced in the TOR newsletter Email that I got.
So interesting stuff. Maybe I'll order from Denmark and get it a month early. ;D
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Oh, you're right, that does appear in Tor's March 2009 newsletter. I didn't really look at it when I got it, but there it is.
The series' UK publisher is Orbit, who have had October 1 announced as their publication date for quite some time. That's probably where the importers got it. However, I really doubt Tor would let that happen.
Also, I doubt that the first half of the book will be called AMoL, so those countdown widgets are jumping the gun a bit.
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From what i read in Brandons blog it seems like he is a bit sceptical of the release date in November. and as far as release dates being accurate Pat rothfuss seems to be a bit upset at amazon for the incorrect release date of wise mans fear. not that the publishers dates are that inaccurate but i just don't see the complete AMoL coming out by November if its not even through the first rough draft yet.
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I completely agree. That was one of the main reasons i was very sceptical about the oct. 1st release in Denmark. even though the lady at the bookstore really seemed to believe it was a fact :)
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Also, I doubt that the first half of the book will be called AMoL, so those countdown widgets are jumping the gun a bit.
This is interesting/disturbing. Why would it not be called AMoL?
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If they have to split the book (which seems likely), they would probably call the second half AMOL, since it will be the last book of the series.
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It's possible that the 2 volumes will be called A Memory of Light part 1 and A Memory of Light part 2, but I doubt it will happen because it emphasizes too much for the average reader (not the dedicated fans who already know it) that it's half of a book, making them focus on that instead of enjoying it for what it is. It's possible that they'll be called A Memory of Light: Some Subtitle and A Memory of Light: Some Other Subtitle; this seems more likely, but it adds a layer of complexity that could be confusing to readers and still somewhat brings to the fore the idea that there's more than one book of A Memory of Light.
I think the most likely result is the two volumes having completely different names. A Memory of Light could be the name given to the first part and the second part could be called something else, but this seems less appropriate to me because I've been assuming A Memory of Light's title was chosen because of last book considerations (I can't help but think of Babylon 5's last episode, Sleeping in Light)—it just feels like a last book title to me, doesn't it to you? Still, this could potentially cause problems with booksellers who are already taking preorders for A Memory of Light—would the orders be transferred to the first volume not called A Memory of Light, or kept for the second volume which will be called that? The first option makes the most sense except some people would inevitably say, "Hey, this isn't the book I ordered!" Also, Tor has already started its marketing with those widgets, you know?
Ultimately I believe we won't have to wait long to find out which of these situations happen (I think these 4 options are the only possibilities at this point and there's no chance it will be released as one volume). I am confident that we will hear the final word on the title of the first volume, and its release date, in April at JordanCon, if not slightly before that (I don't see a good reason to announce anything before JordanCon, though; JordanCon will be a good hype vehicle). If the book title is announced as A Memory of Light then, it's not going to change to something else by October/November because the timetable would screw up the book's marketing.
I don't have any inside information on this, but publishing is my business and these guesses are as educated as anyone can expect.
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Thank you for that insight, Ookla. I agree with your view that those four options are the only realistic ones at this point, and that the novel will inevitably be split. I will, however, say that I do believe The Wheel of Time has enough dedicated readers to justify naming the finished product AMoL Part 1 and AMoL part 2. The average customer would likely not at consider starting with part twelve of a work of literature, anyway, whether that work is named "Book Twelve Part 1" or simply "Book Twelve". As I see it, the majority of this work's customer base are those who have already discovered the series.
There is also the fact to take into consideration that Jordan was adamant that the final volume should be a single work. Splitting it is unavoidable, but renaming one of the parts seems to go beyond what is reasonable given the author's wishes.
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November will be the release month.
Tor has promised that the book would be released this year (or a portion of it as we all assume). To release the book in any other month besides October or November would cost them money. October and November are the prime release slots for books - November being better than October. December - March is the bad time. So, if the book is being released this year (which is very likely given that brandon is re-revising the first 400K), it will be released in October or November. My guess, seeing as this is kind of a huge monetary deal, is that they put it in the most prime spot possible - November.
The hardcover of this book alone will pull in 30 million dollars just in the English language. Do you really think they dont want that this year? given this economy?
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The vast majority of readers of the Wheel of Time are not people who care enough to go online and talk about it. Tor can sell a bunch of copies of this book to people who walk in the bookstore and see a big display of the book and say, "Oh, Robert Jordan, I remember those books, guess I'll buy the next one." If it's explicitly labeled "part 1" buyers of this type (who significantly outnumber the hardcore fans) are going to get confused and say, "Part 1? Is this a new series? Or is this only half a book? Where's part 2 then? Huh?"
Book names change for marketing reasons all the time. I don't think Harriet would be opposed to the the first volume being assigned a different name (by her). Maybe it won't, but I think it will—at the very least, I think explicit "part 1/part 2" names is the least likely option. Yes, Robert Jordan was adamant that it would be one book. But it's not going to be. I believe he would be adamant that A Memory of Light be the title of the last book. Using a different title for the penultimate volume would add no more insult to the injury of having a penultimate volume in the first place.
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Now I think you are just arguing for the sake of the argument. You seem to insinuate that readers of Robert Jordan's work are too stupid to understand how the whole of a final novel can be split into two volumes, and I disagree. You seemingly believe that people who have followed The Wheel for long enough to have read the preceding novels will not buy the new ones unless they are explicitly labelled "Twelve" and "Thirteen", while I believe they will understand the situation and read the book, even if it is labelled "Volume One of the Twelfth Book of The Wheel of Time". I think you underestimate the intellect of the readership, and whether or not they post regularly on the internet is more or less irrelevant. The quality of Jordan's writing has guaranteed that millions will purchase anything that has his name and the snake-wheel emblem on it.
Bookstore Guy, was that aimed at me? Because I agree with everything you said.
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Now I think you are just arguing for the sake of the argument.
Well, I'm not. I'm trying to explain the reasoning from a publisher's marketing department point of view. If I'm not doing a good job of it, I apologize.
Either way, we'll know in 6 weeks.
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Certainly. And there is no need to apologise, at all. The insight is appreciated, although I may tend to believe that in the case of AMoL, "conventional" marketing may not apply to the degree it usually does, as the base of readers is already very strong.
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Cynewolf - to a degree you are correct. Conventional marketing may not be NEEDED. The reader base is very large. However, a lot of what Ookla says makes a ton of sense. While many readers realistically might not be confused, why take the chance? I say this mostly from a business and marketing PoV. If you can guarantee that people won't be confused, then you should take that chance - especially with the state of the current book industry.
And no, my previous comment wasn't directed solely at you. It was more of a general comment so people didn't say, "ah crap, maybe no Jordan book this year?" Pacifying the masses, my friend. Pacifying the masses.
Though I do wonder which marketing convention they will ultimately use. I can see either way.
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From a writing/author point of view, I say all bets are off. The book will be sent to publish when Harriet says it will and will actually be released as soon as physically possible after that. Not a moment sooner. As far as titles go... again, it really is Harriet's call. Who knows what Robert Jordan would have wanted better than her?
We'll see. Whether it is sooner or later does not concern me. I want it done RIGHT, even if that means slowly.