Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: EUOL on December 06, 2004, 04:50:22 PM
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...just bought ELANTRIS. So, par-tay! Their offer is relatively sizable--about half what Tor offered for the book in English.
We are very exited.
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Wow! That's awesome - - congratulations!
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Cool. Congrats. Soon you will be world famous. ;D
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sweet. Those nutty Germans
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That's super-cool!
Congrats
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I told you Germans love their SF/F.
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Yeah, we were really hoping to break in over there early. The German market is extremely strong.
So, we went to Bucca when I got the other deal. So we go for Brats when I sign this one?
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Congrats! That's great!
When are you talking of going? Probably not when I'm going to be there, but if it is, I'll go along. Otherwise, I'll be there in spirit, as before.
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When do you think you'll get the UK launch? I seem to remember you saying that the UK was worth half of what the USA is.
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I told you Germans love their SF/F.
You're telling me. I had to sit through two lectures about this at BYU to get extra credit for my 495 class.
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if you went for brats on the 17th, I can go!
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The 17th? You coming out, SE?
Anyway, we're still looking for a UK publisher. This sale should get us another looking at from the Brits, however.
In other news, George Martin declined to give the book a cover quote. He liked the novel, but didn't think it was the type of fantasy his fans would enjoy, and didn't feel comfortable giving it an endorsement. (He didn't like how much I focused on the magic, since he believes that fantasy climaxes should be more character-driven than they are world-driven.)
I'm actually somewhat pleased by this result. I don't know if any of you have read Martin, but he and I have very different writing styles. I wasn't certain what he'd think of the book, and am glad he decided not to quote, as opposed to just quoting to do Moshe a favor.
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Yay for crazy Germans!!! Maybe you can become the next Marion Zimmer Bradley? (Maybe if you gave yourself a German middle name?)
One interesting note: Robin Hobb's books always come out in the Netherlands a bit before they come out in the UK or US. Does Moshe have contacts there as well?
That is very interesting about Martin's response. I think that's actually pretty cool...and it's not like you're hurting for quotes.
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One thing I learned about German publishing that you'll be glad to hear: Cornelia Funke said that they have fixed prices--no discounts. That means your book will stay in hardcover longer and sell more. I can't remember if she said that they never go into paperback or if it just takes a long time for books to go into paperback. But either way, more hardcover sales.
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yeah, i'm coming out. Just for a couple days. My little brother, the one we didn't think even dated, is getting married on the 17th. It's in the morning and the reception isn't until the next day, so provided I got transportation, I'm free that friday night.
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Thanks for the heads up, sheesh, you know it takes us several weeks to hide the china and ferrets.
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you've got but 10 days. sorry. I was thinking about not saying anything, since I'd have to put pressure on you guys to gather at all. But, since I have to tell EUOL to blurb his own EUOLogy next week, I figured it'd come out anyway.
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Congratulations, EOUL! 17th is looking clear to my knowledge, but December is nasty with those ninja party invitations.
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Yeah, I actually might be OFF that day.
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I will be there two weeks later. Too bad. But if any of y'all are around then, I'll be there from the 29th-5th. (Old roommate's wedding on the 30th.)
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Hi Brandon,
I was wondering which German publisher bought the rights to Elantris?
Something to keep in mind about the German market. About 90% of all books published by the sf/f imprints are mass-market originals. Some publishers do trade paperbacks of the titles they expect to sell well and even fewer do hardcover editions of their most successful writers. Even Robert Jordan and Raymond Feist are released in mass-market paperbacks, Tad Williams, however, is released in hardcover and a major mainstream bestseller in Germany.
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Olaf,
German rights went to Heine. Thanks for the info on the publishers. Tell me, are there a lot of German fantasy writers? What percentage of books you see on the shelf come from foreign markets?
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Heyne (rather than Heine) is a good publisher. They do nice trade paperbacks for their most prestigious writers. Though no hardcovers.
I would say that between 90 and 95 % of all fantasy and science fiction published in Germany comes from foreign markets. Most of these from the US and UK. A small percentage from eastern Eurpean countries (Stanislaw Lem, Strugatzki brothers).
Olaf
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As I've grown to understand this business more, I've learned that a nice trade paperback can be as good as a hardback, at least from a marketing standpoint. Bookstores tend to keep them on the shelves longer than both hardbacks and mass market paperbacks, and the profit margins are very good on them. We're seeing more and more publishers over here turn to them for initial releases. Some believe that only Tor's overpowering presence in the fantasy market (and their insistence on hardbacks) keeps the US hardback fantasy market going so strong.
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Well, the recent Heyne trade paperbacks have been very successfull and several have made it onto the mainstream bestseller list. Stan Nicholls trilogy about Orcs for example was a huge bestseller over here. In trade paperback.
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I think that trade paperbacks are a nice compromise between quality and price. You get a nice-looking book that'll hold up for a while, and you pay usually under $10 for it, as opposed to $20-30. Especially working with a teen market (as I do), that means that if the teen has $30 to spend, she will be be able to buy 3 books instead of just one--or buy A book, and have money leftover for makeup, rather than having to choose between a favorite book and something else she wants to get. (insert "video game" or something for "makeup" if you're talking about a boy)
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Most trades I've seen are between $10 and $15. Course, those were in literary mainstream, so maybe that's why.
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very nice. Glad to hear it. Sorry I couldn't stay longer at the signing the other day in Poky. I've been hurting for sleep for a while now. Working at this hotel can keep a brother nice and tired some days... :-/
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I am really disappoint that TOR does not utilize the trade paperback more often. Three releases of Elantris would give Brandon more attention and sales than two. More book sales, more money in the pocket. And not only because of book sales. What is an author's earnings off of an eight dollar paperback? Between thirty and forty cents? When the author is likely to make close to ten percent with trade paperbacks. Of course the publisher would probably make a little more too, which is all the more reason to make the books available in trade paperback a full year before mass market.
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Tor is doing more and more of them, from what I understand. However, their current philosophy is to do the trade paperback THIRD, rather than second.
The idea is to do a big hardback release on a new book. Then, about a year later, do a mass-market to get as many copies of the book out there as possible to do publicity for the next hardback. Then, a few years later, release a trade paperback that can sit on the shelves for a while.
I've only seen them do this with a few books so far, but I think you'll see more in the future.
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Tor is doing more and more of them, from what I understand. However, their current philosophy is to do the trade paperback THIRD, rather than second.
That's quite interesting. It does make good sense. Trade paperbacks do have a better shelf life than mass-markets. They'd be in higher demand, too, once a mass-market run has come out. I guess I just hadn't thought much about the advantage of releasing the higher-quality PB before the lower-quality one.
But I agree that trade PB books are growing in the market. I'd much rather buy one of these, personally, than a cheaper PB copy.