Archive for the ‘pre-orders’ Category

The Numbers Game

Readers often ask me where they should buy books from, whether I get the same cut from an audio or e-book as a physical copy, and when they should buy a book, because they are concerned with giving me the best deal, and sometimes with what it might take to push me into bestseller numbers. So I asked my editor about some things, such as:

There is a rumor that best-seller lists don’t count books that are sold early, only the ones that are sold in the official week of release. This is a question of some relevance, because my books are almost always on the shelves two weeks before release date. So: does it matter to the lists?

And the answer is yes and no. Almost everybody has to deal with the same soft release problem that I get (a hard release is like Harry Potter got: you were not gonna get that book before midnight the day it was supposed to come out). The NYT apparently aggregates the numbers/momentum over the first weeks of release, whereas USA Today evidently only counts books sold from the week of release (though if you buy it on the Sunday when it’s supposed to come out on Tuesday, that counts as the release week).

We looked at some of my numbers with some of the Walker Papers and concluded that there are enough early sales that it *could* affect my ability to get onto some lists. So ideally? Really, really ideally? My readers would torture themselves and not buy the book until the actual release day, and then everybody go out at once and buy it immediately. This, however, is asking a lot of readers, and I can’t corral everybody and release them all at once. :)

There is also a rumor that Amazon’s numbers don’t count toward any lists. That one is apparently more true than not, though apparently Amazon falls on and off in usage for the lists depending on how willing they are to release their numbers, which varies.

B&N.com, however, *does* count toward list numbers.

Amazon also *always* ships early unless it’s a hard release date. I don’t know if B&N does, but I gather B&N aggregates the numbers shipped anyway and lists them on release day/week. So–without biting a hand that feeds me–it’s probably of more use (not just me, but to any author you like) for readers to pre-order through B&N.com instead of Amazon*.

Now, all that aside, here’s the other vicious truth: I’d really need literally everybody who buys my books to buy them in the first week/month of release in order to have any hope of making seriously big numbers. I have wonderful, loyal readers who have given me an amazing career and have kept my books on the shelves for a long life, which is hugely, hugely important to continuing to do this for a living, but if I want to level up to the best seller lists**, something has to change.

Possibly what has to change is I have to write something different which catches fire, but that’s very hard to predict. :) In the meantime, though, the best I can probably do is hope to get something going that leads into a big splash for the final book of the Walker Papers.

Because we’re on the downward slope here, guys. There are nine books planned for the series, and the timeline is pretty much hell bent for leather from the start of SPIRIT DANCES all the way through to the end of book 9. It’s probably too late to rack up some kind of magic momentum for RAVEN CALLS, since it’s out in four weeks, but I (we, if I assume you’re in this with me) have two books after that to try to hit it out of the park.

*This is not a statement intended to make people with Kindles feel bad. If you have a Kindle, for heaven’s sake, buy a Kindle book. I get the *royalties* the same no matter what; this post is just about whether there’s hope for me to reach a bestseller status over the next few years. :)

**And I do. I have always been in this game to–for lack of a better phrase–win it, and my personal definition of “win” is not “beat the other guy” but “get onto the national bestseller lists”. There is nothing wrong with being a mid-list writer and I’ll take it if that’s what I forever land at, but my completely-out-of-my-hands goal is to have that awkward first name “New York Times Bestselling Author” preceding the already-on-the-covers “CE Murphy”. :)

What’s coming up in 2011!

2011 is, as usual, going to be a busy year. A taste of what’s coming up:

Book six of the Walker Papers, SPIRIT DANCES is up for pre-order at Amazon (but not Indiebound, or I’d link there too).

I’ve created a Ireland 2011 calendar. Zazzle’s got a 20.11% off sale on everything until Thursday, January 6th, so this is a good time to buy! Use “2011NEWYEARS” as the magic code.

I’ll be doing an Old Races short story project throughout 2011. This project will deliver 6 Old Races short stories to its patrons, starting in February. There is one caveat to this: if one of the stories gets out of control and decides to become a novella instead of a short story, I reserve the right to deliver 3 short stories and 1 novella instead of 6 shorts–it all ought to come out to about the same wordcount, either way.

This is a year-long project–you’ll be able to buy in up til midnight GMT on 31 December 2011, and will receive all the stories to date when you buy in.

The Old Races Short Story Project patronage window is now closed.

How to Write Magical Words

Editor and writer Edmund Schubert has put together a writing how-to book gleaned from the posts my fellow bloggers and I have done at Magical Words. It’s called HOW TO WRITE MAGICAL WORDS, and it is frankly awesome.

Seriously, that sounds all tooting our own horn (and it is), but the only thing I had to do with it at all was page proofs for my essays, so I hardly have a horse in this race. I did, though, end up skimming through everybody’s essays and information, and holy moly, we have some really, really good advice in there. I mean, really truly good stuff. Things that I wished I’d known when I was getting started. Things that are still insanely useful to learn now. I mean, like, I have a copy of this book and I want a copy of this book. That’s how awesome it is.

HOW TO WRITE MAGICAL WORDS is now available for pre-order through the publishers, and *believe* me, the writer in your life wants a copy. Plus, if you order it now, the publisher will ship it to you for a nickel, so the total cost of the book, including shipping, is $18.00 even.

They believe orders placed now *should* get to you by Christmas, and if not by Christmas by New Year’s at the latest, and what better gift for a writer than some brilliant and inspiring advice to usher in the new year and all those resolutions with? :)

DEMON HUNTS teaser!

First, I’d like to thank all of you who bought copies of “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”. The novella is now unavailable until I sell it to a traditional publisher, so I hope you’ve enjoyed it!

Second, I was asked recently to put up a page for my works in progress and my upcoming publications, so I’ve done that: 2010 Publication Schedule. It’s linked at the top of the page and in the inner sidebar, so hopefully people will be able to find it when they go looking, in the future.

Third–and I know this is what you’re all really here for–I’ve posted a teaser chapter for DEMON HUNTS, book five of the Walker Papers, due out in June 2010! Enjoy! :)

Cate Dermody novels available again!

I was going to make a posting saying “Look, so I’ve got about ten copies of THE FIREBIRD DECEPTION and about twenty-five copies of THE PHOENIX LAW, and I’d really kind of like to move them out of my closet and into somebody’s bookshelf. If you’re interested, I’ll sell ‘em for $5 each, plus S&H (which would be $7 for 1 or $13 for both) and yes of course I’ll sign them, let me know in comments or email me.”

Only, because those are the second and third books in the Strongbox Chronicles, and because I don’t have enough copies of THE CARDINAL RULE left to sell any, I went to Amazon so I could get a URL to point people at used copies, and instead found this:

Kindle editions of THE CARDINAL RULE, THE FIREBIRD DECEPTION, and THE PHOENIX LAW, all available as of Monday, February 15th.

And then I went to Barnes & Noble.com and discovered they will be available as of Monday, Feb 15 there, too!

Possibly this makes the physical book offer somewhat moot. However, look: they’re cheap on the Kindle and they’re really fun, fast reads, and I practically guarantee you’ll like them. Anybody know how to launch a massive e-book campaign to get people to go buy those? :)

ETA: All sold out of my copies of the Strongbox Chronicles! Thanks!

THE PHANTOM QUEEN AWAKES pre-order

Love, death and war…

The Morrigan goddess represented all three to the ancient Celts. Journey with our authors as they tell stories of love, war, hatred, revenge and mortality – each featuring the Morrigan in her many guises.

Re-visit the world of Deverry, and of Nevyn, with a previously unpublished tale by Katharine Kerr, watch the Norse gods meet their Celtic counterparts with Elaine Cunningham, meet a druid who dances for the dead with C.E. Murphy and follow the path of a Roman centurion with Anya Bast.

These are but a few offerings from the stories collection in The Phantom Queen Awakes. If you are searching for a rich blend of dark fantasy, then this is a collection perfect for you.

The Phantom Queen Awakes stories:
Rising Tide: Ruth Shelton
Kiss of the Morrigan: Anya Bast
I Guard Your Death: Lynne Lumsden Green
Gifts of the Morrigan: Donald Jacob Uitvlugt
Cairn Dancer: C. E. Murphy
Washerwoman: Jennifer Lawrence
The Raven’s Curse: Sharon Kae Reamer
Ravens: Mari Ness
The Lass from Far Away: Katharine Kerr
The Trinket: Peter Bell
The Dying Gaul: Michael Bailey
The Children of Badb Catha: James Lecky
The Plain of Pillars: L. J. Hayward
The Silver Branch: Linda Donahue
The Good and Faithful Servant: Martyn Taylor
The White Heifer of Fearchair: T. A. Moore
She Who is Becoming: Elaine Cunningham

N.B.: The Phantom Queen Awakes will be released 14th February 2010 in the US.

UK, Australian and European release dates to follow.

US: $20 + shipping

Chapters Bookstore & CE Murphy go international!

It is now possible to order signed & personalized copies of my books through Chapters Bookstore in Dublin, Ireland.

The catch to this is it’ll mean paying international shipping rates, which are stiff. On the other hand, I get to Dublin a lot more often than I get anywhere else, so it’s the best way to guarantee getting a signed copy of one (or many) of my books.

We’ll run this essentially the same way Neil Gaiman runs his Dreamhaven signings, which is to say I’ll drop by Chapters when I’m in Dublin and sign anything waiting for me, and the books will subsequently be shipped out. There will not be a pattern to this, although I will make a specific and deliberate effort to stop by Chapters at the beginning of December so that if anyone wants to send somebody a signed CE Murphy book for Christmas, it’ll get there in time.

Chapters doesn’t actually have an online ordering system, so to order my books you’ll need to contact shop@chapters.ie. To quote the lads at Chapters, One point to mention is that if people want personalised inscriptions they would have to pay in full in advance to protect us in the event of changes of mind etc. but I wouldn’t see that as being a major issue.

They *usually* have copies of all my books in. That said, however, it often takes about 10 days to get books from America to Ireland, so if you’re thinking of Christmas gifts, I would highly suggest getting orders in by mid-November in case they’re out of anything.

…and while I’m on the shameless self-promotion wagon, wouldn’t an Ireland 2010 calendar be a nice Christmas present for people? :)

Take A Chance pre-order

The Take A Chance graphic novel is up at Amazon for pre-order. The GN will include the original 5 issue story arc, plus the Free Comic Book Day issue, and audition art from various artists I’ve talked with over the past few years, as well as at least one essay about the road to publication. I’m interested to hear what other people might like to see as extras, so consider this your sound-off board!

For those interested in the individual issues, the Dabel Brothers Store has issues 1-3 available.