Cheers Ben. Just what I needed.



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If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.

hmm.. not sure about that psd. if it's someone like jasper fforde, bookshop buys it for sure, quantities depend on the sales of the previous thing. orion doesn't do proofs for michael connelly books (for the proof business reasons i guess) and bookshops still stock them in large quantities. there haven't been any proofs of 'being @#$%&' either ;)))))))

if it's someone you've never heard about, no one in the shop is going to read the proof anyway (unless you pick it up on your lunch break and think it looks alright... and sadly, it rarely does).

and, you get the proof when you're doing the sub for the book, so it doesn't really help. you have time to look at the jacket .. and you would see a picture of it anyway.

but, if i get the proof i want, i am instantly warmer to the person who gave it to me :) (which doesn't mean i sub in books i don't think we'd sell though)

as for lending the proofs :) not a chance with me, i'd be scared it would get lost in post/waterdamaged/people would like it too much to give it back/i wouldn't have it on me when mr. fforde comes in to sign/other possible dangers.
d

No, fair point - there are books that will sell a lot anyway. However Mr Ff's books don't fit neatly into a category, and the best way to shift TEA was to get people talking about it, and who better to influence than booksellers who loved books in the first place. So for historical reasons the TN books were sent about as proofs.

The other reason for proofs, of course, is to allow people to read them with enough lead time for reviews to be in the press as the book is launched, so there are certainly proofs of most books, just to get the advertising the need for bigger sales.



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

Yeah, I was going to mention that earlier, Ben (except the server crashed on me, derr!) - it's basically the same as in my line of business, whereby advance promo copies of albums are sent out to critics and potential distributors well in advance of their actual release so that reviews can be written and used in the publicity blurb.

Book publishing is in some ways lagging behind the music business still in that it's still driven primarily by major publishing houses - independent publishers have nowhere near the same clout as independent record labels do (yet), and publishing successes by word of mouth and via internet sales alone are still relatively rare. It's never less than entertaining watching the two worlds dancing ever closer to one another though.

I would like to take the opportunity to join in with the general teasing - a friend of mine managed to acquire a copy from the shop she works in.

After I prised from her fingers, I was able to read it on the condition that "if anything happens to it there's going to be _serious_ trouble". Well, that was the general gist of the message.

Of course, if it is going to be worth something, then maybe I'll keep it :)

I won't post anything like a spoiler, having seen the above comments, but it is great!

Can't wait until I can get my own copy now!

Oh, and before I go, I'm sorry but I can't resist nyahnyahnyah!!

See? That's the sort of mature attitude we appreciate round here. Hie thee over to the area of general stupidity and come and play...



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

i finished the proof the other day and thought it was the best since the eyre affair

Congrats on the Westernising Skiffle, btw - must have been fun.



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If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.

That's the one thing I really miss from not working on the fringes of the publishing industry - no advance copies or proofs!

But at least I was able to go nananananananana with WOLP!

Well, I got one of my ex-colleagues to send me one...

I'm halfway now...

And JAAAASPER if you are reading this...
WHy the need to explain things from the previous books as if this was a kids book where I always skipped the beginning where they always explained the same things again and again in each book of the series...

It's because they're supposed to be able to stand alone and that gives the somewhat uninitiated a chance to catch up.

Still, it is rather annoying for someone who has the whole lot and reads the whole lot... Besides, if it didn't explain i think it might make people want to read the others, otherwise they will know the story...

right, finished the first three now, going to make a start on something rotten. finally! love the adverts so far :)
if i'll fail my ancient greek course this year, i know who to blame (myself, of course, but mr. fforde has his bit in it too)

carla, i think people would read the others anyway. they're just too good to read just one.

d

maybe there should be a stand alone version and a version for those who have read the books a million times...sort of like collectors editions??

Looks like the next Next book is actually going to be called Nursery Crimes, a shame as I liked the sound of "The Great Samuel Pepys Fiasco"

Oooppps - my mistake it appears that Nursery Crimes isn't a Next book, but there may be a wait until TN book 5 - maybe even 2006!!!! WWWAAAAAHHHHH!!!!



Post Edited (07-16-04 11:26)

I received a proof also as a reviewer for Eclectica Magazine. I was thrilled to have it and devoured the thing in two nights! I thought it was just great and tied up a lot of loose ends quite nicely. But I've also loved all the books, just in different ways.

I wrote a review of Something Rotten for Ecelectica and it is up at Ecelectica.org for anyone to read. I don't have alot of spoilers in it, so you should feel safe going there. Mostly I just mention characters and that kind of thing. I wrote it more to dispute an earlier review of Well of Lost Plots than anything else.

Anyway, it is fabulous and you all have something great to look forward to!

i am looking forward to reading the book. things in my my life have not gone well. my mother passed away ,i am not working,and mybrother heath is not good. so i am looking forward to reading a funny book.

It's great - there's a little bit inspired by my very own sig line! How cool is that?