To Pre-order or Not To Pre-order? | Narelle Atkins

By Narelle Atkins @NarelleAtkins

There are no hard and fast rules, from a publisher/author perspective, on how and when to set up print book and ebook pre-orders.

Traditional Publishing and Pre-orders

Traditional publishers tend to set up long pre-orders, often many months prior to the book release date.

Book stores will order stock in advance of the book release. Retailers want the boxes of books to arrive at their stores prior to the book release date.

Distribution channels are set up by the publisher to encourage early orders from retailers and customers.

Independent (indie) Publishing and Pre-orders

Authors who publish independently have the flexibility to choose where they offer their books for sale, and whether or not they want to set up a pre-order for their book release.

For example, I set up the Kindle pre-order for my May 29 indie release (Solo Tu) at the start of April. Solo Tu is Book 7 in ‘A Tuscan Legacy’ contemporary Christian romance series.

Our Tuscan Legacy author group decided to release the books weekly, and we wanted all the ebooks to be available on pre-order for 99 cents (US) prior to Book 1 releasing on April 17. This gave our readers the option to pre-order all 9 books in the series at the heavily discounted price. The normal price is 2.99 (US).

Our marketing strategy, combined with the pre-order pricing strategy, has so far seen the new release ebooks rank in the Kindle Top 10 in the Contemporary Christian Romance category. This may not have happened if we hadn’t set up all the pre-orders weeks in advance.

Pre-orders and bestselling books

The pre-orders are added into the sales figures when the book releases.

For ebooks, this improves the initial sales ranking for the book.

For print books sold online and in stores, the availability of the book via retailers on the release date is important. If a shipment of print books doesn’t arrive at the stores in time, the book isn’t on the shelf for customers to buy on the release day. This could negatively impact the overall sales performance of the book.

Timing of Pre-Orders

I personally prefer my indie ebooks to release near the end of the month. The major ebook distributors pay monthly, and I get paid earlier if my release date is toward the end of the month.

Traditional publishers often release books early in the month, and Tuesday is a popular day for new book releases.

Price of Pre-orders

I’m going to use Amazon Kindle as an example of how pre-order pricing works.

Amazon guarantees their customers will be billed the lowest pre-order price for the Kindle ebook on the actual release day when the ebook is delivered to the customer’s account.

As a result, it’s illogical to increase the price of an ebook during the pre-order period. Decreasing the price during the pre-order period will result in all pre-orders dropping to the lower price.

Pre-release Book Marketing

A longer pre-order period provides publishers and authors with more time to market the book prior to the release date.

Endorsements can be collected to add into the final version of the book.

Authors can share the ebook with their street teams and bloggers and reviewers to create buzz and about the book before it releases.

NetGalley provides reviewers with an opportunity read books for review prior to the release date.

Advanced reader reviews can be posted on Goodreads.

Pre-order Deadlines: What happens if the pre-order deadline is missed?

There are negative consequences for publishers (including indie authors) who miss their pre-order deadline which results in the cancellation of the book release.

These consequences are outlined in the contractual arrangements with each book seller and distributor.

Book publishing is a business and it’s unprofessional to not deliver the product you’ve promised to your customers.

It’s disappointing for readers to receive the email advising that the book they’ve pre-order has been cancelled.

Indie authors have the freedom to choose how and when they publish. This freedom comes with responsibilities and obligations.

All publishers need to be realistic regarding the publishing deadlines they set.

They may choose to publish immediately once the final version of the book file is ready and not set up a pre-order.

They may choose to set up a pre-order once they reach a certain stage of the book production process and are confident they can meet the pre-order deadline.

What do you think of pre-orders?

As a customer, I love pre-orders. I subscribe to author newsletters primarily to keep track of their book releases. I pre-order early, knowing I’ll likely forget to buy the book later.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences with pre-orders from a publisher or author or customer perspective.

A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, NARELLE ATKINS was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle's contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia.

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What's the Deal with Book Pre-Orders? Part Two by Kara Isaac

A few weeks ago in Part One of What's the Deal With Book Pre-Orders I blogged about the first two reasons why pro-orders are important for an author - how they tell a publisher there is marketplace interest in the book and they tell retailers there is consumer interest in the book.

Today I thought I'd finish up with a couple of other reasons why they can be important if the first two didn't convince you :)

Pre-orders can influence whether an author receives another contract

These days in traditional publishing, the authors luxuriating in the security of a ten book deal are few and far between. Many authors have two or three book contracts. Because of the lead in time required to publish a book (anywhere from 12-24 months from the time a manuscript is turned in), for a two book contract publishers will often need to make a decision about whether to offer another contract before the second book has even been released in order to maintain the regularity of an author's release schedule. If the first book has exceeded expectations, the authors prospects are good. However, if the first book isn't on track to meet expectations then the level of interest in the second book can be a contributing factor to the decision.

I'm an author who's an example of this. I've signed a two-book contract with my publisher. Originally, the titles were going to be released 12 months apart but late last year the second book, Can't Help Falling, was brought forward so that it releases six months after my debut novel, Close To You. This is a great thing for the books because it is much easier to maintain momentum over six months than over twelve and the two stories are linked by some recurring characters (but also written to standalone). The downside is it means that there is a shorter period of time for my publisher to make the assessments they'll need to make about whether to offer me another contract if they want the option of having me release a book in 2017 given the lead time required so the first few months of sales of Close To You and pre-orders of Can't Help Falling will be a big part of what helps them to decide.

Pre-orders can catapult a book onto the bestseller lists

Have you ever noticed a book that unexpectedly leapt onto the bestseller lists its first week of sale? That's a book that has benefitted from a strong pre-order campaign. All pre-orders, regardless of when they are placed prior to the day of release, count towards a book's first week sale total. The hope is that, by having an extremely strong showing the first week, it will generate interest in the book and build momentum, keeping the book on the bestseller lists.

In my last blog post I mentioned a friend who had a novella that was part of traditionally published collection that released in March and how those authors fans made such strong pre-orders that Amazon ran out of "stock" before the title had even released. Last week the bestseller lists for March were published. The Cowboy's Bride Collection had places in the Top 10 of both the Publishers' Weekly religion list and the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publisher's Association) bestsellers list for the month. A rare feat for a novella collection when new collections are released every month by the publishers that specialise in them. And now all of those authors get to add the title "bestselling author" to their resume!

So there you have it. My big four reasons on why, if you're of a mind (and budget!) too, you should support all your favourite authors by pre-ordering their next book :) (and a big thank you to all of you out there who have pre-ordered mine!!)

Kara Isaac lives in Wellington, New Zealand. Her debut romantic comedy, Close To You, is about a disillusioned academic-turned-tour-guide and an entrepreneur who knows nothing about Tolkien who fall in love on a Tolkien themed tour of New Zealand. It will release next week (argh!) from Howard Books. When she's not working her day job as a public servant, chasing around a ninja preschooler and his feisty toddler sister, she spends her time writing horribly bad first drafts and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in New Zealand. You can sign up for her newsletter on her website or connect with her on Facebook at Kara Isaac - Writer 

Since you made it this far she should mention that if you pre-order Close To You by April 26 (at all the usual retailers including Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble and christianbook.com) you can go in the draw to win 1 of 15 advance copies of Can't Help Falling. See http://www.karaisaac.com/news/ for details :)