I'm not a fan! Mainly because of my own personal fear that the story will be accidentally (or intentionally) spoilt, or even a tiny bit of the story will be spoilt by someone, unwillingly or otherwise, and ruin or diminish my reading experience. We see often in the 1st and 2nd Chronicles forum where reference is made to the Last Chronicles. In most cases, there are no spoilers, but every now and then, some crop up. Maybe a new member will turn up that doesn't have the same awareness as other members here, and will blurt out the ending, or spoil a major revelation. It freaks me out just thinking about it!
I had planned to take a hiatus from the Watch when the Last Dark was released for this reason, but I'll probably have to do it much sooner just in case - or maybe confine myself to the safest parts of the Watch.... And I'm only just starting the Wounded Land in the grand re-read, so it could be some time before getting on to TLD knowing the pace I read books.
I had a browse on the GI regarding SRD's comments on ARC's, and this is what I found:
In the GI, SRD wrote:
Dave : Steve,
A recent GI reader wrote in to make you aware of a copy of Fatal Revenant that was on ebay. You said "I pity the fool that falls for that kind of nonsense". Curiosity got the best of me and I noticed there are several Advanced Reading Copies (ARC) on there. How many of these "ARCs" go out? Do they only go to reviewers? In your opinion, how do they end up on ebay?
Thanks.
SRD: Others know more about this than I do. It is my unconfirmed impression that publishers tend to produce between 500 and 1000 ARCs for review and other promotional purposes. But I could easily be wrong about those numbers.
How they end up on eBay is simple: the people who receive ARCs free (often reviewers, but book buyers and distributers, and sometimes even bookstore managers, can get copies) want to make money without having to work for it; or they give the ARCs to their friends, relatives, acquaintances, who in turn want to make money without having to work for it. In fact, there's a entire business enterprise out there that revolves around obtaining free ARCs and selling them for as much money as possible.
This is, obviously, a flagrant distortion of the purpose for which ARCs are intended. But there's probably no cure for the problem. Greed makes cynics of everyone it touches. Still, I remind myself that a comparatively small percentage of all possible ARCs are sold. Most people who get them don't accept them--or seek them out--for personal gain.
(09/10/2007)
In the GI, SRD wrote: John: Steve,
It's 9/21/2010 as I write this, and I find that I can actually buy AATE online at some U.S. book sellers. I will not buy, as I do not know if you will receive any compensation for these books; as the publication date is in October I wonder if these are stolen? Or perhaps some book sellers jump the gun to make a buck?
John
SRD: If you could actually *get* the book in September, it was probably an ARC (advance reading copy), and those aren't supposed to be for sale. (I certainly don't get any compensation.) But most legitimate online booksellers allow you to *order* a book several weeks before publication. In those cases, you won't *receive* the book until the publication date--and I *do* get my usual royalties.
(10/25/2010)
To each their own. I don't have a problem with others buying them per se. But for me it just means there are more people out there that could potentially spoil my reading experience come October.
)
