Kevin's Watch

Creator wrote:

I'm Murrin wrote:I'm curious: Do you also buy a real copy when it's published? ARCs give no money to the author, after all, and are created from final uncorrected proofs, so still have errors.

Always. And usually several copies (Hardback, paperback, then eBook and audio.) I understand the economics and always want to make sure I am supporting an author whose work I read.

yes of COURSE he does murrin. (it feels weird to call you murrin again. heh. miss you on game )

and then now that I'M in the household you can pretty much double the amt of copies that turn up here. heh.

There's another one now on ebay, but the seller wants $100 for it:

www.ebay.com/itm/ARC-galley-Stephen-R-D ... 257f09da2e

Yeah, at least three have sold for $100, so do not expect price to go down anytime soon.

$100 is what I paid ... but ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

A number have ARCs and are chatting in the Last Dark Forum! If you want to join us - sign up!! But beware spoilers! So if ya wanna wait til October ....

I'd like to read it, but I suggest the creation of another thread for those who do get it to avoid spoilers.

There is a private Last Dark forum only available to those who ask, so noone will accidentally get spoilers - even from thread titles.

Who do I ask to get access to it?

dlbpharmd and High Lord Tolkien moderate that forum.

rdhopeca wrote:Who do I ask to get access to it?

I've added you, you will see it on the home page now.

rdhopeca wrote:Who do I ask to get access to it?

Instructions for how to see The Last Dark forum

First thread under the sub-forums in The Last Chronicles forum.

ah I had that! I was looking for the "chatter thread for ARC readers" mentioned by Creator

You know the real reason I'll never understand buying ARCs?

There are more good books out there than you will ever read in a lifetime, and more being released every year. Why pay so much to read one particular book just a few months earlier, when there's more than you could ever get through right there, at ordinary prices, to read while you wait?

Pay $100 for an ARC and read a good book now. Or put $20 away for the hardback, and spend the other $80 on 10 good paperbacks to read while you wait.

I completely understand that viewpoint, Murrin. For my own part, I would not spend such sums for an ARC, nor put myself through the emotional rollercoaster of online auctions to get one.

However, I surely could see no reason to refrain from adding my name to the list of those willing enter a random drawing for an ARC that another Watcher had finished and was gracious enough to pass forward. As luck would have it, I won that lottery. At the halfway point, I am enjoying the book greatly and will pass it forward once I finish and Menolly has read it.

Yeah, I can understand getting one like that. I was only referring to buying them.

I received an ARC of Hal Duncan's Ink a few years back because I signed up for a promotional website before its release.

I'm Murrin wrote:You know the real reason I'll never understand buying ARCs?

...

Pay $100 for an ARC and read a good book now. Or put $20 away for the hardback, and spend the other $80 on 10 good paperbacks to read while you wait.

Very good anlysis. But it assumes 1) that one has to make the trade-off; and 2) that there is no monetary value to getting it NOW (for those of us who are impatient.) For me ... if I want the "10 good paperback", I can still buy them (although I am listening to books now on my 1hour drive into work and 1hour drive home.) And for me, I will pay to have it NOW.

I do agree, others make other value judgements. Equally valid. It's all relative!

Whats an ARC?

Poliwrath wrote:Whats an ARC?

Advanced Reading Copy. The idea is that you send out these "uncorrected" copies of the novel out to reviewers so they can have a review ready for when the actual novel comes out.

They instead get sold on eBay.

So, if you can find a seller and are willing to pay the price, you can get many (though not all, I'd imagine) books ahead of publication schedule. The ethical issues (there is currently no legality issue) is that none of the money paid for the ARC makes its way to the publisher... and therefore, not to the author neither. They way out of this is to also buy a regular copy when it comes out.

Why buy an ARC? You get to know the ending ahead of time (and thus not have to worry about spoilers creeping in from jerkwads that do not keep their mouths shut). ARCs can also be collectible. Kinda like a lettered/numbered edition. Of course, most ARCs probably lose their value after the publication of the 1st edition.

Poliwrath wrote:Whats an ARC?

Thank you for asking, Poliwrath. I was wondering what an ARC was too but didn't have the guts to ask!

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.