Kevin's Watch

I am just gonna wait.

Good move Wayfriend! The only way they'll notice customers' displeasure is if you hit their bottom line... complaint calls rarely get up to the decision makers.

Amazon was uncommonly quick with sending my package, as FR came in today. There's goes any school-related reading.

WOW! Um, it just showed up!

Mine too....

Wayfriend wrote:FYI: I cancelled my Amazon order and bought my copy at Borders today (30% off!)

It's not that I'm in a hurry, but I didn't appreciate being picked for the "you get your book two weeks after everyone else, just because" plan. They didn't deserve my business.

Don't blame you, WF.

I intended to cancel when I called earlier but when they said it already shipped and that it was enroute from Richmond to here I figured I would give it another day. AND to top it all off, I still can't track it through my amazon account.

When to Barnes and Nobles and picked up my copy.. On the 9th.

Mine just arrived in the mail about 30 minutes ago. Im gonna have to wait though, I started rereading the gap series last week. Its a beautiful book though, just sitting there... beckoning to me...I dont know...aughh

Relayer wrote:If it won't fit in my mailbox (I live in an apartment) and the postman has to bring it to my door, will he be dressed like:

a) a Fatal Revenant (whatever that looks like)
b) the Forestal / Lord on the cover
c) a blonde woman wearing a red flannel shirt and jeans.

A Fatal Revenant just rang my doorbell.

And the answer to the quiz is: d) none of the above. If he only knew...

I have a date for coffee tonight... If it isn't very interesting, how fast do you think I'll be outta there?

I'm in a writing workshop, and the instructor's boyfriend is a big TC fan. I was distressed to know that he wasn't aware of FR's release.

There was a reasonable marketing push for ROTE (I thought it should have been more, but SRD did get a small article in Entertainment Weekly), but it doesn't seem that there has been any for Fatal Revenant.

On Amazon, FR hasn't cracked the top 100 bestseller list yet. Runes did up to 40 or 50. I'm concerned. I want SRD to get the credit he deserves for these books - not just critically, but also $$$.

I agree, Burgs. I think SRD is getting hosed by his publisher.

Absolutely hosed.

The cover art? Good lord. I like the subtlety in the tree and also in the robe of the "whatever it is" fella that's on the cover, but is that the best they could do? A Gandalf/Saruman clone? Why not have a hobbit wearing a ring standing next to him/it? Maybe Sauron's mace leaning against the tree. Perhaps a dwarf!

It ENRAGES me. The "iffy" cover art for the first two chrons (except for The One Tree - that was awful) was at least respectable and far better than the crap he's getting for the last chrons.

I couldn't agree more. Obviously SRD and/or his agent have no influence at Putnams - they were forced to change the title of Covenant 9, have bad cover art for FR, no marketing/advertising for FR....liked I said, he's getting hosed.

What's worse - for me at least - is that on Amazon the book has regularly been behind Goodkind's latest offering of melodramatic, self-righteous, oh-look-it's-new-magic-to-save-the-day excrement. When ROTE was released, SRD took backseat to whatever Brooks was releasing. I think they had competing books, same week. I could be wrong. This is worse. Goodkind is bananas. Seriously. Amazon has an interview with him posted on the product page for his new book. He makes crazy people look sane.

Goodkind's book won't be released until November 13. Pardon me if I'm offending anyone, and in all fairness I haven't read anything of his since the 2nd book because I'd rather slowly unsolder all "unsolderable" components of my PC while having my toenails painted by Edward Scissorhands than be subjected to that nonsense again.

I've done the best that *I* know how (which isn't much) to write a review on Amazon that encourages people to buy the book. I can only hope it works. As of today, two days after it's release, mine is still the only review posted.

Harriet Klausner, Amazon's #1 reviewer (and one of their worst), has a review posted on Barnes & Noble's website, but thankfully hasn't submitted her rubbish to Amazon. (Although at least it would be another positive review.)

Pardon my frustration.

Not only is the publisher-author connection a little funky, but also it's that the early success of one book in a series is loosely determined on the success of the previous book. So right out of the gate, FR was screwed. But now that people are reading it and getting a feel for it (and from what I've heard, it's an wonderful feeling), hopefully sales will pick up some more.

And although it's great that Amazon had to order more copies made, we unfortunately can't make any kind of quantitative statement about exactly how great that is. Maybe they were counting on what we would call a depressingly small number of orders.

One review after two days isn't that bad. Most people who immediately write review for books upon their publication haven't even read the books yet. Now if Burgs's review is the only one there in one or two weeks' time...then we have a problem.

Sometimes, a book's popularity (or likely popularity) can be judged by the amount of reviews - even if the number is small - that are submitted within the first few days of publication. It can speak to people who received ARCs and feel compelled to write a review, and also to people who bought the book on the day of publication, read it in 8 hours, and posted a review. Essentially, that all speaks to the fervor that a book creates amongst readers. It doesn't seem to be here for this book. As I said in a post above, a (supposedly) dedicated Donaldson fan didn't even know the book was out until I mentioned it.

The book is a difficult read. That's good for us - dedicated Donaldson fans. I worry about how others will receive it. Which is why, in my review, I tried to stick to the positive. I *had* to comment on the ten dollar words, though. He seemed to lay off of them in ROTE, comparatively, but wow, he found some more here. But who cares? I've been overlooking that (generally accepted by literati of all make and kind) flaw for 27 years. I just hope it doesn't alienate others.

What is encouraging that all twenty-one votes for the review have been "helpful".

And that cover art.... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

burgs wrote:The book is a difficult read. That's good for us - dedicated Donaldson fans. I worry about how others will receive it. Which is why, in my review, I tried to stick to the positive. I *had* to comment on the ten dollar words, though. He seemed to lay off of them in ROTE, comparatively, but wow, he found some more here. But who cares? I've been overlooking that (generally accepted by literati of all make and kind) flaw for 27 years. I just hope it doesn't alienate others.

He's been using them for so long that there really shouldn't be anyone surprised to see them. Hopefully no one started their Donaldson experience by reading Runes first anyway.

And that cover art.... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Even though I'm not crazy about it, I'd buy a book that looks like FR before I'd buy one of the books in the first two Chronicles with Sweet's covers (based solely on cover art). Total Gandalf rip-off? Absolutely. Bad for business? Eh...probably not.

I don't know if you've finished the book or not. If you have, and feel that he hasn't gone beyond his usual "allowance", then we can amicably agree to disagree. If you haven't, well...you might agree with me. Maybe not. Personally, I think he went way overboard.

Given that I saw Sweet's covers when I was 14, and desperate for something that allowed me to delve into any fantasy (thanks to Tolkien), I'm not sure that I'm the best "critic" of them. But I'm looking at the cover of The Power That Preserves right now - the whole book itself glowing radioactive green, all of them on the "promontory" of the Colossus, dead Elena with the Staff, Covenant on his knees, Foamfollower locked in captivity to dead Elena's Foul induced madness, his muscles SURGING, screaming to break free...

I'm not a fan of Sweet, but that was a GREAT cover.

On a different note, we know that SRD enjoys better sales in the UK, and the pound is kicking the dollar's behind. That is obviously good for him, and somewhat sates my frustration with this stupid, rigid, American audience.

burgs wrote: I've done the best that *I* know how (which isn't much) to write a review on Amazon that encourages people to buy the book. I can only hope it works. As of today, two days after it's release, mine is still the only review posted.

Oh was that yours burgs? What I read was nice (though I have to admit I aborted pretty quickly as I'm terrified of anything that could even remotely lead me down the "I figured out a spoiler" path.)

burgs wrote: Harriet Klausner, Amazon's #1 reviewer (and one of their worst), has a review posted on Barnes & Noble's website, but thankfully hasn't submitted her rubbish to Amazon. (Although at least it would be another positive review.)

Pardon my frustration.

My god is that hag still #1? I was an avid reviewer back in 2001 and she was the king back then as well.. sheesh. Still writing crap though? ah well, there is some good in consistency.

If anyone (who doesn't have FR in front of them) is interested in my brilliantly entertaining reviews.... www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/AL ... iew&page=1

By god I hoped I'd have FR by this weekend.....

tchuss,
stutt