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To pre-order or not to pre-order

The first draft of Trust Me When the Sun Goes Down is done and off with my editing team now. This brings me to the question of picking a release date and whether or not to set up a pre-order period. I know a lot of readers like to do a pre-order because it lets you go ahead and get the book, and you don’t have to remember the release date, it’ll magically pop into your Kindle or whatever when it comes out. But Amazon and such require you to have the completed book to them ten days before the book goes live. So I’m thinking – wouldn’t you all just rather have the book ten days earlier?

I admit the last time I did a pre-order for Release Me When the Sun Goes Down, my overall sales numbers were down. The corresponding sales of other books was down as well (I usually see a bump in other sales when I have a new release out). It’s hard to tell if that’s because 30 days was too long of a pre-order period so it spread out my ranking too thin, or if people are getting tired of reading these suckers, or what.

What do you guys think? Would you rather I announce a release date, padding it with enough room to make sure I can have the book done in time and thus delaying the date by up to 10 days, or would you rather wait for it… wait for it… wait for it… go! When it’s live, but get it sooner?

16 Responses to To pre-order or not to pre-order

  1. Jana Gundy says:

    I’m okay with no pre order. Sure, it might be a tad easier, but not really. If you give me a release date, it’s there in my mind and I know exactly when to go buy it. Oh and there is NO WAY we are tired of this series. You crazy lady????

  2. Laveda Kasch says:

    I’m good with no pre order. Whatever way get it to me quicker!!

  3. K.L. Stevens says:

    I’m perfectly okay with no pre-order. It does make things easier for me (since it’s just auto-downloaded to my Kindle and I get a nice surprise on release day) but I suppose I’ll just need to start paying attention to what day of the month it is :)

    • Lisa Olsen says:

      I suppose the only difference is, you have to click when I announce it’s out, rather than when I announce it’s up for pre-order. As long as you see the post that it’s available, you should be okay either way. :)

  4. Michelle Chonko says:

    I pre-order! And I will never be tired of this series! I love it!!

  5. ebelyn says:

    I would rather have it sooner, so I vote no pre-order. And I could never get tired of this series.

  6. Ted Camer says:

    I’m good with whichever way is better for you. I usually preorder (so I don’t forget), but if I can get it quicker… quicker is better. Can’t wait…

  7. I’d rather have it sooner, so no pre-order for me. I’m a jUnKiE for the series. I guess that makes me a little biased. That said, I would do what’s best for your writing process. Your fans will support you either way.

  8. Douglas C. Meeks says:

    My situation is a bit different, I want/need preorder since yours is one of the few series I don’t get an ARC of and I try to have a review done on release day or as close to it as possible in most cases. It allows me to schedule what books I read when since I have around 100 in my TBR at any time.

    Obviously, none of us are tired of reading these books :)

    http://www.amazon.com/review/R2LKQ2ST7RUYGC/

    • Lisa Olsen says:

      I can understand scheduling your time since you’re so busy with so many other books, Douglas. But I guess I wonder, does it really make all that much difference if it’s only 10 days before? Doing it 30 days out did have a significant financial impact, so I’m not eager to try that again. Usually my turn around time is so tight (a book out about every two months) I don’t feel comfortable giving a solid date until I get it back from my chief editor and then I know how much time it takes me to complete the process. The only way I could provide a set release day earlier is to pad the date significantly and that leads to it coming out later, which seems to be unpopular. For example, I was guesstimating this book would be out around Sept 20th or later, but it’s looking like Sept. 9th instead. I know how busy you are with your schedule, so go ahead and pencil me in where you can. :)

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