It seems to me, in buying an ARC we take away sales from our good friend William. Both the real dollar of the sale and the sale as reported to the best seller agencies. In 2002 I bought the ARC of PR but then bought the hardback when it came out in February. maybe it's just me being an aspiring novelist, but I know I'd want all the sales I could get, especially from die-hard fans such as ourselves.

I dunno. It seems to me any fan die-hard enough to go out and buy an ARC is probably going to buy the hardcover, too. Maybe even a paperback copy or two. And of course some copies for signings.

I often wonder what cut authors and publishers get of second hand sales seeing that's how i buy most of my books. (Nothing, I suspect.) I never buy ARCs tho' - they're usually full of typos.

While I don't particularly like seeing them for sale, I don't think they're a threat to revenue. The hard core who'll know enough to look for them to buy them will likely also buy a legitimate first edition hardback at the store. Collectors will like having several variations, after all.

I hadn't even known the fuggin' things existed until Mr. Gibson blogged about them. I'd always suspected reviewers got advance copies of new releases, sure, but had simply thought they were express-mailed, catholic copies, identical to the containerloads being trucked at carload rates to the bookshops.

I'm a naif, obviously.

quote:

Originally posted by Mean Old Man:
I'd always suspected reviewers got advance copies of new releases, sure, but had simply thought they were express-mailed, catholic copies, identical to the containerloads being trucked at carload rates to the bookshops.

That is actually the way things work in Denmark.
Lots of reviewer's copies get sent to my new job. All of the fiction is up for dibs among the employees once the book is reviewed (or isn't)

I have no problems with the sale or re-sale of Advance Reader Copies, First Editions, Signed Copies etc. at premium prices, after a book has been published.

However, the couple of ARC copies on offer on eBay at the moment, ahead of publication, are frustrating and annoying.

Are ARCs numbered and traceable back to the individual alleged reviewer or critic ?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Memetic Engineer,

quote:

Originally posted by Memetic Engineer:

Are ARC's numbered and traceable back to the individual alleged reviewer or critic ?

One can only hope they're at least inscribed on the flyleaves...

To my dear friend Eurethra Chancre-Hoyden, with thanks for many years of favorable write-ups in the New York Review.

Enjoy the poodle, the Bovril, and the yacht!

Wm. GIBSON

quote:

Originally posted by Memetic Engineer:
Are ARC's numbered and traceable back to the individual alleged reviewer or critic ?

No

I hate to see ARCs being sold, but there is not a lot publishers can do about it. Policing the whole process would be next to impossible. Publishers technically give these copies away, (granted, with conditions attached) so the question of ownership is dicey.

The bigger problem in the industry is actually the overprinting of books, especially hardcovers. These are sold to booksellers (most of them, anyway) on a returnable basis. Since a 20- 25% return rate is considered good, there are always lots of copies in circulation filling the secondary and used channels.

quote:

Originally posted by RobW:
I never buy ARCs tho' - they're usually full of typos.

when was the last time you bought a non-ARC that didn't have a load of typos in it? i'm conscious of errors in just about every book published recently.

quote:

Originally posted by Mean Old Man:
express-mailed, catholic copies, identical to the containerloads being trucked at carload rates to the bookshops.

the 3 books i can think of that i ever got for review were the standard book shop copy, but then i was the internet reviewer rather than looking for cover quote reviewer, so its a different game.

I'm all for the Mad-Max-esque hijacking of the truck hauling the books, complete with Gromit and Bravus in torn leather jackets on dirt bikes, and pole-vaulting on to the moving trailerful of books.

There you go again, contributing to negative stereotypes of Australians. Next you'll be clubbing an aboriginal for his land and strangling a kangaroo for sport.

Oh, I've never clubbed an Indigenous Australian yet.

There's always a first time for everything. One day, when you're pissed off enough....

quote:

Originally posted by Mean Old Man:

quote:

Originally posted by Memetic Engineer:

Are ARCs numbered and traceable back to the individual alleged reviewer or critic ?

One can only hope they're at least inscribed on the flyleaves...

So there is potential scope for forensically examining them for Fingerprints and running samples through DNA or other genetic analysis, technologies which some of us do have access to.

so will I get yelled at if I say I bought one?

I bought the ARC for Pattern Recognition. I also bought the hardcover the day it came out.

I had a job for a short while working in a chain bookstore. They would send us ARC's of all kinds of shit. If the manager wasn't interested she would leave it for the rest of us. If no one was interested we would just throw them away, or give em to someone who was....

So it's not like they get sent to specific people all the time even, people you could run a trace on.

I view them as collectible materials. In some cases an ARC may also be easier to find than a copy of the actual release. They're part of the industry, part of the process. If you're interested enough to bid on one, you're probably going to get the real deal as well once it becomes available to you......

There's also the point too that very slight nuances can pop up between the final version and the ARCs.....

quote:

Originally posted by Archie:
so will I get yelled at if I say I bought one?

You will get yelled at if you say anything about the book (beyond "Spooktastic!") before the 2nd of August.

haha fair enough.

There are a few on ebay right now... picked up mine for a good price, but most are going anywhere from 90-120$