Although I don’t generally reprint e-mails, I hear about this often enough that I thought I’d take the opportunity to answer it generally. I doubt the letter writer will mind:
Yesterday, I went to the Sunrise Mall in Massapequa to look for Tong Lashing. When I asked in Waldenbooks about it, the clerk said, “Oh, we only order it on special order.” When I asked why, he replied “Well, they don’t sell as well as his Star Trek books.” I went upstairs to the B. Dalton and got a similar spiel about only ordering it on special order. So my question is… is it better to encourage one of these places to stock your books in the future by placing a special order with them…. or is it better to “punish” them by giving my business to a store that did bother to stock it?
Yes, welcome to the glamorous life of a successful author, where branch buyers and clerks create self-fulfilling prophecies by not ordering or stocking your books and then saying they don’t sell.
As annoying as it may be, the truth is that yes, the only way to encourage stores to carry my books is to special order them, because they keep track of what people order and adjust accordingly. They can’t keep track of it when you get annoyed and just order it off Amazon.
Understand, it’s not your job to try and reeducate bookstores. You don’t want to wait for the week or two it’ll take for a special order, I understand. But if folks are asking me what’s “better” (meaning, presumably, what benefits my career) then yes, special ordering the book is preferable.
PAD
• 
And that is exactly why I order through Amazon. It’s worth spending a little extra in terms of shipping to save me all that aggravation.
My FLBS has it, and they do mail order – http://www.spacecrime.com/
I work in a b.dalton and I order in 4 or 5 copies of books that I enjoy so I can handsell them., if you want the books you want at a bookstore…get a job! by the way your star trek books are always in stock and sell well. Not because of me (I like everything you do but am not a startrek fan)
By the way david if you want to do something about getting the books in stores, start going to random bookstores talk to the manager and tell them that you would love to sign the books they have, more often than not they will start to carry your books no matter how unknown an author you are. Takes less time then a book tour.
Well, that really stinks. I’ve been to three bookstores here in the Charlotte, NC, area and couldn’t find a copy at any of them. I thought I was just there before the book was actually released, but I’m thinking differently now. I’ll have to go in and special order at the closest bookstore, give them a little encouragement.
Good luck with this, PAD.
1) I buy most of my books through the comic shop I get my comics from (Best Comics on Northern Blvd, if you live in or near Queens NY). Diamond carries most of the books I want so I can get them easily through the subscription service, & it allows me to support my comic shop.
2) Another thing you can do is, after buying the book, send a copy of the receipt to the home office of the bookstore who wouldn’t carry it with a note saying why you bought the book from their competitor. They get enough of these maybe they’ll re-examine their order processs.
FWIW, the Barnes & Noble in Seattle, WA has Tong Lashing prominiently displayed in the new SF/Fantasy section.
Peter it took me two bookstores before I finally found Tong Lashing. B. Dalton, nope. Barnes and Noble, nope. Finally at Books a Million they had one measly copy which I bought.
You would think with these chains that have thousands of books they could at least have more then one copy of your book!
I did just what you suggested and placed a special order for Tong Lashing, of course I did this before you suggested it (Friday), my book should be here either tomorrow or Wednesday.
My order is through Waldenbooks from the same store that I found they had Knight Life listed under the author David Peter. I’m gonna get these people to carry your stuff yet. 🙂
jeff
I looked first in the WaldenBooks in the mall here in Puyallup (dont even try pronouncing it) WA,couldn’t find it. I inquired about it and they gave me the special order line.
Then I went to a nearby Borders and they also didnt have it on the shelves. When I asked about it, it turned out that they had it in the storeroom, but hadn’t bothered to put it on the shelves yet.
But I thought it was very strange that I couldnt find it in two different bookstores without having to ask for it. I guess I wasn’t alone.
By the way david if you want to do something about getting the books in stores, start going to random bookstores talk to the manager and tell them that you would love to sign the books they have, more often than not they will start to carry your books no matter how unknown an author you are. Takes less time then a book tour.
I tried that in several different book stores. Except for the stores where I already shop, they all said the same thing:
“No thank you. If you sign them, then we can’t return them for credit.”
PAD
I am an assistant manager at Waldenbooks in Muskogee, OK. We don’t control what we initially get in the store. We recieve shipments Mon-Fri and are as suprised as you with what we get.
Special Orders are a reliable way to get your books. It does take about 5-10 business days but it guarantees that you will get a copy. It is also a way for booksellers and managers to guage popularity for a book. If I get 1 or 2 people wanting a book you can sure bet I will order books for my store.
Talk to your bookstore before a book comes out that way they can have it when it comes out.
p. s. Peter I would love it if you would do a book signing at my store!
Kevin said:
And that is exactly why I order through Amazon. It’s worth spending a little extra in terms of shipping to save me all that aggravation.
Kevin, I understand your predicament, but as someone who works at two independent bookstores, I wish you would consider special ordering it from an independent store. Yes, it does take longer, but most stores are willing (and if your local store isn’t, then well, the point is moot.) to get you one, and it may put them in the mind to take a look at other stuff by Peter and others. I’m going to encourage the buyers at my stores to get these books, as well as Greg Rucka’s new one, not just because they are good books by good people, but because I can “hand sell” them because I’m familiar with them. Some stores may not be able to do so, because of a small staff or not being able to keep track of all the new releases (to wit some may say “Why are they selling books?” which is just an asinine question). Chain bookstores tend to work more off of “plan-o-grams” that lay out their displays for them and have buying decisions made from corporate headquarters or a regional buyer. Independent stores tend to be more flexible in their shelving an ordering. Let them know what you want, give them the opportunity to compete, because small bookstores need all the help they can get. Amazon may be great for some things, but people will be changing their tune when they are the only game in town. Ask any town that’s had a Wal-Mart eat up all its small businesses.
And Peter, that’s craziness about the “not being able to return signed books.” I’ve returned signed books to Ingram (one of the largest book distributors, as I’m sure you know), so it sounds like you were had, which is a real shame. Any time you want to do a signing at one of my stores, I’ll see what strings I can pull (if you can make it out Ohio way)
Well, at least you get paid for the stuff you publish…
I haven’t been to the bookstore in a few weeks, so I can’t speak to Tong Lashing, but I had a similar problem with the new version of Knight Life that was put out awhile back. The local Chapters/Indigo/etc refused to stock the hardcover edition because they were concerned that they wouldnt sell. The local independant that specializes in Science Fiction and Fantasy books brought in a few copies and consistently sold out. When the mass market edition arrived, word of mouth from the indie bookstore’s sales had resulted in such a buzz that even Chapter’s/Indigo stocked a few copies of the paperback, and yes, those few copies are selling quite well.
The moral of this story is that I am spending alot more of my book money at the independant store that specializes in Science Fiction and Fantasy books. They carry what I want, when I want. I have diplomatically suggested to the big bookstore in my area that they should carry books like Knight Life and Tong Lashing, but I also worked for the big bookstore for almost two years, so I know what their buying philosophy is like. They buy only the books that will sell large quantities in the short term. Just about the only long term consistent sellers they are interested in are the classics, the kind that get assigned as school reading projects. It’s sad really, most science fiction and fantasy books don’t sell large quantities, but they do sell consistently over a number of years. I guess this is the reason why the SFF section of my local big bookstore is getting smaller with each passing year.
I was having the same problem with Knight Life
but they had Apropos and Woad in HC so I’m hoping, but my birthday’s a week away so i’ve been requested to wait before doing some ordering
It also may be, for some you, a case of being patient, in that your store(s) may just not have gotten their copies yet.
I’ve decided to switch from B&N to Waldenbooks (a mall location is closer), but I’ll likely have to make more trips, as books seem to arrive at different times for the series I read.
Unfortunately for PAD, I’m not getting his Apropros books in hardcover, but I picked up the first two in paperback… now it’s just a matter of when I can get around to reading them.
But I anxiously await the new NF, and I hope that the Waldenbooks here gets the hardcover, because I might actually pick that up. 🙂
Peter, could you do me a favor and slap the person at S&S responible for the electronic versions silly? They’ve got the Palm version out (which is worthless to me), but not the Adobe (also worthless to me) or Microsoft Reader versions (the latter being greatly desired by me :-).
PAD, That’s odd that they don’t like you signing your books, at the B&N I work at the CRM and other managers are always very cool about having authors sign their stuff. All they ask is that you prove you’re you, and out comes a pen and stickers for the books.
In the case of Books-a-Million, it’s possible to find the book on their web site, print the page, and the next time you’re at the store, hand the page to the clerk. If it has the ISDN number, it’s easier for them to order. (Now, if it were possible to order on-line for delivery to your local store, and thus save on shipping…ah, well, that would require something beyond a businessman’s mentality.)
i go to the bookstore on a weekly basis. well ok so i pick my sister up for lunch once a week and hang around in there reading things and getting 30% off books.
we’re a small city in new zealand but this store gets its fair share of book signers – nzer authors fare much better (speshly if they sports people).
regarding the signing of books. publishers will not rebate books that have been signed and not sold. you get quite a few books that if they don’t sell within so many months get returned back to the publisher so they can be reimbursed what they paid for them. thus freeing up their shelves for something new that may or may not sell.
the downside to being in a small city is that you never get a lot of new stuff on the shelves until the head office deems this branch has empty enuff shelves – they believe they can’t sell as many books. so the branch encourages orders from customers. my sister has regular customers that she knows on a first name basis for you guessed it – mainly sci fi/fant related stuff. i take great advantage of this and try and order what i can (and get my 30% discount). however i tell them they suck when they don’t have certain books. they’ve gotten used to me and will encourage me to buy it from another bookstore in the big city if they have it.
one handy thing is the shared databases they have so if they don’t have it maybe another bookstore down the road has some copies left and offer to have it sent over or you can run down and get it yourself.
as you can tell i write a lot of crap, i’ll end it here 😛
oh forgot something.
maybe these idiots (stores) don’t realise that your books are sought after and will be bought (see other ppl’s reasons stated previously).
SOLUTION?
this is probably better for you large groups of americans but here goes. collectively decide on a target – one bookstore in one area in particular. and then all of you troop in (not at once otherwise that would be suspicious) and ask for random (or specific cause i’m sure you’re after something in particular) peter david books. i’m sure after 4 kazillion requests they might get off their butts and take notice…
Timmy: er gus, this is the 22nd person who has asked about this peter david fella. maybe we should look at ordering his next book.
Gus: yeah sure timmy. hey weren’t he that one who wanted ta come in and sign his book?
once that store has been “enlightened” pick another target.
trust me, they won’t even see the train coming 😛
Andrew Timson said:
Peter, could you do me a favor and slap the person at S&S responible for the electronic versions silly? They’ve got the Palm version out (which is worthless to me), but not the Adobe (also worthless to me) or Microsoft Reader versions (the latter being greatly desired by me :-).
The Palm reader software is available for Windows and Macs, so you can read the e-books on your desktop/laptop/PocketPC if you want to. What type of computer do you have?
>i’m sure after 4 kazillion requests they might get off their butts and take notice…”
That often only works with ‘independent’ shops. I’ve spoken with managers of ‘chain’ shops and their reply tends to be “head office hundreds of miles away sends us boxes of stuff and tells us ‘sell!’ We don’t have any control as to what comes in from the loading dock.”
>Amazon may be great for some things, but people will be changing their tune when they are the only game in town. Ask any town that’s had a Wal-Mart eat up all its small businesses.
Quite so. A big part of the reason why I eschew both Amazon and Wall-Mart. I’d rather have a few real shops left to go and browse in. That was, after all, how I found my first Peter David book (ROCK AND…) over 12 years ago.
As for Wall-Mart and the like, there’s also the problem of often untrained or very ignorant staff. Just for a laugh I once went into a Wall-Mart here and had a look at their home electronics section. It was bigger than some stereo specialty shops I’d seen. They had a grand total of two, count ’em (and I did), two staff, neither of whom could answer even relatively basic questions on the stuff they carried.
Low prices are all good and fine, but that doesn’t help if you’re sold something which doesn’t do the job because the staff didn’t know what they were talking about.
B&N in Ocoee, FL had the new book, and the earlier books on the stand as you walk in. It wasn’t a tower of books, but there were half a dozen of the new one and a couple of the earlier books. Very prominent.
I saw several copies of Tong Lashing at 2 Barnes & Noble stores when I went to buy Woad to Wuin in paperback. My favorite B & N, at the Mall of America, had a pretty strong section of your work, not only the Star Trek books but your comic book adaptions and a few reprints of Psi-Man.
I buy about 80-90% of my books online (mostly from BAMM.com) anymore. They almost always have what I want, I get up to 37% off the cover price and FREE shipping on orders over $25 (not hard to do). I used to spend, literally, hours on end browsing bookstores. Now I’m lucky if I spend two hours a month in an actual bookstore and most of that is in used bookstores.
I used to think that if I kept special ordering titles by a specific author from the bookstores that they would actually carry future titles by that same author. Not so. I tried to get my local Waldenbooks to carry the reissues of Max Allan Collins Nathan Heller series but they would only special order the one copy for me because “We don’t sell any of his books.” Of course you don’t! You don’t carry them! An interesting note though. One B&N manager thought that he only wrote movie adaptations and wasn’t aware that he wrote mysteries.
As someone who has done two different stints in bookstores I can tell you that it is difficult to get the corporate buyers to deviate from the plan-o-gram. If you order in 10 copies of your favorite author’s book and manage to sell each of those they will look at it as an abberation. I was actually asked to run all future orders through the manager in the future even though I sold the books I ordered. That’s just one reason I gave up working in bookstores. The other is that you can’t make a decent living at it. They don’t care so much about knowledgeable booksellers any more. They just want people who can sell those book club membership cards. Wow, what started out as a short note turned into a rant. Sorry.
I’m proud to say that in podunk lil ole Columbia, Missouri, our local Barnes & Noble has several copies of TL. In fact they have just about all your books that are in current print. Yea for college towns! Go Tigers!
Kevin, I understand your predicament, but as someone who works at two independent bookstores, I wish you would consider special ordering it from an independent store.
I agree. Independent stores are one of the last vestiges of true America. The chain bookstore is about volume, while the independent is more about love of books (at least in the cases that I’ve found).
We had a great indy book store here in the city (we have one left…) but B&N decided they wanted to take over.
So a mile north and a mile south of it they opened a B&N, effectively driving the indy out of business.
This was six years ago, and i still refuse to go to the B&N.
That’s corporate bullying.
Travis
One of the local stores here has had Tong in every time I’ve been in there.
The other has never had any of PAD’s work in it. (It’s a much smaller store.) Of course they have ordered several of his books for me when I ask but I’ve never seen any of them on the shelves.
Well, fortunately, they had a copy out here in Dallas, at the Barnes and Noble near work. Unfortunately, it was copy 1 of 2. So I seriouly depleted the pool out here. But they did have copies of Spider-Man and Hulk on the shelves.
Which location was that, Sean. Dead presidents allowing, I plan on picking up either One Knight Only or Tong Lashing this weekend. Since I’ve seen a fair number of the former on the shelves around here, it might be best to go after the latter. And, knowing a good location to start will help.
I doubt the letter writer will mind
Don’t mind at all. And yeah, I meant better for your career (but also better for me, since I like your writing, and this will presumably help ensure more of it).
Anyway, I’m gonna take your advice, head out to Waldenbooks later, and ask them to special order it. Heck, maybe I’ll make a habit of it, trying to find bookstores that don’t stock my favorite authors and special ordering from them 😉
I don’t think I’ve even seen a copy of Tong Lashing at my local B&N (I didn’t even know it came out until I read about it here). I find this odd because this particular B&N does have a lot of copies of PAD’s recent paperback versions on display. I guess they could have just sold out of the HC and never retocked. Who knows.
Keep in mind most book stores are run by frustrated english lit majors who have nothing to sustain them in life but their own pretentions and snobbish attitudes. Might be part of the problem….
Amazon and Wal-Mart know as much about selling books as McDonalds knows about what makes a good hamburger and Sonny’s knows about good barbecue. I’m saddened that anybody frequents any of them. Wherever you live, support local businesses! Your dollars are best kept in your own community than in some corporate office on the other side of the country!
–Grant
I still envy you lot in the U.S. as far as books are concerned. We have two major chains in Canada, Chapters and Indigo. The latter bought out the former (though still keeps SOME shops open under the same name) and has bought a couple of the smaller chains. To make the matter of limited choice even worse, Chapters [and thus Indigo] owns controlling interest in Canada’s biggest book distributor, thus ensuring they’ll get even better ‘sweetheart deals’ from the publishers and screw the independents. There was a suit launched a couple of years ago over that, but I think it’s still dragging in the courts.
to the consumers out there,
(Long winded explanation follows, skipping to next enrty understood)
I work for a large grocery chain here in the USA (I won’t say which one), and can explain a little about how hard it is right now in the retail market to special order items, even though a customer may request it.
The store I work at was VERY customer satisfaction oriented, and had a person assigned to handle special orders. This often involved “one time only” purchases meaning that we couldn’t bulk order these items. The mentality was that even though you may have only broke even, or even LOST money on the sell, you gained a satisfied customer.
Unfortunatly, times have changed. Thanks you, Wal-Mart, Books-A-Million, etc. With the KKR / Ron Perlman slash and destroy mentality dominating the stock market, EVERY company has to maximaze profit from every last dollar. If a company is publicly traded, then a bulk-purchased item with a 30 percent mark-up wins over a locally purchased item with only a 1 percent mark-up. Also, most chains want each store to be similar in design to others in the chain, in order to make a “new” store seem familiar. Additionally, there can be legal reasons for certains items being stocked vs other items.
Let me give you an example that’s extreme, but it illustrates several points. Most large chains that carry cigarettes, have NOT paid for the display racks. These are usually purchased, installed, and initially set by a cigarette company. The contract between the companies state very specific terms, including location, size, and what will be stocked where. (If you’re curious which company paid for the display, it’s the one with all of their products at eye level). Of course, the retail company gets to keep a certain percentage of space for other brands, but the cigarette company didn’t get to be number one by making enough space for their competitors, so now the retail store has to choose what it will or won’t carry. The company that offers the best mark-up gets the most availble/preferred slots and on down the line. Additionally, federal, state, and local laws have to be adhered to as well, which means that you can’t get farmer Joe’s smokes that were grown locally, no matter what price a customer is willing to pay.
And I’m sorry to say that with the market economy continuing its centralization, things will only get worse.
End of lecture.
PS. Just finished re-reading my hulk collection after many years of neglect. Peter, your run was the only one that held up to my “nostalgia factor”, meaning that it was as good as I remembered. Thanks
The Palm reader software is available for Windows and Macs, so you can read the e-books on your desktop/laptop/PocketPC if you want to. What type of computer do you have?
I read stuff both on my WinXP machine and my Pocket PC. (I didn’t know that there was a Pocket PC version of the Palm Reader available.)
That being said, I’d still prefer to keep all my books in one basket, as it were. Fortunately, I just bought S1-3 of B5, so that should keep me busy for at least a little while.
I’m a recent convert of your books (literally…like 4 days ago I read Woad to Wuin) and since then I’ve devoured Tong Lashing (which I found in my local B&N as well as more than one Waldenbooks). MY problem is that I can’t find “Sir Apropos of Nothing”! I’ve read books two and three, but not one.
To me, this points out that people are discovering your books…why else would all the copies of the first book be gone? I checked at least 3 different stores that I can remember…B&N, Waldenbooks, and Borders…and not one had a copy. 🙁 Although, the paperback Woad to Wuin is prominently displayed in B&N, and Tong Lashing isn’t THAT hard to find (for me, in the Chicago suburbs). 🙂
Anyway, just wanted to say that. Also, I intend to start a small revolution on my message board by introducing your books to my posters…I already converted half the Anne Bishop fans to Jacqueline Carey fans and Robin Hobb fans, so I might as well try to make them Peter David fans as well! 😉
Yet another club for my “Retailers are idiots” bag.
“I never order those because they don’t sell.”
Well gee, Wally, I wonder why?
Ok,
I’ve exchanged notes with PAD before, he knows I work for a Waldenbooks in Wyoming. We should have received Tong Lashing yesterday (the truck it was on being delayed in Salt Lake City over the weekend). We get all of his books as they are released. Some necessary clarifications:
1) The stock carried and the amounts of initial orders are determined by the store’s history of sales: for that author, for the store’s sales in that category/subject, for the guesstimated potential sales of the author trying something different. Apropos sold well in paperback, Woad has done okay, TL we’ll see. The Spider-Man and Hulk novels sold initially but not steadily for the long term. Knight Life? Not a bite. The Trek titles always sell.
2) Any clerk at any of the chain stores who has been shown the keystrokes can supplement what the buyer and the computers have ordered for their store. I have never heard of any kind of repercussion or complaint and I fight that system all of the time. If you can show that the item sells in your store, then you can have it. At some of these stores there is every chance that no one on the staff is very familiar with SF or PAD in particular. If they get asked for an author enough times, they will order at least the new title for the shelf.
3) Tong Lashing will have only shipped over the last couple weeks. The unfortunate fiscal reality is that mostly the chain stores have to wait for the book to get to the company warehouse and then send out the big consolidated shipments. If the publisher expected big enough sales, then the book would have had a street date and we would have all had it in advance to put out on that day. You might just need to give it time to get to the store.
4) I’ve never bee told that signed books couldn’t be returned. We never tell an author no.
5) No one staff can know all of the authors and simply having the books on the shelf isn’t enough to guarantee that they will sell enough to justify the space they receive ex: Nathan Heller complaint above – the staff didn’t know the books. We got a couple of those after Road to Perdition hit the theatres. They never sold, partly because that style doesn’t do well at our store. And I did know the series and the author.
6) Yes the membership cards are important to the chains. You don’t see much evidence of loyalty from a lot of the customers. If they make a little financial commitment, it might make them come back to the place they got the discount card a little more than anywhere else.
7) So you bought one of the two copies. The computers are pretty well trained to place replenshment orders on new titles that sell. And most stores are happy to sell more.
Peter, you’ll be happy to know that I happened to stop by the Barnes & Noble in Paramus, NJ this morning, and copies of all of three of the Sir Apropos books were happily nestled on the top shelf, right on the end near the aisle- and copies of the Hulk novelization, cover facing out right next to them.
Thanks to all who participated in the above discussion. As an occasional writer, I found some of the comments, particularly by those in the book trade most illuminating. I sometimes think that with the obvious exception of Harry Potter and maybe a few others, most SF/fantasy books are pretty much placed in their own little area and that’s about it. I remember Terry Pratchett telling me that his agent once in a bookstore when Thief of Time was number one on the London Times best-seller list for the past three weeks. Seeing a large display in front of the store featuring the current top ten releases, the agent inquired about why Thief of Time wasn’t there. He was told by an assistant, ‘Because we don’t let it out of the science fiction department!’ Bear in mind that pretty much all of Pratchett’s books hit the number one spot in the UK.
I also think there’s a lot to be said regarding Peter’s comments about self-fulfilling prophesies: the book isn’t in the store because it doesn’t sell, but it can’t sell if it’s not in the store. A few years ago, my wife and I wrote a book about Blake’s 7, which had quite good reviews, and sold out its first printing reasonably quickly. The publisher went to a second printing, but the book disappeared from stores soon after that. But it was still doing well at conventions, and one fan website in particular continued to sell them at a steady trickle, month in, month out. The second printing sold out, but the publisher decided not to go back to press. Bear in mind, this is with the show’s 25th anniversary coming up, as well as news about a possible B7 revival. How do you argue about that kind of illogic?
I can finally commiserate with some of the previous posters, who stressed the importance of buying books from independent dealers as opposed to the bigger chains. While I’d love to say I buy exclusively from the small shops, economic reality dictates that I often have to buy from the big boys. If I see a new $28 hard cover discounted by 10%, I’d probably have to wait for it in paperback. If it’s discounted 40%, I can probably afford it. When the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Absolute Edition (which I heartily recommend by the way) came out some weeks ago, my local comics shop was selling it for the $75 list price. Same in a couple of other shops. I went on Barnes & Noble online, where it was eventually discounted down to a little over 50 bucks with a reader’s advantage card and a five-dollar coupon. Plus, by buying another book at the same time, the shipping was free. I was now able to buy a book that I would regretfully would have had to pass up, at least for the time being.
Finally, here’s a bit of information I picked up while in London several months ago. There was an article either in the Times or the Evening Standard about how publishers regularly had to pay kickback to the major chains such as W.H. Smith, to get their books placed as ‘Pick of the week,’ ‘Manger’s Choice,’ etc. Do any of the bookstore people who commented earlier have anything to say about this? I’d be interested to hear more about it.
I just went to Barnes and Nobles tonight to pick up “Tong Lashing.” They had five copies of “Tong Lashing” (well, now four…), three copies of “One Knight Only”, three copies of “Knight Life”, two copies of “Woad to Wuin” and one copy of “Sir Apropos of Nothing” plus several copies of “The Hulk” and “Spiderman”. (Yes, I counted. I saw this thread earlier today so figured while I was there I’d check it out. Yes, I need a life, I know…)
I know I’ve tried to get books at Waldens and B. Dalton’s, but their selections around here are very limited. This seems odd considering I know that Waldens owns Barnes and Nobles and B. Dalton’s owns Borders (or is it the other way around…?) I’m not into online shopping, so it’s usually if I find it, great! If not, *shrugs* I’ll try again later.
I’ve been going to my local Barnes and Nobles to get books for nine times out of ten they have copies of what I’m looking for. I purchased a copy of “One Knight Only” for a friend and decided to buy a copy of “Gilgamesh” for her to read first. The local Barnes and Nobles had plenty of copies of “Gilgamesh” and a variety of different translations while the local Waldens didn’t carry the classic epic at all.
I guess it’s just the luck of the draw. This happens for not only booksellers, but music stores, video stores… Guess we just can’t expect everyone to carry everything. ^_^;;
I wasn’t sure when this book was coming out, so I went to the Borders computer and typed in Tong Lashing. Nothing came up. Curious, I put in Peter David, and when I sorted listr by release date, I found it was listed as Sir Aproros Of Nothing: Tongue Lashing…and the about the author section was for Greg Iles, not PAD.
It also said the book was only available as a special order.
Three book stores later, I was finally able to get a copy.
I had very similar problems finding One Knight Only.
A little side-rant about the membership/discount cards:
Twenty-five bucks is a bit steep. When they were $10, I was fine with that, reluctantly. Would I save more than $25 a year if I had one? Probably. But that initial charge gives me a bit of sticker shock. Especially when they ask if you want to get one while you’re purchasing a single paperback. I’m sure the stores would argue that they need to make up the discounts in some way, but considering the card’s discount is less than or equal to a sale price, I’m not sure I buy into that reasoning.
Nytwyng,
You can find it at the B&N on Northwest, right next to 75. Get there while you can…
I noticed too, yesterday, that “Tong Lashing” was under the title “Tongue Lashing” in the database at Borders. I didn’t investigate the entry as I already had the book, but yeah, their database is wrong.
Was at a local (St. Louis) B&N last night. My weekly writer’s group meeting. I immediately checked out the F&SF section. Several copies of Woad to Wuin and several copies of Knight Life. Picked up one of each as I am a little behind on my reading.
Over the weekend I was at my favorite comic bookstore and picked up issues #1 and #2 of Fallen Angel. I know I was probably extremely lucky #1 was still in stock…but it wasn’t the last copy he had.
Since hardbacks at the B&N aren’t shelved with the paperbacks, I didn’t notice Tong Lashing, but I didn’t look too hard. My pocketbook’s starting to feel light. Maybe after my next paycheck.
Both Fallen Angels were excellent, I’m hooked. And I’m looking forward to reading Woad to Wuin and Knight Life.
Thanks, Sean. Oddly enough, that was the one I was picturing when I read your post.
It’s on the way to the comic store, so I might just have to make a detour on Saturday.
Dead presidents willing, naturally. 😉
I know I’ve tried to get books at Waldens and B. Dalton’s, but their selections around here are very limited. This seems odd considering I know that Waldens owns Barnes and Nobles and B. Dalton’s owns Borders (or is it the other way around…?)
While they do share a common parent company with the megastores, neither Waldens nor Dalton’s can compete with Border or BnN for sheer floor and shelf space.
A few years ago, two new Borders and a BnN moved into my area (Harrisburg, PA). The two Waldens stores were silmutaneously moved to other stores in their respective malls that had even smaller floorspace. There’s also a rumor that the Dalton’s will close altogether.
It seems to me that megastores are actually cannibalizing their smaller sister stores.