Waiting on The Strain

(11:55:50 CDT)

Waiting on The Strain

I had originally planned to pick up an ebook copy of The Strain today, but did not. I am curious what is like to order ebooks day of sale. It is the evolution of the form. Ebooks, til now, have been sort of the tacked on half of books. They will show up for some of the big sellers, but not right away and maybe not with all of the text. Which is backwards. Ebooks, with their relatively low to publish en masse cost, seem to be better suited for the mid- to low-list authors that are not going to have a huge chunk of cash spent on promotion or the like anyhow. And, in that first run which is about the only time you really have to worry about a book selling out, ebook versions make sense because they take up some of the gap. However, it is only several years into their drift across public conscious that we think about things like "Let's put ebooks up for sale on the first day!" Audiobooks went through a similar transition. Used to, you got a handful of audiobooks some random time after the book was in print. Now, many books get their audio release on the exact same day.

What stopped me from ordering The Strain is the fact that Fictionwise now offers $9.95 NY Times Bestsellers. The nominal price of the book is about $25. I had $20 or so built up in micropay style rebates. However, I will pay about the same amount if I wait until Monday and it is on the best seller list. Palahniuk's Pygmy is on the bestseller list, why not The Strain?

And, come Monday afternoon, if it is not on the bestseller list... well, there is always the more expensive copy bought a week later.

Instead, going to read something by Elmore Leonard called Pagan Babies that I picked up with some of that rebate I mentioned (along with the "Potato-Pie and Peel Society" book, whatever that is called).

Si Vales, Valeo

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