After our discovery yesterday that The Pale King was already on sale, the New York Times finds lots of angry booksellers, but not much by way of explanation.
Pale King Confusion
Connected by “And” and “And”
New books of poetry from names like Linda Gregerson and James Tate are always a cause for celebration. Over at the New Yorker, Dan Chiasson takes a look at Gregerson’s Prodigal: New and Selected Poems and Tate’s Dome of the Hidden Pavilion in one extremely thorough essay.
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The Harvard Hoaxer’s Bibliography
The Harvard Hoaxer‘s not-to-be-missed resume (pdf) includes several impressive under-contract book projects, including The Mapping of an Ideological Demesne; Wampum and the Origins of American Money; and A Short History of North America. Pretty impressive, for a 23-year-old.
William Gibson’s Zero History
The New York Times reviews William Gibson’s new novel Zero History: “To read Gibson is to read the present as if it were the future…” Also: Douglas Gorney interviews Gibson for the Atlantic.
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LeBron James, Cleveland and the Personal Essay
“No one in his or her right mind would read James’s essay in order to vouch for or against its literary quality, but I am here to do just that.” Ryan Lejarde parses LeBron James‘s “I’m Coming Home” for The Rumpus and comes to myriad conclusions about sports, literature, and what it means to love Cleveland.
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Recommend Them One at a Time
In The New York Times, Anne Lamott (of Bird by Bird fame) reveals the one book she’d recommend to President Obama. It might not surprise many readers of her memoir that her choice — Anti-California: Report from our First Parafascist State — is a nonfiction book by her father.
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Bookshelves Ten Feet High
Chances are you’ve bragged about the size of your library. The number of books you own is a point of pride for many readers. But at what point does collecting books — which few people would say is a bad thing– turn into a problem? At what point, in other words, does it become hoarding? Pair with: Rebecca Rego-Barry on hunting for rare books at college library book sales.
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OK, this seems to be telling a different story than yesterday’s discussion, when it seemed that bookstores also got the book early and could start selling…
Yes. It appears that there was some miscommunication, with some in the supply chain focusing on the 4/15 date and others not. I know that Amazon’s policy is that unless there is a specific “do not sell until” date specified by the publisher, they will start shipping the book as soon as they have copies to ship.
Yeah, now I’m frustrated and angry on behalf of others. If it just went out early all-around, then I wouldn’t see the deal so much, but with it not going out early all-around and with some, such as City Lights, apparently having been told that the there was a specific “do not sell until” date, there’s reason to be upset.
Interestingly, last I checked the Kindle version was still in pre-order, ready for release 4/15.
While I understand the frustration that independent bookstores must be feeling right now, I do not understand how there is a bookseller in Brooklyn who’s real name is Zack Zook.
*Sorry, that should read “whose real name.” I feel like a real Zook right now.
First, the whole strict on sale/lay down/street date is a pain in the ass. Is it really that hard to ship books to arrive simultaneously? You know…man on the moon and all that. Most booksellers now do not seem to know the difference between strict on sale and pub date, so if you call to find a book you get some really inaccurate information.
I found out that Pale King was available when I checked the St. Mark’s (Bowery, NYC) regular Wednesday New Titles list and saw they had 35 copies on hand. I found my copy yesterday at The New England Mobile Book Fair in Dedham MA. Both are independent bookstores.