Stego Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 As to the advanced readers copy of A Dance With Dragons that collectors are salivating over, my sources at Random House state that there will absolutely not be one produced. To summarize: no ARC for ADWD. (US, anyway) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alguien Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 That's interesting. Speculating, so correct me if I'm wrong.It seems like there could be a combination of reasons for this. ADWD is a little unique for publishing in that it's pretty much guaranteed amazing sales. Anticipation is palpable, so they might not feel ARC's are necessary to drum up interest, especially in the face of dealing having to deal with practical concerns like security leaks and timing, since the production/print schedule is already going to be pretty tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 How early do ARCs tend to come out, anyways? With such a massive book, it seems to me that there's practically no point if they can't give it to reviewers at least a couple of weeks ahead of publication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 ARCs can come out months before the actual book. I've seen some as early as 5 months, though I think it was typical for 2-3 months. Given that the whole point of an ARC is to allow for buyers to read the thing and then decide how much they want to order - and orders are almost certainly set in stone either now or by the end of April (and for something like this it won't matter anyway) - an ARC wouldn't matter that much.My gut feeling is that reviewers will get real copies.The security thing is not an issue. At all. IT never was with prior copies. Heck, the ARC for AFFC for a translator contained different events from the published work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alguien Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 The security thing is not an issue. At all. IT never was with prior copies. Heck, the ARC for AFFC for a translator contained different events from the published work.Just curious how you seem to know this so definitively? While GRRM isn't approaching Harry Potter levels (yet!) I seem to recall it was an issue for Rowling's series. What with the HBO exposure, NYT and New Yorker interviews, I wondered if that would be a concern here, especially after reading how HBO did not want to mail out advanced copies of the TV episodes to GRRM due to security concerns but invited him to fly him in to watch them. Among many other tasks, I'm the guy who produces ARC's for my publishing house. It can be a pain in the ass and they can be expensive too. (though print technology is making them cheaper)So I guessed they probably weren't producing them from a cost vs. benefit standpoint and wondered if security was part of that equation. But we primarily re-publish anthologies so I've never had to deal with that, beyond drafting permissions contracts to the authors and their estates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 It was a huge issue for Rowling's series. It's not been at all for GRRM. This is the first book he's done where it didn't have an ARC, and it's almost certainly due to the weird publishing deadline.I know it definitively because i worked at Amazon with their book buyers. I got to look at an ARC of AFFC and got many more from there. While spoilers are a concern for the likes of Harry Potter, they're not for this sort of book and this sort of fandom. Spoilers for the show are probably a bit more concerning to HBO, which does care about that sort of thing more. That seems profoundly stupid to me, but so it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alguien Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 It was a huge issue for Rowling's series. It's not been at all for GRRM. This is the first book he's done where it didn't have an ARC, and it's almost certainly due to the weird publishing deadline.I know it definitively because i worked at Amazon with their book buyers. I got to look at an ARC of AFFC and got many more from there. While spoilers are a concern for the likes of Harry Potter, they're not for this sort of book and this sort of fandom. Spoilers for the show are probably a bit more concerning to HBO, which does care about that sort of thing more. That seems profoundly stupid to me, but so it goes.Interesting. Thanks for the response. While I do think circumstances for ADWD are significantly different than AFFC (or any other book thus far in the series) but it's easy to forget that, despite numerous websites and legions of eagerly awaiting fans, ADWD isn't as mainstream as HP yet. I'll be honest, while I know a decent amount about what it takes whip out an ARC (you could literally produce 1,000 in like a day) my company has never had worry about people leaking spoilers. In some ways, it'd be a pretty sweet problem to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stego Posted April 6, 2011 Author Share Posted April 6, 2011 While I agree with Kalbear's reasoning and think he probably has the right of it, it's really all just speculation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Interesting. I'll try to see what Voyager say about it.But to be honest, I think that the answer will be the same. This is on such a tight timescale that producing ARCs would be pointless, as they could get finished books done in the same timeframe and the ARCs wouldn't go out much before the finished book hitting the shelves (the same reason why the last few WoTs haven't had ARCs).Review copies will mostly take the form of bound proofs sent out specifically to certain people. Maybe even e-copies. I suspect these will be limited to Ran and Pat's Fantasy Hotlist and maybe 1-2 other people. Otherwise maybe a few people will get a finished copy like a fortnight max before the final book comes out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 I've never gotten an ARC or anything for review purposes, even when I did try to ask for them once. But I wouldn't mind one so I could actually finish the character guide part of the World of Ice and Fire. ;) I've no idea if that's in the cards, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stego Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 I've never gotten an ARC or anything for review purposes, even when I did try to ask for them once. But I wouldn't mind one so I could actually finish the character guide part of the World of Ice and Fire. ;) I've no idea if that's in the cards, though.What exactly do you need, Ran? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEvilKing Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 You guys don't have your ARCs already? I got mine months ago. :smug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Stego,Oh, I think I'll be getting something early for ADwD. Just so we can get the guide to characters updated through it sooner rather than later. Maybe a galley proof, maybe a boxed manuscript... I'll probably be a geek and let everyone know. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stego Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 Stego,Oh, I think I'll be getting something early for ADwD. Just so we can get the guide to characters updated through it sooner rather than later. Maybe a galley proof, maybe a boxed manuscript... I'll probably be a geek and let everyone know. ;)Ahh, cool beans. Got ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 My sources also claim there isn't going to be a physical ARC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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