delicate eternity logo
A haven for lovers of the written word
separate post

guest-post

Today I have Lillian from Books and Cake guest posting on the blog for you guys! Lillian is one of my favourite bloggers and she has been a great friend outside of the blogging world, as well. I could not be happier to let her take over Books for a Delicate Eternity for the day!

div

Thanks to Chiara for letting me be on her blog! I love it and everything about it- the design, the ever-brilliant content and I am the biggest fan of her work. Now, to end the fangirling and onto my post! :p

This year has been the first for me with new releases. Usually, I just read a book which sounds good (plotwise) but this year, I’ve been waiting on so many books and deadlining their release dates.

But unlike the books I like and buy, these new released ones are expensive. And by expensive, I mean buy three paperbacks with that price expensive.

1

Sometimes, I wish I was this girl-

2

So unlike everyone else who waits on releases, I have never preordered a book.

After the waiting is over and we all celebrate over its release and how amazing the book is and show our grabby hands, I watch the book on Amazon like it’s the stock market. Seriously, I watch its price and beg it to go done a hundred or two. And then, when it does budge a little, I check my wallet and go back to the begging. And it sort of works.

When Cress released, I checked for it. Since it wasn’t available in paperback, I came back weeks after when it was. I knew the price would drop down so I waited that out and finally, bought it. For half the price that it was in the beginning.

3

The point? This is the whole charade I go through for a just released book that I really want. Now, to go through this process for Since You’ve Been Gone. *squeals*

Do you preorder? If not, how do you get the book?  Doesn’t the wait just kill your feels?!

div

Again, a huge thank to the lovely Lillian for guest posting here today! In answer to her questions, I have only ever pro-ordered four books. Two of which I read straight away (Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising), and two of which is still waiting to be read. EEP.

sig-chiara

Tagged with: /
separate post
Posted on: July 7, 2014 • By: Chiara

11 Responses to Guest Post from Lillian @ Books and Cake: Preordering and the Bargaining Charade

  1. The only book I’ve pre-ordered is Isla and the Happily Ever After from TBD – but that was in paperback so it wasn’t too expensive. Otherwise, like you, I just wait for it to come out in PB – hardbacks are so expensive!

  2. Briana says:

    I preorder practically nothing. The only exceptions have been Harry Potter books (if you waited for those everything would have been spoiled!) and a couple of the new Tolkien books Christopher Tolkien has been releasing. Though I did wait on the most recent, Beowulf, and it was cheaper a few days right after release.

    There are very few books I’m desperate for, so I’d rather wait for the library, price drops, or paperbacks, as well.

  3. I have pre-ordered books in the past, but it is not something I do regularly and it does depend somewhat on price. I think I have pre-ordered a total of 3 books in the past year and each was less than $12. Each pre-order was a book in a series I already knew I loved and would read. Looking at those books now, two are slightly under their pre-order price and the third is currently more expensive than when I pre-ordered.

    Having said that, I will usually try to get a book from the library if I’m not certain how I will feel about it. If I like it and want a copy for myself, I will search high and low to find it at a price I’m comfortable with. Unfortunately, I am currently looking for a couple of books released in the last year or two that do not seem to be coming down in price at all. Some even have paperback versions out already, but the hardcovers are still $15-20 and the paperbacks are $10+. It is frustrating for me because I’d like to have the hardcover if possible, but I can’t afford to spend that much on one book. For those books, I’ll just keep waiting until I find them used most likely.

  4. Great post Lillian! I have no idea why new releases are so expensive and all the US ones are in hardback, I prefer a paperback anyday but they don’t get released until like a year later, or if it gets picked up by another publisher in Australia. For some reason I just can’t make myself purchase those expensive new releases, even when they are on Kindle. I totally feel your pain!

  5. I only pre-order the essential books, like with Ruin and Rising I couldn’t care that it was more expensive – I just HAD to have it. Sometimes I have more patience and I do wait, because I’d rather buy more books and I prefer paperbacks, so I don’t mind waiting for it to be published.

  6. Lol, I’m the exact same! Well, I don’t stalk Amazon and wait for prices to decrease — I just don’t buy the book at all, heh. Even though I say I’m going to get it because I’ve seen so many good reviews, I end up not buying it because the prices are just ridiculously high. TBD used to be affordable, but now their prices are just ridiculous. I mean, $20 USD for a hardback! NO WAY, JOSE. And it used to be around $16, too…

    I’m going to have to try your method someday, though! Most of the books on my shelves are either from huge local book sales or birthday presents from my super rich sister. The rest of the books were supplied by our lovely publishers, in exchange for honest reviews. ;) That’s why I’ve only preordered once, and that was for Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo. I actually noticed that the pre-release price is much cheaper than when it’s released (on TBD, at least) so you might be able to use that to your advantage. The only problem is that the shipping is slow as shit. SERIOUSLY.

  7. I used to NEVER preorder, but like Lillian said – there are SO many books coming out this year that I’m anxiously awaiting, that I’ve had to start planning my purchases like I’m strategizing war. I’ve preordered four so far this year, and in Autumn I’m sure I’ll have to preorder more to spread out my spending ^_^

    I think the best thing about Amazon (though maybe this is only in the US??) is that if the price lowers after you preorder it, you get the refund for the difference :)

  8. I preorder books quite a lot. Especially if I know that I’m probably going to want the book in hardcover, it’s SO much cheaper to preorder a book than wait until it comes out to buy it…sometimes it can be like a $10 difference! And, like Kayla said, I love Amazon’s lowest price guarantee for preorders.

  9. I normally don’t ever preorder a book unless it’s one that I think my bookstore will sell out of before I get the chance to grab a copy…and the chances of that are pretty slim to none. I have before preordered an eBook, though, so that it just appeared on my reader and didn’t even have to leave the house!

  10. I have never pre-ordered a book. Mostly because it isn’t really a thing in my country. Although I’m not sure if having a book reserved for you once it arrives is considered pre-ordering. I do that with my favorite local bookstore a lot. Prices don’t really move around in local bookstores. Although sometimes they get more expensive when the book becomes famous. So maybe it’s better to buy as early as possible. I only watch the prize in Amazon when I’m getting a Kindle copy. Right now I’m waiting on Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson because it costs 12.99 just for a digital copy!

  11. Jenn says:

    I definitely pre-order because books are just too expensive not to. For example, City of Heavenly Fire, regular price: $30.. so I pre-ordered it and got it for…. $15!! So much easier to swallow, even though that is still expensive.

    I actually never buy books full price if I can help it. I live for sales and recently discovered The Book Outlet. I’m in love! They have limited stock and not always what I’m looking for, but the prices can’t be beat. For new must have books though, it’s pre-ordering for me!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *