When a favorite author has a new book coming, I love preorders. I can be (mostly) sure that their tasty volume will hit my e-reader the moment it’s out. I won’t miss a book I’m anticipating and will get to dive into it ASAP.

As an author, I both love and hate them. A preorder is a great way to get word out about a release gradually, with a build to my release date. It means the book actually will release on the planned date. (Which is not a given if you upload the day before and hope for the best.) And preorders let me talk about my books more often for legitimate reasons. 🙂

But there’s a certain stress with preorders. They require setting a release date more or less in stone, often months before the book is done. And they require the book to be completed with the final polish several days before that, with no more time to fix last minute glitches. (Not a problem for organized folk, but a stress for us just-in-time authors.) If something goes wrong, Amazon in particular will yank an author’s right to do preorders, which can mess up other release plans.

Plus, being Amazon, they’re prone to screwing up preorders.

I’ve had preorder books release on the right day, but with the old placeholder cover that had long been replaced with the right one. I’ve had them release an old file with errors, even though the final corrected file was in place well before the deadline. (I try to not do placeholders anymore, but sometimes a change has to be made.)

And some authors have had Amazon cancel their preorders, for reasons that were Amazon’s mistake. While the author’s right to another preorder can be appealed, all those readers cannot be reinstated. Some readers will imagine the book is coming automatically (not remembering a refund) and forget to repurchase it. Others may be worried or annoyed with the author, or may not find the story again until long after release date.

So it’s definitely a love-hate situation for me with preorders. Right now I have Consumed by Fire – Necromancer Book 6 just gone up for preorders with an August release. I have Hidden Blade – my book in The Road to Roctoberfest 2022 shared world up with an October release, and I’m about to put up Alec – my story in the Single Dads of Gaynor Beach series, coming in September.

I also just bought favorite author preorders extending out to January of next year (While taking a moment to admire their level of organization.)

I remember making a special trip to a bookstore to buy a favorite author on release day, back in my paper book era. Ebook preorders are definitely easier. So I will praise preorders (mostly) and stock up on a little just-in-case emergency chocolate.

– Kaje Harper

July 2022