Friday, July 02, 2010

Masked Available for ebook preorder

My forthcoming superhero prose anthology, Masked, has just appeared for preorders on both the Kindle and the B&N eReader/Nook. I don't see it in iBooks yet, but hopefully that's coming, along with other formats.

Once more, the Publishers Weekly review:

"Anders (Fast Forward) delivers an ambitious collection of superhero tales that provide top-notch plots and characterizations while honoring their four-color roots. In Daryl Gregory's superbly metafictional "Message from the Bubble Gum Factory," a former sidekick finally realizes the broader implications of superheroes. Stephen Baxter nicely applies hard science to the futuristic "Vacuum Lad." Gail Simone's "Thug" and Mike Carey's "The Non-Event" bolster predictable plots with solid characters and prose. Joseph Mallozzi's "Downfall" and Marjorie M. Liu's "Call Her Savage" embrace comics clichés and make them both more complex and more entertaining. ...Overall, Anders has assembled a solid anthology that provides first-rate entertainment. "

6 comments:

Jay said...

"This title is not available for customers from:
United Kingdom"

boo :(

Same for Swords & Dark Magic.

It's crazy that I can order physical books and have them shipped from the US but there are loads of ebooks I am unable to buy. Geographical restrictions suck.

Lou Anders said...

I feel your pain. But it's not crazy. For instance, right now our agent is trying to sell Swords & Dark Magic to a UK publisher. Eos only bought N American rights. Would I like to be paid an entirely separate advance for a UK edition from a UK publisher? Hell yes.

However, Gallery did buy World English rights to Masked, so you should be able to buy the ebook to that anywhere. I will let them know they can tell Amazon, etc.. to take the territorial restrictions off.

Jay said...

Yeah maybe not crazy but frustrating. I'm all for people being paid.

Buying paper books is easy, I got to a book shop or visit Amazon and buy the book. If it's not available it can usually be ordered.

Buying ebooks in the UK involves hunting round numerous websites for one prepared to sell it to me, with no guarantee I can even get it or get it in the right format (though that is getting better). The Kindle is sold as an international device yet there are plenty of books you simply can't buy from the Kindle store internationally.

Sorry, I'm ranting. I like books and dislike things that stop me from getting them. :)

Thanks I will keep an eye on Masked ebook.

Lou Anders said...

I think we'll see more publishers acquiring world rights on more titles because of this, as we move into a world were ebooks are a larger piece of the total pie. But on the flipside, we bring a lot of deserving UK authors into the US, and that gets harder and harder to do, knowing our sales get cannibalized by people ordering the UK book from Amazon rather than waiting for ours. We're still in a bookstore driven world, where the sales lost to Amazon aren't as big as the potential sales through physical stores, but again, as we move to an ebook future, that becomes problematic. I myself won't buy outside my region unless I'm absolutely certain that no US edition is forthcoming. Or, I find a friend in the UK who wants a US book and can't get it, and I buy it for him and he buys a UK book for me and we gift each other, than way we each bought one book in our own territory.

Jay said...

Interesting, I'd never really thought about the problems this causes.

I get most of my recommendations from blogs, online reviews, social sites so I just know something I might like has been published but don't tend to take much notice about where it's been published.

I like the idea of buying and gifting, I may do that with a friend in the future. Though obviously that doesn't really work for ebooks at least without getting naughty with the DRM.

Anyway thanks for taking the time to comment. If I ever fancy doing something more complicated than chemical engineering, I'll get into publishing. :)

Lou Anders said...

Ha. But yes. Sometimes strong overseas buzz on a title can help spark US sales, but other times, it just cuts into them.