New Goodkind?

yup, just the LIMITED collectors edition is printed.
I think that was a mistake really. I can't see him making anywhere near as much money doing it this way compared with all the hype and advertisement he gets by going through a publisher like tor/forge etc. I really don't think this is going to hit the best sellers list. A lot of people are disappointed. But, alas, I'll try to get the limited edition as long as it's not extortionately priced. If not I'll download the e-book to my comp and read it when I can at least with a hardcover I could read it at any given moment as I'd take it with me everywhere but I can't do that with my comp.

Limited edition - only way to get a physical copy of the book $300!!! It is a great package and I think it said it was leatherbound but seriously $300 for fans that want an actual book! I don't particularly enjoy reading books in electronic format, it strains my eyes and I just don't have time to get the computer out and read for hours like I could with an actual book. I get that what they're doing is kind of ground-breaking but why alienate hundreds (if not thousands) of fans by not providing the format they're willing to buy?
This really makes no sense to me - and there are literally dozens (maybe hundreds) of disappointed comments on his facebook page about this. His response? But we're trying to be ground-breaking! and self-publishing is so hard! I'm not going to pay $10.00 to buy something I'll only get to read sporadically. This would definitely have made the best-sellers list if he'd have printed it and sold it in book stores and all his fans would have been willing to wait the extra year for it to go through publishers and editing etc so they could hold the book in their hands.
I honestly doubt this is solely for the purpose of being "ground-breaking" and is all about the money. If the middle man is cut out more money goes straight to source. But I doubt it'll make the best-seller list this way, or that he'll make as much money as he does going through publishers as only "hard-core" fans that check his facebook would be aware of the release.
It is a real shame and a real disappointment.

Can you tell I'm a bit annoyed? I really do appreciate the effort it takes to do this and I'm impressed with what they're doing but it really is crap that they can't go all the way and create a physical copy for general release - or even unwilling to do this. If they did that, THEN it would be truly ground-breaking.

Stephen King released a few books electronically and did quite well with them. The difference is marketing, something King does very well and frankly TG does very poorly.

King also eventually re-released his ebooks in print form. Hopefully TG follows a similar route for TFC.

Oh, and BTW, this really ISN'T all that groundbreaking. When I said King has done it before... yeah, THAT was original. The difference is King did it right.

I really don't know how I feel about this book. Part of me is so betrayed and let down I don't even care. Part of me is going "OOoo! Magda Searus! That's going to be awesome!" I don't know :/ I'm hoping this is going to be more along the lines of Debt of Bones, rather than Omen Machine. If it is, I'm in.

He's not being groundbreaking and self-publishing CAN be hard but not that much. Michael J Sullivan made his career self publishing his own books until he was eventually picked up by a publisher. THAT was hard. Making your fame and becoming an international best seller with the power of a huge publisher behind you and THEN self publishing, that's a shit-ton easier.

Precisely. And to turn around and say it may never make it to regular print? That's just downright silly when you're releasing a full-length epic novel. Especially when hundreds of fans are screaming out for a regular printed copy on your facebook page. Instead of listening to them and saying "maybe once this has made enough money to pay for a print release we'll make one" the toys are thrown out of the pram and they just repeat "but we're doing something very special - buy an e-reader - read it on your computer - print off the text yourself! Print off 103 chapters on my printer? That'll cost me more than a regular print in ink most likely! with the cost of the file on top of that. No thanks. I can wait a bit longer to get it for a hell of a lot cheaper. I'll read it in a few months when the price to download it has gone right down. I don't have an e-reader and I don't particular want to read a book on a backlit computer screen that'll strain my eyes if I read it for hours on end like I can with a normal book. I'll enter any comp he's got going for a collectors edititon though.

If it is only coming in e-format, I will wait, I have no intention of getting an e-reader, downloading to my computer and printing it myself, or anything like that. I may be a computer technician and love computer equipment, but when it comes to books, I am still old-school.

Aye,

I think the vast majority of us on here would much prefer a physical book to a virtual one - there just is no comparison.

The claim on the facebook page is that publishers and retailers collude against authors self-publishing by saying that they will not publish/produce printed books unless they have the rights to e-books too. While I'm sure there is a lot of truth to this, I'm also positive there are other avenues to look at where a printed copy is concerned. I'm sure if they mass-produced a printed copy the cost would be reduced due to bulk production and they could sell it via the website and include necessary delivery charges at around the upper normal retail price of a printed book. I am also positive that the fans would be more than willing to pay for this.

I have kind of come to see TG's point of view with regards to the e-book and will probably get it (though I'll try to get it cheaper - if that means I have to wait a while as I don't want to spend $10 on a file which will cost me the same again to print off.) but I really don't see that it is as impossible/difficult/costly as the claims made to mass produce a printed copy. I am sure that if he publicised it well enough people would buy direct from his website. Or he could make to order - people would still pay for it and be willing to wait a little while for it to be printed.

To come outright with some claim of a conspiracy against writers for royalties is kind of deflecting the issue in my eyes.

I don't understand buying his book in a format you hate. Everyone on the FB page, and here, appears to hate digital books. (Or at least hate that TG is not giving his fan the option.)

Personally, I wouldn't support this idea that is hated. And wouldn't buy a digital copy ever. Giving money for it shows that you support it, and you want him to continue doing it.

In my opinion, Law of Nines was a travesty. And I have not read TG's most recent book. And have no plans to give him any of my money in the future.

Do I think this will do any thing? No. But if millions of his fans finally realized what a colossal ass-hat he is being, THAT might change something. But, I'm not going to hold my breath.

Here's the thing, I actually do support the ebook idea. I think there should be more options available (as a collector of books), but I love my Kindle, too.

I don't think the idea is ground-breaking in the slightest. Taking an idea that has existed for years now and calling it ground-breaking? Really? That said, I do appreciate the idea of anyone being able to self-publish a novel, even a successful author who has much more tools at his disposal than the average Joe just trying to break into the business.

I don't hate e-books per se. I just prefer physical books, as I enjoy collecting them as much as I do reading them.

talonnolan wrote:

And wouldn't buy a digital copy ever. Giving money for it shows that you support it, and you want him to continue doing it.

I meant a digital copy of this particular book. Not all digital books.

What I find kind've amusing is that upon the release of TOM readers were frustrated because the digital release was several months AFTER the release of the novel. It's almost like we're having the exact same frustrations, only in reverse.

Haha - I think it's pretty much a consumer thing - people will always moan when one kind of a "product" is available and another kind isn't.

So the cover art is up on facebook and the official site. Not sure what the deal is with the warning on the official site though....

The cover wasn't bad. I liked it for the new stuff. I miss the artist who did the WFR covers and all those...beautiful work. He was a wonderful man, judging by that beautiful artwork he made and the effort he put into it.

Deano wrote:

So the cover art is up on facebook and the official site. Not sure what the deal is with the warning on the official site though....

I think someone was just trying to be cute.

rainshadow wrote:

Deano wrote:

So the cover art is up on facebook and the official site. Not sure what the deal is with the warning on the official site though....

I think someone was just trying to be cute.

That was my guess too lol. And maybe build anticipation (illicit or slightly taboo things are usually more interesting).

"These are the last eyes you will ever look into."

Ugh.

talonnolan wrote:

"These are the last eyes you will ever look into."

Ugh.

Aww, come on. That's not that bad! Kinda true, you know.

It's now available:

http://www.amazon.com/First-Confessor-Legend-Searus-ebook/dp/B008GT83FG/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1341258778&sr=8-10&keywords=the+first+confessor

Its got some pretty rave reviews so far. Tempting...

I'm up to chapter 10 so far. It's actually quite good. Does feel a little unedited and rushed (blatently self-published basically) rather than going through the rigorous editing publishers would have put it through, but once you get going with it, it feels really good. I'd say, so far, it reads (story-wise) better than the Omen Machine. Much better.

Keep in mind those who actually knew about the book's arrival were a pretty select few, almost exclusively limited to the fanbase.

That's a marketing thing, and typically I'd say it was a bad move.

But I got to thinking about something else recently: almost all of Terry's books receive some very harsh reviews, sometimes unwarranted because certain "followers" actually have an agenda against Terry.

In this case, while the reviews are going to be skewed in a more positive light, at least in the beginning, potential readers are going to come across the link to the book online and see a plethora of strong reviews. Might end up working in Terry's favor.

"yessss, yessss, it's all going precisely according to 'the plan!'"