Heard from my editor today ...

[truepenny]

Mélusine is getting a second printing.

w00t!

Comments

[nycshelly.livejournal.com]

Cool!

Re: totally OT

[nycshelly.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I got the idea to use movie posters from another blog somewhere.

[katallen.livejournal.com]

Yay! Go boys go!

[jlundberg.livejournal.com]

Very groovy! Conga rats!

[batwrangler.livejournal.com]

Horray! When's your next coming out? :)

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

July '06.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! Congratulations!

[hominysnark.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[babilary.livejournal.com]

terrific! do they print the same amount of books from one printing to the next?

-C

[dhoutos.livejournal.com]

Hi! :) Just bought/read your book this week, and found your LJ (by accident, actually, was looking for Sarah Micklem news, and stumbled across your LJ, but that's fine by me), and I have to say this announcement isn't surprising. You've written a very good fantasy. :) I'm not surprised you're getting a second printing! They'll have to replace the one I bought off the shelf at least. ;)

How many were in the first printing?

[elisem.livejournal.com]

YES YES YES!

signed,
halfway through and really really liking it

[jenett]

What Elise said. (including the halfway through part.)

Yay!

[pameladean]

That's splendid; I'm so glad.

P.

[stillsostrange.livejournal.com]

Huzzah!

[stillsostrange.livejournal.com]

And also, baaaaaaaby hedgehogs. (http://www.livejournal.com/community/baaaaabyanimals/1225639.html#cutid1)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I already own the first printing, but I eagerly await the next. Also Kekropia The Virtu.

[atheilen.livejournal.com]

Yay! :D

[heathwitch.livejournal.com]

Congrats! :)

[cpolk.livejournal.com]

hurrah hurrah!

[oursin.livejournal.com]

That is so damn cool! (And, by the way, I have seen it, finally, in Forbidden Planet London HQ store - after I'd already bought it elsewhere.)

[supergee.livejournal.com]

Hooray!

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Brava! ::confetti::

[papersky.livejournal.com]

That's really nifty.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

WOO!!!

[jennifer-dunne.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! That's great news.

[orangemike.livejournal.com]

Yay!

By the way, pass this address to the editor:

Michael J. Lowrey, Editor-in-Chief
Sunrise Book Reviews
1847 N. 2nd Str.
Milwaukee, WI 53212-3760

[larryhammer]

I think w000000000000000000OO0t! is more like it.

---L.

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

Whoooo!

And in answer to the person who asked if they produce the same number in later printings as in the first one: usually not.

::enters lecture mode::

The goal for a publisher is to do as many books in that first printing as they think they can sell. The economies of scale are such that the more you can print at once, the better--but this is offset by not wanting to have a lot of stock sitting around taking up valuable real estate (or, worse, eventually being remaindered). So they take preorders, and analyze the market and how well other books in the same category are doing, and come up with a number, X that they will print on the first go.

When a book exceeds expectations, and is continuing to sell well and the inventory is getting used up, the publisher says "Hey! Let's print more!" But again, because of that constraining factor of "we don't want inventory sitting around taking up space," the pub house will try to limit how many more copies they print at any one time. Suppose a book is expected to sell 5,000 copies in the coming year. They can do one printing of 5000 copies and have the book sitting around in inventory for a year, taking up space, gathering dust, and risking that the calculation is wrong and it will only sell 1000 copies. Or they can do a printing of 2500 copies, and re-evaluate in six months.

The cost of doing two 2500-copy printings is more than the cost of a single 5000-copy printing, but the risk/reward analysis almost always comes down on the side of shorter, but more frequent, reprintings.

In summary: if a publisher does a very short first printing and the book takes off like mad, they may go back for a huge reprint, but more usually the reprints are modest numbers, less than the initial printing. However, any reprint is fabulous news--it means the book exceeded initial expectations, and there is still plenty of demand.

[stevenagy.livejournal.com]

Which is why congrats are appropriate and gladly conveyed.

Question though: at what point does a book move from "exceeds expectations" to "best seller" status?

Steve

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

When the book starts to appear on bestseller lists. A book can hit the bestseller list but still not exceed expectations. Or am I not understanding your question?

[larryhammer]

<pedant> Actually, you can also call a book a "bestseller" in the US if it sells 100,000 copies. If it makes a particular bestseller list, it gets a more specific adjective: "A Podunk Picayune Best-Seller!" </pedant>

---L.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_swallow/]

I always wondered about that. Er, thanks.

And congratulations, Sarah--!

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

And thank you for the lovely email (which I have not gotten around to replying to because I am a Big Loser that way). It made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

[renenet.livejournal.com]

Hooray!!!

[desayunoencama.livejournal.com]

RAH RAH RAH!

[mmarques.livejournal.com]

Congrats! Does this mean they'll do a bigger first printing for your next book?

[jerusha.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[(Anonymous)]

Congrats!

Jay
FBS