Upcoming Publications: October/November 2009

[Therin of Andor]

It blows my mind how many people say "bookstore didn't have it, I guess I can't buy it."

Ditto. i've been "grooming" bookshops since December 1979. I befriend their SF specialist, let them know what interesting SF media stuff is coming, and I make a point of telling certain shops if i've had to buy elsewhere. And I tell them when I've brought in a friend to browse their stock, and make sure the SF person sees that my friend is buying something.

When you "special order" an in-print ST novel, the shop will often order a few shelf copies at the same time, and then you're helping out other ST readers.

There are only so many shelves for so many books. A shop is likely to get in 40 of the latest "Harry Potter" and ten random single issues of ST titles. It has to be a mighty big shop (or an SF specialist) to think of getting in ten of each ST title just to have them sit on shelves "just in case".

Actually, I was very pleased with the number of general bookshops in Sydney that had 20 or so copies of the Alan Dean Foster novelization of ST XI! And most seem to have sold now.

 

[Steve Roby]

Here, almost every bookstore in town is part of one chain, and in most stores in that chain, the books they sell are the books the main office in another city decided they'd sell. If you tell them you want to order a particular book, they take you to a kiosk where you order from their online store, which you could have done from home.

 

[bbailey861]

I have found that the shelf space for Star Trek novels has gotten smaller and smaller, something I am surprised about since I thought that the popularity of ST XI would have kick started the old readers and perhaps drawn in some new. In any case, 95% of the books I buy now are from amazon.ca or chapers.ca.

Byron

 

[Therin of Andor]

In any case, 95% of the books I buy now are from amazon.ca or chapers.ca.

Several bookshop managers have told me: Star Trek book buyers were some of the first to adopt the concept of online book-buying, and that is what caused visible shelf space to start shrinking. That, and TNG finishing up its seventh season.

Similarly, movie soundtrack collectors were some of the first to regularly order their soundtracks online.

Many shops around here did increase ST shelf space for the premiere of the movie, including rushing out other ST titles via air freight! - but phenomena such as "Twilight" have to go somewhere, and those books continue to just fly off the shelves.

 

[bbailey861]

In any case, 95% of the books I buy now are from amazon.ca or chapers.ca.

Several bookshop managers have told me: Star Trek book buyers were some of the first to adopt the concept of online book-buying, and that is what caused visible shelf space to start shrinking. That, and TNG finishing up its seventh season.

Similarly, movie soundtrack collectors were some of the first to regularly order their soundtracks online.

Many shops around here did increase ST shelf space for the premiere of the movie, including rushing out other ST titles via air freight! - but phenomena such as "Twilight" have to go somewhere, and those books continue to just fly off the shelves.

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. I don't begrudge the "Twilight" phenom either...it has my youngest daughter reading. My son read the Harry Potter books when they came out and my oldest daughter read (and continues to borrow) my Trek books.

 

[Avro Arrow]

In any case, 95% of the books I buy now are from amazon.ca or chapers.ca.

Unfortunately for me, I'm very, um... picky (to put it nicely!) about the condition of books I buy, so I only like to use online shopping as a very last resort. Fortunately, I don't usually have any trouble finding the novels around here, so it's not normally an issue.

Of course, I had to order Star Trek: A Comics History online because none of the stores around here seemed to carry it. And, of course, it arrived all creased and bent. *sigh*

I know, I know... I shouldn't be bothered by the condition of a book. It's just one of those pet peeves.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I had to order Star Trek: A Comics History online because none of the stores around here seemed to carry it. And, of course, it arrived all creased and bent. *sigh*

So contact Amazon and they'll organise a replacement. They need to know when the packing is sub par. Mine arrived well-packed.

 

[bbailey861]

In any case, 95% of the books I buy now are from amazon.ca or chapers.ca.

Unfortunately for me, I'm very, um... picky (to put it nicely!) about the condition of books I buy, so I only like to use online shopping as a very last resort. Fortunately, I don't usually have any trouble finding the novels around here, so it's not normally an issue.

Of course, I had to order Star Trek: A Comics History online because none of the stores around here seemed to carry it. And, of course, it arrived all creased and bent. *sigh*

I know, I know... I shouldn't be bothered by the condition of a book. It's just one of those pet peeves.

Not a pet peeve at all, but to be honest I have not yet had any book or DVD arrive in anything but pristine condition.

I had to order Star Trek: A Comics History online because none of the stores around here seemed to carry it. And, of course, it arrived all creased and bent. *sigh*

So contact Amazon and they'll organise a replacement. They need to know when the packing is sub par. Mine arrived well-packed.

I agree, everything is always well packed and cushioned with those air bags. I have no doubt that Amazon would want to know if their product doesn't arrive in excellent condition, even if it is only one item of several that shipped.

Byron

 

[Avro Arrow]

I had to order Star Trek: A Comics History online because none of the stores around here seemed to carry it. And, of course, it arrived all creased and bent. *sigh*

So contact Amazon and they'll organise a replacement. They need to know when the packing is sub par. Mine arrived well-packed.

But I don't know that the issue was related to the packing... the box itself seemed fine. The damage could have happened at any point in the supply chain; I've certainly seen enough damaged books on the shelf in the bookstore. It's just that in the bookstore, I can pick which copy I want, whereas online I get whatever copy the retailer sends.

Besides, IMO life's too busy to get involved in a back-and-forth with the online retailer only to potentially end up with a copy that's just as bad, or worse. Since it's just a pet peeve, rather than an obsession, I can just declare GEMO.

I had to order Star Trek: A Comics History online because none of the stores around here seemed to carry it. And, of course, it arrived all creased and bent. *sigh*

So contact Amazon and they'll organise a replacement. They need to know when the packing is sub par. Mine arrived well-packed.

I agree, everything is always well packed and cushioned with those air bags. I have no doubt that Amazon would want to know if their product doesn't arrive in excellent condition, even if it is only one item of several that shipped.

Hmm... that's funny, I don't ever recall getting any shipments with the air bags from Amazon.ca. I only recall getting air bags the odd time I ordered from Amazon.com, which I hardly do at all now thanks to their import fees deposit. But maybe that's because my .com orders where generally larger?

 

[bbailey861]

I had to order Star Trek: A Comics History online because none of the stores around here seemed to carry it. And, of course, it arrived all creased and bent. *sigh*

So contact Amazon and they'll organise a replacement. They need to know when the packing is sub par. Mine arrived well-packed.

But I don't know that the issue was related to the packing... the box itself seemed fine. The damage could have happened at any point in the supply chain; I've certainly seen enough damaged books on the shelf in the bookstore. It's just that in the bookstore, I can pick which copy I want, whereas online I get whatever copy the retailer sends.

Besides, IMO life's too busy to get involved in a back-and-forth with the online retailer only to potentially end up with a copy that's just as bad, or worse. Since it's just a pet peeve, rather than an obsession, I can just declare GEMO.

So contact Amazon and they'll organise a replacement. They need to know when the packing is sub par. Mine arrived well-packed.

I agree, everything is always well packed and cushioned with those air bags. I have no doubt that Amazon would want to know if their product doesn't arrive in excellent condition, even if it is only one item of several that shipped.

Hmm... that's funny, I don't ever recall getting any shipments with the air bags from Amazon.ca. I only recall getting air bags the odd time I ordered from Amazon.com, which I hardly do at all now thanks to their import fees deposit. But maybe that's because my .com orders where generally larger?

Could be. I don't get them every time but it has been many times - but it certainly was from amazon.ca. I order virtually all the family's books from there and I think it happens mainly when there is a chance of shifting in the box. I can tell you that the cats like'em when I toss them on the floor. Really though, even if it is elsewhere in the supply chain, Amazon, I am sure, would want to make it right. Don't settle for damaged goods - you wouldn't accept it if you walked into a Chapters.

Byron