Publishing
Preorders are one of those things that sound like they ought to be about sales, but sometimes the real value is much less glamorous: it forces the book to exist before the internet can start poking it with a stick.
I can see why some indie writers skip them entirely. If the page is live too early, all it does is create a little window for chaos. If the book is genuinely ready, though, a preorder feels less like a marketing tactic and more like a deadline with manners.
Which is probably not how anyone wants to describe their launch plan.
I can see why some indie writers skip them entirely. If the page is live too early, all it does is create a little window for chaos. If the book is genuinely ready, though, a preorder feels less like a marketing tactic and more like a deadline with manners.
Which is probably not how anyone wants to describe their launch plan.
Preorders can also be a way of locking in a book before anyone has had the chance to learn whether the cover, blurb, or sample pages are doing their jobs. That part gets skipped over a lot. A live page is not a magic shield. If the packaging is wrong, all the early deadline in the world just gives you a faster look at the problem.