I am a huge fan of the urban fantasy (vampire, werewolf, fairy) genre. So, it stands to reason that when I keep having friends and family tell me about a series I should check out I am going to do that. However, being the type of person I am - if it is a series - I must start with book one! There are no exceptions to this rule. If I can not read from the very beginning I will never pick it up.
Imagine my distress then when I have been told for years by friends, colleagues, and now family members to try Christine Feehand's Carpathian novel series. Finally, as I was sitting here thirsting for something new to read I jumped on Barnes & Noble online and went to searching. What I found thoroughly pissed me off. I found every single book in her dark series from #2 on up to 20-whatever. I found them in paperbacks (new and used) and in E-Reader format (which is what I was looking for). What I didn't find was book one. I searched and searched to no avail. I switched over to Amazon.com thinking, they have everything. If B&N is missing it, maybe I will find it there. Alas, no such luck. Amazon did have quite a few expensive used editions of the original runs of the book, but I won't pay those fees for a book I am not sure I will like. A quick search of the author and a look at her website told me why. The book has been out of print for a while, and a brand-spanking new hardback edition is on the way to stores in spring 2011. So, of course, this would be the reason that not even an online edition is available.
Well, let me tell you what... fans who love the series will buy the hardback edition just to have it. New customers having never heard of the series before may be intrigued to purchase it and follow the series from there. What about the rest of us? Why must I wait to start an existing series? I could start with book two and move on, at which point I would never buy book one, simply on principal. But as I have already stated above, I have this thing about doing that. Now that you are making me wait, you have pissed me off and my interest in your stories has waned. Instead of instantly purchasing this book, and possibly the series beyond, I have been put on hold long enough to read reviews. Some of those reviews weren't very flattering of Mrs. Feehand's writing abilities. So, now I am questioning if it is even worth it to put any more thought into her books at all. Probably not, the genre is inundated with fresh perspectives and brilliant new authors, so I don't think I will run out of reading material any time soon.
Why then am I blogging about this? Simply put, I am tired of business ploys and tricks to get people to buy and re-buy. It doesn't work for me. If I buy the original version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, for instance, I am not going to turn around a month later and buy the collectors edition. What a waste! The same is true of items businesses try to hide from me while they promote their latest and greatest, shiny new version of something OLD! It's old, I don't care about the flash and fanfare, it's the content I am after. If you withhold it, you loose my interest. I am from the generation of "give it to me now or I won't want it in five minutes."
Mrs. Feehand and her cohorts, I would have purchased your FIRST book in the series in whatever format was available and had I liked it, I would have gone on to purchase every other title in that series. Chances are, I probably would have liked it on some level, since it's in my favorite genre. Now, that I feel cheated and taken advantage of (because in order to buy into this series I must now wait for the latest, greatest, shiny hardback) I don't want to read your books anymore. A two-year old could throw a better tantrum you say? Yes, well, that may be so, but my credit card will move on to other purchases at any rate.
Imagine my distress then when I have been told for years by friends, colleagues, and now family members to try Christine Feehand's Carpathian novel series. Finally, as I was sitting here thirsting for something new to read I jumped on Barnes & Noble online and went to searching. What I found thoroughly pissed me off. I found every single book in her dark series from #2 on up to 20-whatever. I found them in paperbacks (new and used) and in E-Reader format (which is what I was looking for). What I didn't find was book one. I searched and searched to no avail. I switched over to Amazon.com thinking, they have everything. If B&N is missing it, maybe I will find it there. Alas, no such luck. Amazon did have quite a few expensive used editions of the original runs of the book, but I won't pay those fees for a book I am not sure I will like. A quick search of the author and a look at her website told me why. The book has been out of print for a while, and a brand-spanking new hardback edition is on the way to stores in spring 2011. So, of course, this would be the reason that not even an online edition is available.
Well, let me tell you what... fans who love the series will buy the hardback edition just to have it. New customers having never heard of the series before may be intrigued to purchase it and follow the series from there. What about the rest of us? Why must I wait to start an existing series? I could start with book two and move on, at which point I would never buy book one, simply on principal. But as I have already stated above, I have this thing about doing that. Now that you are making me wait, you have pissed me off and my interest in your stories has waned. Instead of instantly purchasing this book, and possibly the series beyond, I have been put on hold long enough to read reviews. Some of those reviews weren't very flattering of Mrs. Feehand's writing abilities. So, now I am questioning if it is even worth it to put any more thought into her books at all. Probably not, the genre is inundated with fresh perspectives and brilliant new authors, so I don't think I will run out of reading material any time soon.
Why then am I blogging about this? Simply put, I am tired of business ploys and tricks to get people to buy and re-buy. It doesn't work for me. If I buy the original version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, for instance, I am not going to turn around a month later and buy the collectors edition. What a waste! The same is true of items businesses try to hide from me while they promote their latest and greatest, shiny new version of something OLD! It's old, I don't care about the flash and fanfare, it's the content I am after. If you withhold it, you loose my interest. I am from the generation of "give it to me now or I won't want it in five minutes."
Mrs. Feehand and her cohorts, I would have purchased your FIRST book in the series in whatever format was available and had I liked it, I would have gone on to purchase every other title in that series. Chances are, I probably would have liked it on some level, since it's in my favorite genre. Now, that I feel cheated and taken advantage of (because in order to buy into this series I must now wait for the latest, greatest, shiny hardback) I don't want to read your books anymore. A two-year old could throw a better tantrum you say? Yes, well, that may be so, but my credit card will move on to other purchases at any rate.
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