A fellow author posted this excellent thread over on Twitter about the importance of book preorders to authors, and it reminded me that not everyone may understand why this is. Many authors, including myself, hesitate to sound too demanding or desperate, but there is a distinct difference between plugging and simply educating.
Essentially, preorders demonstrate to publishers, as well as booksellers and online retailers that there is interest and demand for the book. This can lead to a number of...