The Sword and Laser discussion

I am curious how people are planning to buy A Dance with Dragons. Whether that be online from like Amazon.com or BN.com etc or buying it at an actual book store like a Barnes and Noble or a more local bookstore. Or maybe going digital route with either audio book or e-book edition?

Personally for me I am going to be getting it at the local Barnes and Noble on the day of release since I don't want to be at the mercy of the local UPS delivery person. ALso because our UPS person seems to normally come at 6pm and I don't want to have to wait that long to get the book.

I got the kindle version pre ordered - I read a lot while commuting, and carrying the kindle is much easier than these heavy fantasy books. And I get the dance directly on tuesday, which will make it much easier to dive directly into it...

I pre-ordered it for the Kindle, partly to see when exactly it will be delivered. Since I live in Europe I could get a six to nine hour head start, but maybe it will just be delivered world-wide at the same time.

Anyway it's going to be an experiment AND of course I will just get it right away.

I will be getting it hardcopy. When it comes to reading, nothing beats the feeling of dead tree and ink on your fingers.
But i will try and read the inevitable hardcopy from a friend first, then buy the paper back version when it comes out. I don't want to break up my paperback collection.

I'll be getting a hardcopy from the local indie book store so I can feel all nice and ethical.

I'm going to be a bit of a Philistine here.

As a Navy guy, I have to move every couple years. Not an issue; it's pretty fun seeing new places and such. But there's a maximum weight limit for stuff that the Navy will pay to move, and over the last couple years we've had a MASSIVE influx of stuff as three little ones have entered our lives. So we're probably getting close to our weight limit.

The Mrs and I have begun strategizing, in preparation for moving early next year, and one of our targets for weight reduction is my mammoth book collection. Those suckers get heavy QUICKLY, and we've both fallen in love with ebooks. So one of my projects this summer is to inventory my book collection and determine what stays and what goes, to be replaced by the e-versions. Only my very favorite hard copies, and those that are unavailable in e-form, will remain.

So that means I'll be getting ADWD in ebook form. But here's the kicker. Last I checked, it's listed at $14.95 in the kindle store. I am NOT paying $14.95 for an ebook, out of principle.

So I'm waiting on ADWD until the ebook price falls to a reasonable level (ie - at or below mass market paperback price). I've waited five years for this book. I can wait a few months more.

Or that's what I tell myself, anyway. We'll see how I do on willpower as the days tick down toward the release.

Cheers!

Print copy on Pre-order from Amazon

Like I always do for a new hardcovers, from Amazon.

I gave up reading hardcovers for about any books, mostly because they were more expensive, but also because they are much heavier and take up more space on the shelves. There have been - so far - exactly two authors who I made exceptions for: J.K. Rowling and Walter Moers because I found myself unable to wait for their new books to be released as paperback.

Now I'm glad for e-books because it takes away two of the three cons of hardcovers. I don't mind books that have just been released being a bit more expensive. I will mostly wait for a book to get a bit cheaper, but for ADwD I will make an exception. Usually I have enough books on my to-read list that I can bridge the gap until a new release gets cheaper.

From the second hand bookstore or other discount source:) With so much hype this book is going to be way overstocked and I don't expect to pay more that $5 or $6 for a pristine hardcover. If I am very lucky, I will find it in my favorite store where everything is a dollar.

Much like Anne, there are authors & series that I must own in hardback. (For me, it's Mercedes Lackey, Raymond Feist, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, David Eddings...yeah the list is long.)

While I am enjoying The Song of Ice and Fire, I won't be purchasing it in hardback until the whole thing is finished. I will wait to purchase it until it is released in mass market form. Luckily, our local library system ordered 55 copies for the various branches, & I am #51 on the waitlist, so there's a good chance I'll get to read it sometime next week.

GRRM's record with finishing books puts him in danger of joining Frank Herbert & Robert Jordan as an unfinished master. I stopped paying for Jordan's books at all around book 7. I'm not paying for a hardback for a series that I have no guarantee will ever be finished. (That may sound bitter, but even as I understand that GRRM is not my bitch, as someone so succinctly put it, neither am I his. He is lucky to be getting my money for the paperback.) Just my opinion. ymmv

I have pre-ordered the hardcover edition from Amazon but did not pay to expedite shipping. I have the others in hardback so it seems I'm going to have the entire series in hardback. I also pre-ordered the Kindle version, which is likely the version I'll do the bulk of the reading on. But I also have them all from Audible and expect that soon after it comes out, I'll augment my Kindle time with Audible time...

Kristin sounds like you have all the bases covered that is for sure. Also how do you keep in sync if you switch between the kindle and audible?

I have always liked hard covers, for longer books I enjoy having the books larger they are easier to handle for me personally than holing a small paperback that is 600-1000 pages long. Also the larger paperback sizes I like better as well. So for A Dance With Dragons hard cover I am fine going with.

I'm going with the kindle. It would nice to hard the hardcover edition, but I'm running out of room in my tiny house.

Matt wrote: "Also how do you keep in sync if you switch between the kindle and audible?"

I wrote about this in some other thread here, maybe in the book binging thread. No real "magic" to it, just do it manually. I've found that each ASoIaF chapter is about 30-45 minutes of audio, so I use that as a rule of thumb to figure out how far ahead to go, assuming I know how many chapters I listened to versus how many I read on Kindle. As I get closer, I hone in. It's not elegant, but it works for me, and allows me to maximize my "reading" time.

Has anyone heard if it will be a 1 or a 2 credit Audible title? I confess I'm too cheap to burn 2 credits and will wait in line to get it via Overdrive from my local library if it's 2 credits.

I've ended up buying ebooks for all my recent reads, and I'm going to do the same for this. For any other book (beside's the next Patrick Rothfuss book) I'd wait since they seem to have taken the route of charging more for the ebook than the hardback (£15 compared to £12.50 for the hardback), but I really don't want to wait much longer to get more of the story.

...

That's what I originally thought, but they seem to have just dropped the ebook price on Amazon.co.uk to £11.99. Still a lot I guess, but so long as it's not more than the hardback I don't get that annoying cheated feeling after buying it.

iBooks. Paper books are for people who live in the suburbs.

I'm getting mine at the local bookstore where he's doing a signing. I try to support the local business, so they can keep bringing in the authors. If I were going the cheaper route, I'd get it from amazon.

David wrote: "I try to support the local business."

I want to do that, too. What if I go to my local book store and buy the Kindle version from inside it?

Audio on reserve from the library.

Pre-ordered in iBooks. (I'm not expecting the price to go down any time soon.)

I do almost all my reading on ebooks now; with my poor eyesight it's less strain on the eyes.

Got a couple giftcards to borders a while back, used them to preorder it.

Hardcover from Borders down the street from me. FYI for Borders Plus folks: you do get another 10% off the price that the initial 46% gets you... not bad.

Kindle pre-order here. I'm willing to pay the $14.95 for stuff that I REALLY want.

I'm having a hard time deciding if I am going to do Audible or Kindle for this one. I have made it through the previous books on Audible, but I tend to get more out of a book when I read it rather than when I listen to it.

Ok, I will get it on Kindle... or Audible... or...

By osmosis.

Al wrote: "By osmosis."

Nice!

Pre-order for Kindle. In fact, last night I finished a book and tried to pre-order again having forgot I already pre-ordered. Anxious anyone?

I pre-ordered on Kindle. I've never liked reading large awkward hardbacks that I can't hold in one hand, and this way my wife and I can read simultaneously (one on a kindle and the other on a laptop). I love technology.

Also a Kindle pre-order. The ability to wake up on Tuesday and start reading with my coffee before the book stores even open is a big plus for me. Also, I read a lot at work, and a big hardcover like that is cumbersome for the commute.

Book store, I asked to have a copy put aside for me, I'll pick it up after work and dig into it as soon as I get home.

I debated Kindle, but I want to hear Roy Dotrice's performance so much that I know will have to get it eventually, so I'm going with Audible. Dotrice is worth 2 credits! Then Kindle when the price drops.

Pre-ordered on Kindle, also getting a hardcover copy at the book signing!

Since have no experience with ebooks in this regard be interesting to see when it will be released on amazon for the kindle whether at midnight in each region or what.

Also pre-ordered on kindle and purchased a signed copy at signedpage.com (http://signedpage.com/shop/a-dance-wi...). Looking forward to it.

Its on!! 12:20 EST and my Nook is manning up and letting me DL. HERE WE GO!

Just this minute finished downloading it from Audible. Will start listening to it as soon as Tom and Veronica finish their podcast.

Hurry Up! Sheeesh.

It is indeed a 2 credit title on Audible, I broke down and got it. Heck, 49 hours is like getting 3 or 4 books at once.

A few years from now, maybe decades, when the series is done, and I'll check it out from the library, unless they only have mass market paperback, which I hate. Or I'll keep it on my mental list to look for in every used book store and slowly build my own collection like I've done with the Dark Tower.

All to say, this girl isn't exactly waiting by the phone today!

I got it from my local book store - half price too 'cause I've preordered :) Now, sitting in work, trying VERY HARD not to be distracted... That last one's not going so well...

Philip wrote: "It is indeed a 2 credit title on Audible, I broke down and got it. Heck, 49 hours is like getting 3 or 4 books at once."

49 Hours.. Wow! .. Anathem was only 34 hours. That means the book must be about 1,300 pages or more, unless the narrator reads very slowly.

with appendix the book is 1016 pages.

I now have all three versions hahah. Pre-ordered the hardcover version but didn't pay extra for shipping. Still got it today (release day). Pre-ordered the Kindle version and was able to download it to my Kindle and Kindle app today. And just grabbed the audio version. Now only if I had time to read. :(

terpkristin wrote: "I now have all three versions hahah. Pre-ordered the hardcover version but didn't pay extra for shipping. Still got it today (release day). Pre-ordered the Kindle version and was able to download ..."
You are Serious Fan.

Jenny wrote: "You are Serious Fan."

Only, it seems, with regards to buying the book. We've got a launch this week so today and yesterday have been swamped with rehearsals (and probably another shorter one tomorrow), then last-minute craziness before launching Friday, then 2 weeks of odd hours to handle events. This is very poor timing, either by my work or by GRRM. ;)

Who would expect mid-July to be so busy!?

There are only 2 series for which I still buy the dead-tree edition and it's mainly to complete the set. A Song of Ice and Fire and The Wheel of Time. That said, Perth Australia just saw the closure of it's Borders store (where I would normally have bought a copy) and it's city Angus & Robertson store leaving me with just Dymocks who inform me over the phone (on release day) "We should be getting that in the next month or two". Gee thanks but I think I'll get the eBook so I can actually read the danged thing and I look forward to your imminent closure. Good riddance local book-sellers, I hardly cared to know ye.

As with all series that are not done, I'll get it when the final book is published and via Kindle for reading and via Hardback set in consistent cover format.