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Anyone know what is going on with the HH series and Amazon, specifically Amazon UK? They used to become available on Amazon in a timely fashion after release; not immediately but not exactly months either. According to wiki, Angel Exterminatus is due out on January 2013 yet my Amazon pre-order is giving an estimate of August this year. The previous novel, Shadows of Treachery, i got end of September which, again according to wiki, was when it was released. Bizarrely, the next book Betrayer, is still showing on Amazon as available in April; so available to buy earlier than the preceding novel in the series! It's all a bit odd.

It's all to do with the mess of GW's new system I think.

Since it's Hardback > Trade Paperback > Paperback now, I wouldn't be surprised that things have gotten rather... confused.

Different formats Filb.

The HB books are different release dates to the trade and mass market PBs.

The next book in the old PB format is AE in the summer, but once the gap has been bridged it should be back to normal, just two or three titles behind.

So why the 6 months plus gap between novels then? They used to be fairly regular but it seems an age since the last one.

I had Angel Exterminatus on pre-order and was expecting it in Jan only to get an email from Amazon saying the pre-order was cancelled :(

As azrael13 says, once the gap has been bridged with regards to the hardback, then larger paperback, then finally smaller paperback released, things should be back to normal in terms of the rate of book release.

I'm using it as an opportunity to catch up on a couple of other BL books I've missed, but have to admit I feel a little bit lost with regards to the Heresy series - and thats coming from a massive fan!

Because AE was released as HB first. Then a few months further down the line it'll be a trade paperback, before eventually becoming mass market.

The pre orders were up on Amazon long before BL decided to try and milk some more cash out of us with hardbacks.

Consequently the item you pre ordered was probably the mass market paperback, which is now pushed back to make room for the other versions.

The actual release of titles hasn't slowed down, it's just this wait for the AE mass market paperback for those of us who wish to keep our collection uniform and not pay extra for no personal extra benefit.

I used to think it was far enough between books that the wait was almost painful. Now with the switch to HB-trade paperback-mass market, I'll probably stop reading. I'm only buying the mass market book, and if I have to wait that long for it to be released, I'll have long lost interest. As it is I can barely keep track.

Edit: and I say that as someone who has all of the books up to the current release (pre hardback book).

 Cruentus wrote:
I used to think it was far enough between books that the wait was almost painful. Now with the switch to HB-trade paperback-mass market, I'll probably stop reading. I'm only buying the mass market book, and if I have to wait that long for it to be released, I'll have long lost interest. As it is I can barely keep track.

Edit: and I say that as someone who has all of the books up to the current release (pre hardback book).

That's your prerogative of course, but if the wait between books was painful before, with multiple authors releasing three or four books a year, how on earth do you manage with series by a single writer where books can be a year or more apart? !

 azreal13 wrote:

 Cruentus wrote:
I used to think it was far enough between books that the wait was almost painful. Now with the switch to HB-trade paperback-mass market, I'll probably stop reading. I'm only buying the mass market book, and if I have to wait that long for it to be released, I'll have long lost interest. As it is I can barely keep track.

Edit: and I say that as someone who has all of the books up to the current release (pre hardback book).

That's your prerogative of course, but if the wait between books was painful before, with multiple authors releasing three or four books a year, how on earth do you manage with series by a single writer where books can be a year or more apart? !

im looking at you here G.R.R.Martin !!

Actually it's The Painted Man series for me, never got into GoT.

Still suspect GRRM is the worst offender though!

It also takes them around a month or two to get a book from BL.

I recently ordered Fallen Angels and the ETA is April 20th.

Maybe it is just difficult to cooperate with BL nowadays?

Over the course of a mere year, BL has systematically destroyed nearly 75% of what made them so great. It really was a rapid and disappointing collapse. I blame GW, just because my GW sense is tingling at their new "business strategies".

Though if someone has a better explanation by all means.

If you are an author you want to get into hardback, it's a prestige thing, but really important to you (even if you don't admit it), it means you've arrived in the big time

As a publisher you are always taken more seriously if you produce hardbacks,

So i'm certain Black Library and it's authors always wanted to achive this (even if in the begining they never expected to get there are purveyors of sub-niche genre fiction)

As the quality of their authors increased, and the popularity of their products grew it became more and more certain hardbacks would come to feature in the product line, and with them HB release schedules (HB, then TPB then mass market PB)

Releasing small novellas/short stories are limited hard covers is far more of a fan service/money making activity, but there IS a desire for the products despite what folk on the forums say.

A few will give up on BL because of them, others will pick and choose and treat them selves to an occasional LE that takes their fancy in the same way that most buyers never actually buy all the BL output at the moment

those that gotta get em all in books, or minis, or whatever else are always in the minority, and because of their compulsion alwasy easy to upset when they can't afford all they want... and on the other hand tend to be the first to complain when not enough new 'stuff' is released to fee the need for the new.

I know this is bumping an old thread, however after getting back from Salute where I managed to collar a member of BL's staff and ask why the release schedule is like it is for the heresy books.

The official reason as to why all is now comming in hardback first (as I was told), is because after the release of Betrayer and Aurelion etc, they had ALOT of people saying how they now all wanted their collection to be the same size, and asked BL to release the whole range in the larger hardback covers.

And there was me thinking BL was just motivated to milk its customers...