The Amazon-owned Goodreads website notes how some 4,000 advance reader copies were sent out to booksellers, readers and critics to build a buzz around the title long before it hit the shelves.
A few: Alfred A. Knopf is trying to make John Burdett's thriller "Bangkok 8" a big breakout book this summer with a first printing of 100,000 copies, and has sent advance reader copies to 2,500 booksellers accompanied by the usual all-promising letter from its publisher, Sonny Mehta.
(Ware said publishers also have an option to include a Tynt-style "Read more here" link in every piece of text that a reader copies and pastes, but she's planning to turn it off since it doesn't really help the publisher, and it annoys the reader).
*I received these free advance reader copies from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
Now I know reaching out to publishers is something lots of bloggers are excited about, along with the holy grail of blogging: the ARC – an "advanced readers copy", meaning you get a book before it's published.
Nearly that many advanced readers' copies have been circulated already, a select number of them wrapped in paper and sealed in wax with an image of a raven.
Figuring the potential reader per copy, Maury, in a big week, could count on having 23,557,420 readers, including repeaters.
"I saw your name on so-and-so's advanced reader's copy," a bookseller will write me.
This is like offering a library where all the books in it are invisible to the readers unless an author is standing there and personally hands each reader a copy of their book".
It was not supposed to go on sale until 11 days later, and mistaken reports that Obama had "bought" the book (he was actually given a free advance reader's copy) nearly set off a mutiny among booksellers wondering whether they should still honor the official release date.
