[RW Bennett]

Author George R.R. Martin sold 298,000 copies of his new novel on his FIRST DAY. Ebook sales were 110K. Of course, of the 170K hardcovers, I imagine a substantial number may be returned, unless his sell-through is much higher than the industry average.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/george-r-r-martin-sells-298000-copies-of-a-dance-with-dragons-on-first-day_b34283

BTW, how does one go about inserting the little icon 'new' with the little box around it when starting a new thread?

 

[Coral Moore]

BTW, how does one go about inserting the little icon 'new' with the little box around it when starting a new thread?

It goes on there automatically when there are new posts to a thread. You probably didn't see it for your post because it was yours.

Author George R.R. Martin sold 298,000 copies of his new novel on his FIRST DAY. Ebook sales were 110K. Of course, of the 170K hardcovers, I imagine a substantial number may be returned, unless his sell-through is much higher than the industry average.

Well, he also has four previous books and kept people waiting for the book for five years. I actually haven't seen any "media buzz" about the book that would be driven by the publisher, so I wonder how much of the credit for those sales really goes to them. I also wonder how many more eBook sales he would have had if it had been priced more reasonably.

 

[Courtney Milan]

Author George R.R. Martin sold 298,000 copies of his new novel on his FIRST DAY. Ebook sales were 110K. Of course, of the 170K hardcovers, I imagine a substantial number may be returned, unless his sell-through is much higher than the industry average.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/george-r-r-martin-sells-298000-copies-of-a-dance-with-dragons-on-first-day_b34283

Those 170,000 hardcover sales are actual sales to customers, not sales to booksellers. I seriously doubt that GRRM only shipped 170K copies of the book.

 

[tensen]

Because of the delay in getting the book done and the TV series I would imagine a large amount of that is pre-orders and not going to be sitting around on book store shelves to worry about the returns. Unless they seriously misjudged that first run, it is usually the following print runs that will see the returns.

 

[RW Bennett]

Those 170,000 hardcover sales are actual sales to customers, not sales to booksellers. I seriously doubt that GRRM only shipped 170K copies of the book.

Thanks, Courtney. What a huge print run!

 

[jackz4000]

For Tuesday sales: 170,000 HC ( sold 26% of first print run), 110,000 eBooks, 18,000 audiobooks

Total first printing 650,000 copies.

http://books.usatoday.com/bookbuzz/post/2011/07/record-sales-for-george-rr-martins-a-dance-with-dragons/176909/1

 

[Todd Russell]

I'm curious how many books Stephen King will sell on his first day of 11/22/63? I'll be in line. I'm guessing by his Amazon ranking (presells only), he'll sell gadzillions.

 

[Victoria J]

Well, he also has four previous books and kept people waiting for the book for five years. I actually haven't seen any "media buzz" about the book that would be driven by the publisher, so I wonder how much of the credit for those sales really goes to them. I also wonder how many more eBook sales he would have had if it had been priced more reasonably.

This.

I'd never noticed his books or even heard of him before now. I first heard about his GoT series (and now I'm reading his books) through a TV show forum.

 

[Rex Jameson]

Trad publishing has many advantages but this post doesn't appear to really be reflecting that. George's books took off after the HBO series was announced. This is more a result of amazing exposure for him through the entertainment industry, and of course, him writing some excellent books. The fans have been rabid for this next one for over 5 years, but it only reached critical mass after the series started running on the networks.

 

[MonkeyScribe]

The Game of Thrones series took off years ago, long before HBO got involved. Of course, it has been pushed to another level by the recent series, but all my sf/f friends were reading these books a decade ago.

 

[flanneryohello]

The Game of Thrones series took off years ago, long before HBO got involved. Of course, it has been pushed to another level by the recent series, but all my sf/f friends were reading these books a decade ago.

Agreed. My best friend begged me to read "A Game of Thrones" back when we were in college (1997?). It was a popular book even then, and the series has many rabid fans. The HBO show (which is awesome, by the way) has intensified interest, but honestly, it didn't create that interest.

While I feel that trade publishing does still have advantages, this is honestly a pretty atypical (and therefore poor) example. If George R.R. Martin self-published his next book, he'd still sell like crazy. At this point, he is a big name with a devoted fan base. Once the demand for your books is there (and a TV series has been created for those books), I don't think trade publishing vs. self-publishing makes a huge difference either way. That said, I have a feeling it's much easier to negotiate a big series deal with HBO in the first place when you've got the resources of a major publisher behind you.

 

[Coral Moore]

Trad publishing has many advantages but this post doesn't appear to really be reflecting that.

Right, not having to pay for your own editing/cover/promotion is a big advantage that traditional publishing will always have over independent.

The TV show definitely exposed his books to many people who otherwise would never have touched them, so I think that was either some fantastic coincidence or maybe some clever planning. I guess we'll never know which.

 

[Michael Kingswood]

I also wonder how many more eBook sales he would have had if it had been priced more reasonably.

At least one. My wife and I are going all ebook now, to reduce clutter and lower household goods weight (we move a lot for the Navy). But I ain't paying $14.95 or whatever for an ebook, so I'm waiting on A Dance With Dragons until the price is lower.

 

[David 'Half-Orc' Dalglish]

The Game of Thrones series took off years ago, long before HBO got involved. Of course, it has been pushed to another level by the recent series, but all my sf/f friends were reading these books a decade ago.

This. Does anyone think they'd have spent the millions of dollars making the HBO series in the first place if it hadn't been selling incredibly well?

 

[Jason Kristopher]

At least one. My wife and I are going all ebook now, to reduce clutter and lower household goods weight (we move a lot for the Navy). But I ain't paying $14.95 or whatever for an ebook, so I'm weighting on A Dance With Dragons until the price is lower.

Good for you - and thanks for your service.

I refuse to pay more - or charge more - for an ebook than I would for a paperback. I don't care who it's by or how good it supposedly is.

 

[jackz4000]

This. Does anyone think they'd have spent the millions of dollars making the HBO series in the first place if it hadn't been selling incredibly well?

HBO put in over 70 Million for production costs. Before the HBO/BBC episodes came out he had sold 5 Million copies USA alone. Since then he has only sold more. HBO first optioned back in 2007.

 

[Ben White]

Goodness, the hugely anticipated fifth book in the most popular fantasy series in the world is doing well?  Who could ever have guessed!



I think the title of this thread could more accurately be changed to "Being George R. R. Martin Still Has Advantages".

 

[Edward C. Patterson]

Yes, pre-orders on excellent books that have held your fan-base hostage has an advantage. This is one exception to the rule that authors who walk over their readers lose. I mean, I pre-ordered, have read the first four books, preaise it and cant wait to see the mini-series on DVD of Game of Thones. But I feel a little dirty about it and will read it under the sheets at midnight.  Ah the tricks of the Trads.

Edward C. Patterson