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Comment Threads

• Charlie Stross commented on CMAP #6: Why did you pick such an awful cover for your new book?
  You're absolutely right, except for one point -- covers at Ace (for one, and possibly other imprints) get tested against the highly subjective eyeballs of the buyers at B&N and Borders. I've had a book cover changed after feedback on the ARC from the big chain buyers. Given the way modern short-run printing costs break down, it ought to be possible for a publisher to do A/B testing on cover designs -- take a hardcover with a projected 6000 copy run and do two dust jackets at 3000 each, see which comes back more frequently in the returns, and pick...
• Charlie Stross commented on CMAP #6: Why did you pick such an awful cover for your new book?
  Furthermore, why should anyone care whether one buyer for Barnes & Noble likes a title or not? Because it's not just any buyer for B&N -- it's the manager in charge of acquiring SF for the entire chain. If they take against a book on the basis of the cover, the book's sales will slump 30%. And the sales of the subsequent book will be lower, too, because the author's sales track record is showing a downward curve....
• Elizabeth Bear commented on I got your sensawunda right here.
  Leah @1: I think you might be right. And because we knew so little--we were just getting there--and the whole thing was such an insane adventure. Constant revelation! I still think space is really cool. And I hope you enjoy DUST....
• Elizabeth Bear commented on I got your sensawunda right here.
  Prof Pedant: you are, of course, correct. I don't suppose you're a copy editor?...
• Charlie Stross commented on I got your sensawunda right here.
  Blank Xavier: NASA are to space exploration what the NHS is to health care. What, you mean under-funded, dirt-cheap, run by a corps of talented people who are dedicated to public service rather than self-enrichment, and delivering overall superb results in spite of obstacles placed in their way by ideologues who think the free market is always the best way of serving needs -- even when those needs are for not-easily-quantifiable goods such as public health or the seach for knowledge? Here's a hint: you're an idiot, and further comments along such lines will get your ass banned from this...