Over the last year or so, I’ve learned a lot about the publishing industry.
I’ve always been a big reader, but I never spent much time wondering where books came from, or how they were made. Even when I started working on my books, I focused on the craft of writing, and not the particulars of getting published.
Because of this, I have weird gaps in my knowledge. For example, I just recently learned how to identify different printings of books.
What’s a printing? Well, when your book first comes out, your publisher takes a look at how many books the booksellers and distributors have ordered. Then the publisher prints enough books to cover those orders, plus some extra to have in the warehouse so that they can fill additional orders. That first printing is, well, the first printing.
These first printings can be of wildly different sizes. The first printing of the last Harry Potter book was huge, of course. While a lot of books by new authors get a very small first printings because the publishers don’t know how well the book is going to sell.
From what I understand, a lot of books only get one printing.
But occasionally, something magical happens. Sometimes people keep buying a book from the stores, so those stores keep having to order more from the distributors. The distributors have to order more from the publisher, and then the publisher prints a new batch of the book: that’s the second printing.
And so on, and so on…
I learned all of that fairly early on, but what I *didn’t* know was how to tell the which printing was which. But now I do…
You know that page early on in the book with all that legal-y information on it?
Here’s the one from my book. As always, guest starring my thumb…
Down here is the important bit.
Here’s the tricky part. The line that says “First Hardcover Printing” doesn’t actually tell you anything about the printing. It’s the numbers underneath. Here all the numbers 1-10 are printed out. That means that this is a first printing.
Here’s the second printing of my book. You can tell because the little number one is missing from the list. (Click the picture to embiggen.)
The fourth printing….
And lastly, the fifth printing:
That’s right. The fifth printing of the hardcover got an awesome new cover. I was really flattered that the publisher would do this. I really like the way it looks.
This means that Shirtless Kvothe and Angry Stone Man are a thing of the past. So hang on to them, folks. In five or ten years you’ll be able to e-bay them and put your kids through college.
Also note that this cover makes it very clear that I am a winner, and that The Name of the Wind is a novel. If you were confused about either of those things, you can rest easier now.
Later,
pat
Ursula K. Le Guin
Did I mention that Ursula K. Le Guin read my book?
Did I mention that Ursula K. Le Guin liked my book?
Did I mention that Ursula K. Le Guin agreed to provide a blurb for the book?
“It is a rare and great pleasure to find a fantasist writing not only with the kind of accuracy of language absolutely essential to fantasy-making, but with real music in the words as well. Wherever Pat Rothfuss goes with the big story that begins with The Name of the Wind, he’ll carry us with him as a good singer carries us through a song.”
Yeah. Can I get a “wow” from the audience?
On a closely related note, if you’ve never read her Wizards of Earthsea books, you really need to. Not only are they absolutely brilliant, but they’re one of the cornerstones of modern fantasy.
If you have read the Earthsea books, you should make sure you’ve checked out her more recent stuff too. She writes at a consistently awesome level that I hope to emulate over the years.
I’ve got a cool announcement to make, but you’ll have to wait for Friday. It’s a leap-day announcement. It’s nothing HUGE, but… well… I think it’s pretty cool….
Oh, and lastly, the deadline for nominating books for the Hugo ballot is only a couple days away. So if you were planning on doing it, but you’re like me and you tend to forget what day it is, don’t be caught unawares….
Later all,
pat