Sunday, January 15, 2012

Anonymous asked: I still see a bunch of people (including FYNF peeps) saying that if people find unsigned copies of TFiOS in bookstores, they can e-mail you for a bookplate. However, you committed to signing all PREORDERS of TFiOS, not all the copies made available (rightly or wrongly) on/after January 10th. You signed your life away for months. You're on tour signing. I hope this gets clarified for people so you don't have to sign a bunch more books than you committed to. #niceproblemtohave #butstill

Right, so to clear some things up:

1. There are many unsigned copies in bookstores because The Fault in Our Stars is already in like its fifth printing. (The way that printings works is extremely complicated and unless you have a spare hour, I can’t explain it to you.) This means there will be fewer and fewer signed copies in bookstores (and Target, Costco, etc.) in the coming weeks. Hopefully the book is okay/valuable/interesting regardless of whether it contains a j scribble. We’ll find out, I suppose.

2. I’m sending bookplates to people who preordered the book and didn’t get signed copies because Amazon UK and Amazon DE and a few other places did not order enough signed stock (even though there were plenty of signed books) due to their poor planning. This will be expensive and time-consuming, and I’m not doing it for people who did not preorder the book, because A. it would be too expensive, and B. I made it clear over and over again that non-preorders might not be signed.

3. That noted, there are lots of signed books still out there in bookstores and grocery stores and many other places, and if you live in the US or the UK, you should not have to work particularly hard to find them.

4. Lastly, people who preordered books from the stores hosting events on the Tour de Nerdfighting did not get signed stock because I knew I was going to meet your IRL and could sign your book then. There has been some confusion about that. 

I realize this is all very confusing and complicated, which is why no one has ever tried it before and probably no one will ever try it again. But I do want to say that it has on the whole gone pretty dang well, and that Penguin has worked extremely hard to make it work as well as possible.

(In other news, I am so grateful for the lovely and overwhelming responses to the book itself. Thank you.)

Posted at 12:04 PM 103 notes

Notes

  1. heavyearthmetalband said: I think what anonymous was trying to say is that someone might try to con their way into getting a special expensive book plate even if they didn’t pre-order. For instance they could go to the store, buy an unsigned copy, and say they preordered it.
  2. gryffindorgal87 reblogged this from fishingboatproceeds
  3. darlingnicotine said: weird, i ordered the book AFTER the release date and it was signed. i feel so guilty.
  4. camskarsgard said: I found 2, one in my local bookstore and another in a schulers and they were both signed.
  5. thalescircles said: Thank you for being awesome John, in your commitment to Nerdfighters/your fans, and also in your commitment to clarity!
  6. bobrulesok said: Are you sure about point 3 and the UK? My Amazon order was being slow so I went to my local shops to look for a copy. There were no copies to be found and only one shop (Waterstones) even had any of your books, one of each hidden on a bottom shelf!
  7. stillfreetodream said: So the first printing was 150 000 books, which is quite large, and you signed all of them, and it’s gone into its fifth printing, or am I misunderstanding you? If you have a spare hour sometime, an explanation would be nice.