David Weber

[Timba]

Parson,
I am reading an anthology called Warriors and it has a David Webber novella called "Out of the Dark" and was published 03-16-2010 while his novel by the same name was published 07/2010 I believe so this was really worse money grubbing than I thought.

Basically the novella version has none of the scenes in the United States and really is pretty short. Kind of sad that he would add a few chapters and pump it out as a full book less than 4 months later. Made me lose a little respect.

[Parson]

Ouch! That does bite (pun intended.). However he is not the first author to write a pretty nice (assuming it is pretty nice) short story/Novella and turn it into a novel. There are even some examples of that which have become classics. The primary example that I know of is Orson Scott Card and "Ender's Game." "Ender's Game" has been in print continually since 1978. (If memory serves me.)

[Timba]

Originally Posted by Parson

Ouch! That does bite (pun intended.). However he is not the first author to write a pretty nice (assuming it is pretty nice) short story/Novella and turn it into a novel. There are even some examples of that which have become classics. The primary example that I know of is Orson Scott Card and "Ender's Game." "Ender's Game" has been in print continually since 1978. (If memory serves me.)

Agreed, loved Ender's Game but really to jump on the vampire wagon once is tolerable, twice when you are not writing vampire stories is one to many for me. Mind you if he was a struggling author trying to make ends meet it might be a different story but Weber really does not fall into that category, does he?

[Parson]

He misses being a struggling author about as far as Manticore is away from the sol system.

[Vertigo]

Just noticed that the latest HH book A Rising Thunder (due out in March I think) is now available from Baen as an ARC edition ebook. Quite expensive at $15 but if you are desperate for a fix...

Comments seem to be along the lines of there being a lot of tying together of loose ends from the HH books and the spin off books (Torch of Freedom etc) and that it really seems to be setting the scene for more books following the conflict with Solarian Empire and then the Mesan Alignment.

[murphy]

Baen did that with Sharon Lee/Steve Miller's latest book, Ghost Ship. I ended up buying both.

[Vertigo]

Ah now you're clearly the kind of person the publishing marketing people just love!

I think I shall wait until the final release at a price more suited to my current pocket size!

[murphy]

I only do it for my favorite authors and while I like David Weber, I don't like him well enough to spend that kind of money.

[Moggle]

I wonder if this means the beginning of the end for physical ARCs.

[Vertigo]

I must admit I wondered that. It does seem like the obvious technology for ARCs. But don't forget Baen are pretty forward looking when it comes to eBooks. It's interesting though that it is charged at over double their normal ebook price.

[Timba]

Originally Posted by Vertigo

I must admit I wondered that. It does seem like the obvious technology for ARCs. But don't forget Baen are pretty forward looking when it comes to eBooks. It's interesting though that it is charged at over double their normal ebook price.

I like the fact that Baen does this but I never buy the ARC for the reason you mention, the price is outlandish. I love the HH series and if I was going to buy an ARC it would probably be in that series but I can wait for it to drop to $6.00.

I do think it is a nice service to those who simply cannot wait or have money burning a hole in their pocket and I assume the author and Baen both make a tidy sum off those sales so it is all good.

I always keep an eye on these ARC editions and then surf to the author's list of books at Baen and the final version is always there in a half finished version or so but it allows me to add that to my wish list allowing me to keep a closer eye on it. I have also noticed usually it is available for purchase and download a day or two or even three before the book is in the stores and every little bit helps when you are waiting with bated breath.

[Vertigo]

He he patience....

[Timba]

Originally Posted by Vertigo

He he patience....

I would have never held out when I was 20 or even 30 but a few added decades have taught me patience or perhaps it is just that time seems to speed by the older I get

[Vertigo]

Yeah, that's because when we were young we moved so much faster that relativity time dilation meant that time passed more slowly now we've slowed down time passes ever quicker!

[Parson]

I can tell that I really don't belong with the batch of writers. I had to discover what an ARC book was. I can also tell that I need to do more online searching for books. There were a some books on the Baen site that looked interesting that I have never seen at Barnes and Nobles. (the only big book store within 150 miles of where I live.)