In Which I Praise my Friend and Colleague, Maria, and Post a Link to her NEW COK REVIEW!

[deirdrej.livejournal.com]

I know that all of you who've listened to our podcast interview already know that Maria is awesome, but let me tell you an anecdote I think you'll enjoy.

Maria went to our local Borders and asked whether they were going to have any copies of COK when it came out. They said they were not. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??!

So Maria expressed her HORROR and INDIGNATION. Very politely, of course. Whereupon the Borders person PROMISED to stock it. Yay!

Also, Maria has posted a new COK review on her blog. You can read it here: theserpentinelibrary.blogspot.com/2010/03/review-conspiracy-of-kings-by-megan.html

Comments

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

GO MARIA! =D

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

It is completely and utterly awesome that your friend basically influenced a store to stock the book!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm so sad!! I live near THREE Borders and called all 3 but they don't have it in stock. I believe several Barnes & Noble do but they are nowhere near me :( Not sure where I can get it now because I can't order online (No credit card b/c I'm only 16!) Hopefully I can get my mom to drive me to a Barnes & Noble nearby... D:

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

What is with Borders?

I went to my local indy, and they had only one copy that was on hold for someone else. I looked at them disapprovingly, bought something else for my daughter (because I still want to support them), and went down the road a bit to Borders. No copies at all. Finally made my way to Barnes and Noble, which had them prominently displayed under "new YA" -- a stack about ten deep. Say what you will about B&N, they came through for me.

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, B&N had it here, too (see below). Btw, I now read your review more carefully and understand and agree. I hadn't read it thoroughly before, but I did now: very concise. I wish I had that gift. Anyway, yes!

EEEP. Vent Alert!

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

Now, I live in a relatively small city, but larger metropolitan area. We are 2 hours from Philadelphia, 1 1/2 from Baltimore, 2 hours from Washington D.C. I have a Barnes and Noble and a Borders about 6 or 7 miles away. They are both small, but at least they're there. I went to Borders first. Nada. They had one copy of TT and a HUGE section devoted to books/movies that are perhaps not as well written (and that's all I'll say about that) along with series like Gossip Girls and Lightning Thief and and and.

So Elf put in his 2 cents, and I mine.

Off to Barnes and Noble. ONE copy of TT in the YA section, and 2 copies of ACoK (whew!) in...the children's section. WHAT???!!! I did not put my 2 cents in because I was seriously disheartened by this whole experience. I believe Elf tried, but the lady he spoke to paid minimal attention to him. Now, I see how Greenwillow markets these books, but if you have TT in the YA section why would you put ACoK in the children's section? It doesn't make sense. And it really frosts me that bookstores and libraries don't carry all of a series. Anyway.

We used to have an Encore Books here. It was incredible. It was a franchise, but our little Encore did a rip-roaring good business, because they operated quite independently. When Encore (the whole chain) went out of business, our Encore employees begged to be able to just buy that store. No go. We have all been crying ever since over the loss. I can't help but think that they would have listened and gotten the whole series and lots of copies of each, because that's just how they were.

So, while I love the Borders and Barnes and Noble superstores that exist in other cities, I can't say much about ours. Instead of just being snarky about them, maybe I should write to each manager and the buyer for each store with my complaints. How can they fix things if they don't know what's wrong? It sounds like a lot of work though, and I am essentially quite lazy. I would rather read than write.

*huggles the memory of our little Encore Books*

Re: EEEP. Vent Alert!

[lowc.livejournal.com]

I don't think small cities have anything to do with it. I live in downtown Philadelphia, and our big three-story Borders didn't have it either. When I asked if they had plans to stock it, the sales guy told me he wasn't sure, but probably not. I then waited for him to offer to order it for me. He did not. I walked out and went straight to B&N. ARGH.

[faerietaleredux.livejournal.com]

This happened to my friend Kendra too in San Francisco. SHe called two book stores and neither had it in stock on its release day?

What's up with that?!