Going to try an experiment

Robin and I have been having a little disagreement. Don't worry, it's nothing serious, but Robin is the consummate champion for the readers, and as such, she is always advocating for signed copies and other perks like custom bookmarks (and having those signed as well). Personally, I can't imagine that anyone cares if I sign a book or not, but, hey, that might just be me.

As some may know, we took an extraordinary step and got the remaining copies of the Age of Swords hardcovers from Del Rey's warehouse when they put that title out of print. Over the course of two trips, I've signed more than 1,200 books (500 of which were Age of Swords), but there are still 2,700+ to go. Robin wants me to add my John Hancock to all of them, and I'm certainly willing to do so, but it does take time away from writing, and as I said, I'm just not sure whether people care.
That's where "the experiment" comes in. Below you'll find an order form for Age of Swords at the unprecedented price of $15 (which includes FREE US shipping). These will come straight from our fulfillment center without Robin or I touching them, so no signature, no bookmark, just the book and only the book - but it'll be nearly 50% off and since we are picking up the bill for shipping and handling, you'll get it for a fraction of the $33.99 this book usually sells for  when buying directly from us.

The hope is that many of you will take advantage of this incredible offer, providing a win-win for both of us. You'll get the book at a low, low price. They will leave the warehouse, so we don't have to pay for storage. We'll earn more money than when these books were bought from the bookstores, and  I won't have to sign as many of them.

Maybe Robin is right, and people really want signed copies, but I also think there are those who just like hardcovers, period. And if they can get a quality one at a great price, this will be a great opportunity. In any case, we'll see. If nothing else, Christmas will be here soon, and this would be a great chance to get a book for someone who loved Age of Myth but hasn't yet jumped into Age of Swords. I'm sure there are some people out there that fit that category, right? 

Here is a link where you can get your copy


For those who are curious, I'll post the results of this little experiment in the future. Oh, and anyone who DOES want signed copies and bookmarks and what not, you can get a signed copy at 20% off until the end of the month as part of our Fantasy Fall Sale. You can buy Age of Swords (and all my other hardcover books) from here.

And one last note. For those who are curious as to why this is only for the US...well, shipping overseas costs more than we are selling the book for, and our out-of-pocket costs for this would be $31.06. So, we'd be losing $16.06 for each overseas order. We are assuming that if people are going to pay the high cost of overseas shipping, they'll want a signed copy with the other bells and whistles. Like I said, this is an experiment, and if enough overseas people write us and want unsigned books, we'll run something similar for you as well.

So, that's it. I hope some people take advantage of this offer, it'll mean I have less books to sign, but if it turns out that Robin is right, I'll be more than happy to keep signing away. Either way, we, as always, thank you for your support.