As I was perusing Goodreads, I found a really nice review of Weird World War III on Papa Pat Rambles. He has a lot of great things to say about each and every story, and definitely put in the effort. I’m also very thankful that readers are enjoying this anthology.
Show him some love and visit his site when you have a chance.
As I’ve noted in a prior post, I spent the last week on a writing-related trip to Lone Pine, California and various other locations in Central and Southern California. Along the way, I stopped at four Barnes & Noble bookstores in Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, and Concord to sign copies of Weird World War III.
I was able to find a total of three copies of the book in Bakersfield and Modesto, and sign them. In Fresno and Concord, the booksellers I spoke to told me that according to their system there was one copy in each store. However, when we tried to find them, the book was nowhere to be seen.
The bottom line is that if you’re anywhere near Bakersfield or Modesto, there is one signed copy of Weird World War III in Bakersfield and two in Modesto.
November 8th:Coast to Coast AM, which apparently has a weekly audience of 2.75 million. I’ll be appearing from midnight to 2 a.m. Pacific Time. Fun times!
Mike Davis, Benjamin Handelman, Matthew Carpenter, Richard Bunting, Laird Barron, and John Langan, “Interviews: Laird Barron, John Langan“, Lovecraft eZine, 23 August 2020 (John Langan, talks about his story, “Second Front”, in Weird World War III at the 1:56:44-minute mark)
Various Baen Authors and Editors, “Baen Virtual Roadshow: Dragon Con 2020“, Baen Books, 10 September 2020 (I introduce the anthology at the 16:34-minute mark)
David Afsharirad, Sean Patrick Hazlett, John Langan, T.C. McCarthy, and Erica Satifka, “Editor and Authors on Weird World War III“, Baen Free Radio Hour, 30 October 2020
A Book Launch in the Time of COVID-19 and Cyberwar (Continued)
In the first two weeks, BookScan reported 110 Weird World War III US retail print sales in the first week and 49 in the second week. I suggested this report omitted key observable data such as 41 US retail print sales in the Philadelphia region. Based on this critical omission, I concluded that the book was likely doing better than BookScan’s data would suggest.
Below are the BookScan US trade paperback sales as reported by Amazon for the period of October 19th through October 25th by geography. As a reminder, BookScan compiles point-of-sales data from ~10,000 retailers throughout the US, including Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Target, and Buy.Com. Retailers such as Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club do not participate. As such, BookScan estimates that this point-of-sales data represent about 75% of all brick-and-mortar and online retail print book sales in the US. It does not include ebook sales, sales outside the US, sales to libraries, or used book sales.
According to Bookscan, Weird World War III sold 27 copies last week, which is less than the 49 sold in the second week. However, the book’s Amazon rankings have stabilized to plus or minus 100,000 for both print and KDP sales. Also, the Philadelphia region’s print retail sales only increased by one book week-over-week, so Between Books‘ 41 sales still haven’t materialized. So again, the data is highly flawed. I’ll check in again next week, but my sense is I won’t have a clue how this book is doing until January, if and when returns come in.
Stay tuned!
On the plus side, Amazon reviews for Weird World War III continue to trickle in, and all have been four or five stars, so at least there’s some forward momentum there.
Also, if you’re reading this and still haven’t purchased a copy yet, please do. All you need do is click one of the links below. If you have purchased a copy, thank you so much. If you don’t mind doing a quick Amazon review, I would be even more grateful.
The November / December issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine contains a nice little review of Weird World War III. You can check it out here.
“The stories go off in all directions. Torgersen’s ‘All Quiet on the Phantom Front’ involves NATO forces who cast a magic spell that goes wrong; John Langan’s ‘Second Front’ brings World War III to the Moon; Shoemaker’s ‘The Ouroboros Arrangement’ provides a quantum physics explanation for why the Cold War didn’t turn Hot. The other stories are all equally interesting, ranging from hard SF to magical fantasy to dark horror-adjacent tales.”
— Don Sakers in Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine
Through A Glass Darkly 