Canada/UK cover for the novel. The US design has not been revealed.
Note to publishers: Last I heard, London was only a 6-hour plane ride from New York City. And Canada? Even closer. So why do US fans have to wait nearly six months for A.S. Byatt’s new novel, The Children’s Book, which was published in the UK and Canada on April 21?
Set during the idealistic epoch before the Great War, The Children’s Book is already being described as “a tour de force” “panoramic“ and “a rich, sprawling chronicle” by various Canadian and British news outlets. What a shame that the US media won’t get a chance to weigh in until October 6, Knopf’s current publication date for the book. Sure, Byatt is your typical big-name literary fall release, but to really build momentum for a novel, wouldn’t it be better if all the English-speaking media* were talking about it at once? (And for the record, I would have loved to take this one to the beach. The movie industry seems to have figured out that fall isn’t the only time a serious film can do well—publishers should give it a try.)
The Internet doesn’t differentiate between countries, and books are often impulse buys. By October, we might not remember that this is the same novel The Guardian called Byatt’s Middlemarch, or we might have added too many other books to our reading lists—or we might have already ordered a copy from an overseas retailer. Guess Knopf is willing to roll the dice, but this type of arbitrary, disconnected publication schedule only makes books seem more archaic than most people already think they are.
Lucky Canadian blogger Crooked House has an excerpt.
*Australian release date is May 15 and New Zealand’s was May 1, according to their Random House websites.
“The Internet doesn’t differentiate between countries, and books are often impulse buys. By October, we might not remember that this is the same novel The Guardian called Byatt’s Middlemarch, or we might have added too many other books to our reading lists—or we might have already ordered a copy from an overseas retailer. Guess Knopf is willing to roll the dice, but this type of arbitrary, disconnected publication schedule only makes books seem more archaic than most people already think they are.”
Diddo all of that. As someone who adds books to her TBR list like it’s nobody’s business, the chance that I’ll still have room for this when it comes out months from now is very debatable. Surely they have a good reason for making US readers wait so long. If they do, I’d love to hear what it is.
http://www.whosabiblioaddict.com
Yes, me too! Six months just seems way too long — even though as Stephen mentions below, it’s hardly the first British or Canadian novel to be released later here.
Similar delays for
Zoe Heller’s THE BELIEVERS (6 months)
Kazuo Ishiguro’s NOCTURNES (4.5 months)
Anita Brookner’s STRANGERS (3.5 months)
Monica Ali’s IN THE KITCHEN (2.5 months)
Chimamanda Adichie’s THE THING AROUND YOUR NECK (2.5 months)
A delay of a couple weeks to a month (Sarah Waters, Margaret Atwood, Nick Hornby, Martin Amis, Orhan Pamuk, Alice Munro) is normal to avoid overlapping media tours.
For the right way to do it, see Colm Toibin now or William Trevor in August; both novels will pub the same week here and in the UK.
Yes, I remember feeling the same way when I heard about THE BELIEVERS (just didn’t have a blog to complain on then!). Delays are the norm, as you note, but six months is way too long. And you could argue that leaving a little time for fans to buy/read the book and spread some word of mouth might build a larger audience, making even those shorter delays unnecessary. I’ll have to pay attention to the Toibin/Trevor media junkets and see how that unfolds.
The Australian release date was May 1st. And it is a paperback release here only. Byatt-deprived fans may be interested in buying from an Australian bookseller online perhaps? The price is Aust $32.95, or from someone like gleebooks, $29.95 – converting to US$22.80.
Many Brit hardbacks release as paper in Australia – and are therefore vastly cheaper.