Upcoming BL Stuff - 2022

[Taliesin]

I have not yet read anything by Guymer that has impressed me. So while the subject is very interesting indeed, this will not be a limited edition buy, as nice as it looks.

[chevalierdulys]

Yeah I am not worried about the authors coming an going to be honest... Well I am dissapointed but not worry.

You guys remember William King, Gordon Rennie & Simon Spurrier? Absolute 10's out of 10's. One of them created probably the most important character in fantasy and the other really gave interesting stories (Lord of the Night is awesome - I will excuse Fire Warrior since it was tie-in). I Was upset back in the day and remember reading ont he forums of Black Library (remember those?) and people were very sad and preocuppied.. Even Abnett was writing less and less 

Meanwhile great authors came and some gone and we still get the books that are very good... 

 

Now if you are saying in terms of output - well back in the day from 2000 to 2010 you will get every month 3 or 2novels (mass paperbacks). Then BL started doing their special editions, like every three months, then change completely the focus for Ebooks - which I Abhor to read and to be honest I find appaling people purchasing a ebook for 11,99 when they can get on bookdespotiry for less a PAPER novel...  (not meant to critizise the ones that read ebooks, because to each it's own - I mean the prices-comparing paper vs ebook). What about audiobooks for 30 euros? That's absurd.

 

As someone said here the volumes of books sold probably is lower now than 15 years ago. To be honest, I don't even know the volumes - I am just assuming. But their practise is a bit confusing... They publish books and after one week everything is sold and we can't get more , even paperback on bookdepository have a life time very limit. 

 

The question I ask myself, why don't they do something akin like amazon on print on demand for hardback/paperback? Or is it not feasible? They already did partially with one book for time to time, I bought Space Marine like 10 years ago like this... Why not the full range? 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by chevalierdulys

[Krelious]

11 hours ago, Bobss said:

 

Said this about 6 months ago and had to deal with the BLDF shooting down my completely, self-admittedly, anecdotal argument. I've been reading these books for 20 years, which is over two thirds of my life, and despite the tabletop still going strong (with the usual market turbulence going on right now), the book side of things seems to be nosediving. I don't know if this is down to horrendous levels of mismanagement at Black Library Towers, or if the readership is vastly smaller than what some people here pretend it to be (which is my own belief as nerd culture circles have changed drastically in the past 5 years, never mind the past 10-20 years), or probably a mixture of both. I don't know if BL flew too close to the sun, having a Prometheus moment of their own, but the writing on the wall is clear and covid can only be blamed for so much and for so long

 

I've been saying this for a while now. Abnett has 3 books left in him, and ADB has 3-4 depending on whether a Scouring-era sandbox materialises. Swathes of authors have gone elsewhere, and all of those experimental, out-on-a-limb series people loved, like Severina Raine and the Necron geezers, will be wanting for sequels for ages to come. Expect most releases to be heavily tied into what the company's main branch is doing

 

At this point I just want Black Legion 3 and I'm happy to ride off into the sunset

 

ADB is not going anywhere, I dont know what people are talking about I think GW is doing very well in terms of sales and popularity.

[Ubiquitous1984]

19 hours ago, Bobss said:

 

Said this about 6 months ago and had to deal with the BLDF shooting down my completely, self-admittedly, anecdotal argument. I've been reading these books for 20 years, which is over two thirds of my life, and despite the tabletop still going strong (with the usual market turbulence going on right now), the book side of things seems to be nosediving. I don't know if this is down to horrendous levels of mismanagement at Black Library Towers, or if the readership is vastly smaller than what some people here pretend it to be (which is my own belief as nerd culture circles have changed drastically in the past 5 years, never mind the past 10-20 years), or probably a mixture of both. I don't know if BL flew too close to the sun, having a Prometheus moment of their own, but the writing on the wall is clear and covid can only be blamed for so much and for so long

 

I've been saying this for a while now. Abnett has 3 books left in him, and ADB has 3-4 depending on whether a Scouring-era sandbox materialises. Swathes of authors have gone elsewhere, and all of those experimental, out-on-a-limb series people loved, like Severina Raine and the Necron geezers, will be wanting for sequels for ages to come. Expect most releases to be heavily tied into what the company's main branch is doing

 

At this point I just want Black Legion 3 and I'm happy to ride off into the sunset

This is probably a dumb question but what does BLDF mean?

[Fedor]

19 hours ago, Bobss said:

 

Said this about 6 months ago and had to deal with the BLDF shooting down my completely, self-admittedly, anecdotal argument. I've been reading these books for 20 years, which is over two thirds of my life, and despite the tabletop still going strong (with the usual market turbulence going on right now), the book side of things seems to be nosediving. I don't know if this is down to horrendous levels of mismanagement at Black Library Towers, or if the readership is vastly smaller than what some people here pretend it to be (which is my own belief as nerd culture circles have changed drastically in the past 5 years, never mind the past 10-20 years), or probably a mixture of both. I don't know if BL flew too close to the sun, having a Prometheus moment of their own, but the writing on the wall is clear and covid can only be blamed for so much and for so long

 

I've been saying this for a while now. Abnett has 3 books left in him, and ADB has 3-4 depending on whether a Scouring-era sandbox materialises. Swathes of authors have gone elsewhere, and all of those experimental, out-on-a-limb series people loved, like Severina Raine and the Necron geezers, will be wanting for sequels for ages to come. Expect most releases to be heavily tied into what the company's main branch is doing

 

At this point I just want Black Legion 3 and I'm happy to ride off into the sunset

 

On the point of the readership being vastly smaller than some might think, there's something that has recently caught my eye. on reddit's 40klore, they have been running a stickied discussion series for every heresy book. For the majority you are lucky if the discussion gets any more than 10 different people replying, or even going beyond 15-20 posts, and this for even the big name/more highly regarded authors/books. on a board with 187k members, and many threads that go into the hundreds. Of course, there are other possible reasons for the low postcount ( i've only commented on a small amount myself, through pure laziness) but the  consistency of it has jumped out to me.

 

I don't have much doubt that a very significant amount of the fanbase consumes BL output through various second hand means....spoiler posts, youtube, wiki, memes....

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Fedor

[Jareddm]

2 hours ago, Fedor said:

 

On the point of the readership being vastly smaller than some might think, there's something that has recently caught my eye. on reddit's 40klore, they have been running a stickied discussion series for every heresy book. For the majority you are lucky if the discussion gets any more than 10 different people replying, or even going beyond 15-20 posts, and this for even the big name/more highly regarded authors/books. on a board with 187k members, and many threads that go into the hundreds. Of course, there are other possible reasons for the low postcount ( i've only commented on a small amount myself, through pure laziness) but the  consistency of it has jumped out to me.

 

I don't have much doubt that a very significant amount of the fanbase consumes BL output through various second hand means....spoiler posts, youtube, wiki, memes....

 

Part of that is because this is their second go-around of the Heresy books already.  The first time through there was a ton of discussion.

[Fedor]

I'd actually complete forgot about that

 

It's been a hard year...

[chevalierdulys]

Does anyone know what is going to be released tomorrow?

Edited November 18, 2022 by chevalierdulys

[Von Großschmitt]

57 minutes ago, chevalierdulys said:

Does anyone know what is going to be released tomorrow?

Nothing, according to BL's preview and the much more reliable Track of Words. 

 

The Angron LE looks gorgeous, but neither the author nor the scenario do much to intrigue me...

[chevalierdulys]

1 hour ago, Von Großschmitt said:

Nothing, according to BL's preview and the much more reliable Track of Words. 

 

The Angron LE looks gorgeous, but neither the author nor the scenario do much to intrigue me...

Indeed. Some of these books are worth for the cover/design etc. This one looks amazing. 65€ that GW Will take from me.

[caladancid]

On 11/17/2022 at 6:00 AM, Krelious said:

 

ADB is not going anywhere, I dont know what people are talking about I think GW is doing very well in terms of sales and popularity.

Except BL sales were down in the latest financial report.....

[chevalierdulys]

29 minutes ago, caladancid said:

Except BL sales were down in the latest financial report.....

Probably that's why they are gonig to up the shipping prices.. from 50€ until now it was free and now it's going to be 100€ so for me that usually orders a special edition or joins 4 boosk at each time for 50€ I will think about buying after all the special editions now don't cost 65€ but 77€. How can you justify to a client, no no, the SE it's 65€ but the postages are 12€ which I don't pay now. IF you would say, okay, don't buy each month and joint like 3 weeks and purchase. OK but then the book will go off stock. Look at Krieg a paperback is now out of stock. not even one week after the release... 

 

That and the logic of the books via bookdepository are cheaper than their website

Edited November 19, 2022 by chevalierdulys

[theSpirea]

Is that a rumour or is it already confirmed the free shipping limit is going to increase? If that's the case I'm completely done with SE/LE. They are already extremely overpriced for what they are. It's basically overpriced Barnes & Noble edition. And those you can get on sale for $15.

[Lord Marshal]

On 11/17/2022 at 9:09 PM, Ubiquitous1984 said:

This is probably a dumb question but what does BLDF mean?

 

Black Library Defence Force (I assume).

 

On 11/17/2022 at 9:42 PM, Fedor said:

on reddit's 40klore, they have been running a stickied discussion series for every heresy book. For the majority you are lucky if the discussion gets any more than 10 different people replying, or even going beyond 15-20 posts, and this for even the big name/more highly regarded authors/books. on a board with 187k members, and many threads that go into the hundreds. Of course, there are other possible reasons for the low postcount ( i've only commented on a small amount myself, through pure laziness) but the  consistency of it has jumped out to me.

 

I don't have much doubt that a very significant amount of the fanbase consumes BL output through various second hand means....spoiler posts, youtube, wiki, memes....

 

 

You answered your own question. Most of that sub don't read the books and barely read Lexicanum. It's mostly been reduced to people asking questions they had after watching lore Youtubers or, ugh, Text To Speech Device.

 

52 minutes ago, theSpirea said:

Is that a rumour or is it already confirmed the free shipping limit is going to increase? If that's the case I'm completely done with SE/LE. They are already extremely overpriced for what they are. It's basically overpriced Barnes & Noble edition. And those you can get on sale for $15.

 

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Delivery

 

Quote

Our Delivery Terms Are Changing From the 23rd of November our standard delivery terms are returning to pre-pandemic levels. This means in order to be eligible for Free Home Delivery your order must total £40 or more. Home deliveries under £40 will cost £3.50.

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by Lord Marshal

[chevalierdulys]

59 minutes ago, theSpirea said:

Is that a rumour or is it already confirmed the free shipping limit is going to increase? If that's the case I'm completely done with SE/LE. They are already extremely overpriced for what they are. It's basically overpriced Barnes & Noble edition. And those you can get on sale for $15.

Probably that's why this week there are no books being released... but that's me just saying

[theSpirea]

Perfect. There's absolutely nothing for me to get from GW outside of BL books. Zero interest in miniatures and they have no books in stock so even if I wanted it, I can't make the order over 100. With the shipping it now reaches a price point I refuse to pay for what I'm getting.

First they start reducing the print runs, then they start cheapening on the paper (hardbacks printed in the UK are of a garbage quality) and now the shipping.

[chevalierdulys]

I mean can someone explain the logic on this rise and on the prices discrepancy between their OWN site and bookdepostiry?

Krieg costs 11,5€ on BD while on BL costs well nothing because it's out of stock but supposedly it was 12,50€

The same for hallowed ground;  Kragnos is 10,3€ vs 12,5€; the sucessors is 9,48€ in contrast of 12,50€

 

What's the logic? I bet their goal is only publish SE e HB and let amazon publish paperbacks. But 100€ you would have to purchase 7 paperbacks to be free. Because I bought this ones it would cost 60€+12€ Shipping but on bookdepository it would cost me 42.7€.

 

This is insane...

[Taliesin]

Very weird that the Krieg pb is ouyt of stock on their site, considering its a pb and will be sold widely by major retailers as of December 6.

[Noserenda]

3 hours ago, chevalierdulys said:

I mean can someone explain the logic on this rise and on the prices discrepancy between their OWN site and bookdepostiry?

Krieg costs 11,5€ on BD while on BL costs well nothing because it's out of stock but supposedly it was 12,50€

The same for hallowed ground;  Kragnos is 10,3€ vs 12,5€; the sucessors is 9,48€ in contrast of 12,50€

 

What's the logic? I bet their goal is only publish SE e HB and let amazon publish paperbacks. But 100€ you would have to purchase 7 paperbacks to be free. Because I bought this ones it would cost 60€+12€ Shipping but on bookdepository it would cost me 42.7€.

 

This is insane...

I suspect book depository already bought the books at the old price and so didnt see the need to up the price while GW just ups all relevant prices on a set date maybe? That or some currency shenanigans. 

That said, its long been the case that GW sells minis and such at effectively a mark up over 3rd party suppliers. *shrug*

[Ubiquitous1984]

Not sure if it's been posted but if not: the hotly anticipated Sangunius Primarch book is released this saturday.  The good news is that it's available in all formats, so hopefully a bit less demand for the LE version.

 

After this there will only be Horus remaining in the series.  So next year it's likely two big BL stalwart series (SoT and Primarch) will come to an end, with no sign yet of what if anything will replace them.  With the 30k setting being so popular it would be a big surprise if another series wasn't announced in due course.

[Casual Heresy]

On 11/19/2022 at 10:11 PM, chevalierdulys said:

I mean can someone explain the logic on this rise and on the prices discrepancy between their OWN site and bookdepostiry?

Krieg costs 11,5€ on BD while on BL costs well nothing because it's out of stock but supposedly it was 12,50€

The same for hallowed ground;  Kragnos is 10,3€ vs 12,5€; the sucessors is 9,48€ in contrast of 12,50€

 

What's the logic? I bet their goal is only publish SE e HB and let amazon publish paperbacks. But 100€ you would have to purchase 7 paperbacks to be free. Because I bought this ones it would cost 60€+12€ Shipping but on bookdepository it would cost me 42.7€.

 

This is insane...

 

The return to pre-covid delivery prices is probably a ploy to drive people back into GW shops, and will probably be due to rises in postage costs they can no longer absorb for the customer.

 

As for book prices: Publishing as an industry is a bit broken and possibly also on fire.

 

Sellers like Book Depository (and Amazon, a thousand curses upon them!) demand huge discounts from publishers for buying stock, anywhere between 45% and 60% in some cases. So profit margins from publishing books are tiny. Say you have a £10 book and a bookseller demands a 50% discount to buy it. From the £5 they make the publisher still has to pay staff, designers/typesetters, cover artists, overheads (office rent, heating bills etc.), and eventually give the author a few pennies. That's why places like Book Depository can afford to be so cheap, compared to a publisher. And no matter what, BL will suffer the same problems every other publisher is facing right now.

 

In a lot of ways I'm sure someone in GW would love to do away with BL. But their books do sell (albeit there has been a dip in the last year), and continue to do so (otherwise they wouldn't be translating as many), and it is a good form of advertising for GW's core business. Like a lot of publishers right now they are moving to lower quantities at a higher quality (in theory anyway) at a higher price to maximise their margins and avoid stock hanging around in warehouses for ages unsold. Of course BL being a GW entity means they're taking it to an extreme.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Casual Heresy

[Tolmeus]

1 hour ago, Ubiquitous1984 said:

After this there will only be Horus remaining in the series.  So next year it's likely two big BL stalwart series (SoT and Primarch) will come to an end, with no sign yet of what if anything will replace them.  With the 30k setting being so popular it would be a big surprise if another series wasn't announced in due course.

 

Not to bother, but couldn't one argue that the replacement of SoT is DoF and for the Primarch series it is the charakter series (both 30k and 40k)? 

[cheywood]

11 minutes ago, Tolmeus said:

 

Not to bother, but couldn't one argue that the replacement of SoT is DoF and for the Primarch series it is the charakter series (both 30k and 40k)? 

The Character series does seem like the obvious successor to the Primarch series, but the SoT will almost inevitably be followed by coverage of the Scouring. DoF is structurally similar to the Siege of course, but I don’t think it fulfills the criteria of a replacement.

[chevalierdulys]

That's one thing I don't compreehernd. If their sales are going down, how can they translate to so many languages? French, German, I know there are spanish and italian but probably those are publish by other companies within those countries since they don't usally sell on GW website  That's four translators on a role for a novel. I don't know how much it costs BUT surely is not cheap. As a portuguese I read in english. But, I bet they don't even sell that much since of all the books they have "avaiable" only half are in english. The rest are combination of french & german. 

 

Either way, I do hope they stop printing books which was a convern back in 2010 and then when Covid strike that they wanted to concentrated on Ebooks while publish only hardcovers and SE. Probably a rumor BUT it preocuppied since I don't read ebooks and everything in HB or SE would be hurtful.

 

Btw, so the last releases for this month is going to be sanguinius SE and HB and Hallowed Ground (the omnibus I am not counting that's not a "new" book) To be honest I am not that interested... another BTW, what a heck happend to shadowsun from phil kelly? It disappeared. Usually it stays for a bit OUT OF STOCK or temporarily out of stock (like AWAKENINGS per example) but that one puff disappeared..

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by chevalierdulys

[Sothalor]

I honestly think Dawn of Fire is dead in the water at this point. With the gaps between releases and the seeming scattershot approach with each book having its own focus, it sort of feels like BL is speed-running the meta-arc of the Horus Heresy from "tightly-plotted forward momentum" to "mangled octopus giblets of where are we going with all this".

 

On another note, I hit up my local GW store this weekend and chatted with the manager a bit vis a vis BL availability in the stores. He told me there's a new corporate policy currently rolling out: the idea going forward is that the stores only carry what they consider "introductory" or "gateway" books - some of the more well-known series or novels, for instance. Less stocking of new releases and "boutique" lines like Crime/Horror or lesser known authors. The reasoning, handed down from corporate, is that the "die-hard collectors will eventually figure out how to get their hands on what they want."

 

 Well. :cuss: you too, GW.