Upcoming BL Stuff - 2023

[Felix Antipodes]

Different queuing system front end in use this morning (or at least new to me!) and was relatively painless.  Initial wait time given was 8 mins, ended up being about 3.  In and out within the 10 min window with the LE in hand.  No effect on website either that I noticed.  If only it was always this well organised.

[OpossumStrong]

Well I got the book and the box + some extras, the website didn't crash, but there were some strange timing, I had 16 min wait on PC, and over a hour on my phone, when I disabled my firewall and changed my DNS server I got instantly into the website(i did this mainly to avoid my local internet and credit card company tons of verification)so total wait time was around 13 min.

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by OpossumStrong

[Von Großschmitt]

Had to wait an hour and of course, the LE was gone already...

[DarkChaplain]

I just realized that we'll have no new releases next week. The one that went on preorder today, the Leviathan novel, isn't releasing until the 24th.

 

....which means that we're probably looking at The Martyr's Tomb and the other two novels actually launching on the same day as Leviathan, despite being put on preorder a week later.

Edited June 10, 2023 by DarkChaplain

[cheywood]

23 minutes ago, DarkChaplain said:

I just realized that we'll have no new releases next week. The one that went on preorder today, the Leviathan novel, isn't releasing until the 24th.

 

....which means that we're probably looking at The Martyr's Tomb and the other two novels actually launching on the same day as Leviathan, despite being put on preorder a week later.

The Martyr’s Tomb et al are up for preorder on the 24th, same day as Leviathan releases. They’ll be out in the wild on July 1st. As far as I know nothing’s going up for preorder next week. 

[LemartestheLost]

Currently in queue in the US with a wait time of more than an hour. Can anyone in the States inform me if the Leviathan HB is even in stock? It very much feels like I’m just spinning my wheels here.

 

Much Appreciated, 

LTL

[burnside986]

1 hour ago, LemartestheLost said:

Currently in queue in the US with a wait time of more than an hour. Can anyone in the States inform me if the Leviathan HB is even in stock? It very much feels like I’m just spinning my wheels here.

 

Much Appreciated, 

LTL

If you have one close by, head to your local GW store. They aren’t behind a queue. I was just able to order a LE Leviathan in store and it’s about 20 after 2pm US and it was still in stock. 

[Krelious]

Well I was 50 minutes early for North America-Canada and my estimated wait time is more than an hour.  Just finished the queue and of course the CE is sold out. Great system guys! I guess I should be happy I get to buy the regular hard back with 27$ shipping fee!

[cheywood]

I’m seeing very, very few listings for Leviathan on eBay. Sorted by recently listed and it amounted to 13 or so sellers. 
 

edit: closer to 25 with expanded search terms, still better than I’d expect without the queue

Edited June 10, 2023 by cheywood

[Krelious]

41 minutes ago, cheywood said:

I’m seeing very, very few listings for Leviathan on eBay. Sorted by recently listed and it amounted to 13 or so sellers. 
 

edit: closer to 25 with expanded search terms, still better than I’d expect without the queue

Someone in Canada Montreal managed to get 5 CE copies and is selling them on e-bay.  I am in Canada and I didnt get one and im not trying to make a a profit. Also some of them from Australia immediately sold overnight. 

[cheywood]

39 minutes ago, Krelious said:

Someone in Canada Montreal managed to get 5 CE copies and is selling them on e-bay.  I am in Canada and I didnt get one and im not trying to make a a profit. Also some of them from Australia immediately sold overnight. 

Disappointing (and I’m sorry you weren’t able to get one), but I’d still like to think the queue did its job. Between sold and unsold copies there’s around 300 of The Lion: Son of the Forest on eBay. Leviathan comes in at around 40. Both had 2,000 copies available from GW. Presumably more copies of Leviathan will pop up in the next few weeks, but I’m skeptical you’ll see it come anywhere near The Lion’s total.

Edited June 11, 2023 by cheywood

[LemartestheLost]

So here we are before the end of the 24 hour mark of the preorder date with both the CE and HB sold out, as well as the boxset. While I don't think anyone on this forum is exactly surprised by this fact, it's very discouraging on a multitude of levels. The issue at the top of my mind, however, is production capacity. I know this subject has been broached many times and is a popular discussion in the community at the moment, but I can't help but rant. If Henry Cavill and Amazon even do a B level job with the show that's about to start planning/production (2026 release date fingers crossed), the popularity of this hobby will explode beyond what it did even from the pandemic. Sure, some people might go out and buy the models and paints, but most of the newbies will be interested in the lore first and foremost.  How does GW expect to meet demand and retain their new customers if they can't even order popular mass market paperbacks let alone hardbacks? They need to expand their production capacity (for BL and the model side) by at least twofold if they want to stand a snowballs chance in hell in 4 years. I understand that the economy isn't exactly conducive to expansion at the moment, but it seems like the folks at the top lack any vision whatsoever. Part of business is taking risks, but it seems GW wants to play it safe, even if it hurts them in the long term. 

 

Rant Over, 

LTL

[Nagashsnee]

Does anyone know why echoes of eternity paper back is direct only? None of the other siege books are? 

[Nagashsnee]

4 hours ago, LemartestheLost said:

So here we are before the end of the 24 hour mark of the preorder date with both the CE and HB sold out, as well as the boxset. While I don't think anyone on this forum is exactly surprised by this fact, it's very discouraging on a multitude of levels. The issue at the top of my mind, however, is production capacity. I know this subject has been broached many times and is a popular discussion in the community at the moment, but I can't help but rant. If Henry Cavill and Amazon even do a B level job with the show that's about to start planning/production (2026 release date fingers crossed), the popularity of this hobby will explode beyond what it did even from the pandemic. Sure, some people might go out and buy the models and paints, but most of the newbies will be interested in the lore first and foremost.  How does GW expect to meet demand and retain their new customers if they can't even order popular mass market paperbacks let alone hardbacks? They need to expand their production capacity (for BL and the model side) by at least twofold if they want to stand a snowballs chance in hell in 4 years. I understand that the economy isn't exactly conducive to expansion at the moment, but it seems like the folks at the top lack any vision whatsoever. Part of business is taking risks, but it seems GW wants to play it safe, even if it hurts them in the long term. 

 

Rant Over, 

LTL

 

1) GW has shown many many times that they rather make slightly less money and have no stock hanging around then ever go back to the days of piles of boxes in GW stores/warehouse hanging around for years. 

2) Telling the stockholders that you are ramping up production because HC & Amazon MIGHT in X years time make a show that MIGHT be a hit that MIGHT bring HUGE numbers of people who have not heard of the IP ( tho between the animations, books, audiobooks, wargame and PC game who these people are in these large numbers who have never heard of the IP i dont know) is a great way of getting the sack.  Just as likely its a rings of power situation where you gain nothing but medium to bad press. 

3) Its 2023, and while many people dont like it Ebooks exist, a large % of the population uses them ( plus audiobooks), you can always make a second  and as we have seen with their popular book lines, third and even fourth printings/editions. But as to why they wont double down on wave 1 production see 1+2. 

4) TLOTR, when the trilogy come out GW jumped on the hype train and it went pretty well for a time, they have shown they know what they are doing, and things like the tlotr and warhammer magazine collection have shown that when they want to do cheap mass market stuff aimed at newbies they can and will. But they also learned the wrong way that you need to know WHEN to get on and off hype trains, and 2 years BEFORE pre production (best case?) for a show that might never even be made is not the time to get on the non existent train. 

 

Plus in the EU at least neither the box or the HB have sold out so...

 

 

 

 

[chevalierdulys]

The problem is the groups that exist, one of them at least that is "discovered" GW has some hardcore fans that will pay 100€ / 300€ for a book when it cost them 60€.

Even yesterday on Nutters facebook page one guy show us a discord server where a bunch of people join up and decide what they will buy next. And we saw a lot of people showing off their LE's bought and boasting they would sell for 200 or more .. if you go to ebay you will see more than 100 LE being sold there. 

I had hope with the previous AGE of SIGMAR which didn't had the same appeal to vast majority of people BUT even then they didn't lose money. So until it ends being profitable they are not going away. Buy 60 sell for 4 times more. What's not to love? It's depictable and the only thing we can do is not buy for these :cuss:ers scalpers.

Unfortunately we have  FOMO.

BTW, you all've seen the profit/deficit (don't know the name) for GW this year? They made a lot of profit... and looking at BL it's not even 1% of it. IT's 0.72%.

Why should they care/do anything?

[Nagashsnee]

I have said this before, but what can GW do? Other then stop the limited part of LE? Its a free market and far far worse then people discovering that flipping BL LE is good money is that its very very easy money. 

 

For big series like the siege of terra the simple solution is just doing a made to order run once its over and they can tell people total cost/number of books, but they cant do that on book by book basis, simply from the paper work side of things its simply not worth it. 

[DarkChaplain]

I mean, larger print runs alone would already take a lot of steam off the kettle. This problem is one of supply obviously not meeting demand, with GW/BL having relied on artificial scarcity to push ebooks for years now. They could've stuck with general retail for their hardbacks, at least, and periodically reprinted popular hard- and paperbacks - and at the very least omnibuses - and that alone would've reduced this problem to only limited editions.

 

But Limited Editions in particular have never been as bad when they were sold via Black Library themselves, rather than being pushed onto the GW store alongside big model releases, often bundled with sets and what not. Not only do those big launch windows overload the store significantly more efficiently, but it's also much more attractive for scalpers since there's less overall oversight in GW's store system.

 

Even then, bump up the LE numbers and you're taking pressure off the price hiking. If 500 more books were in circulation, that's potentially hundreds of people that wouldn't sit around frustrated 5 minutes post-preorder and slinking over to ebay to check for scalper copies. Bump it up by 1000 copies and chances are, enough people from the core audience would be able to get their copies straight from GW and not even need to look at scalpers, reducing attention on those insane resellers, driving down numbers for them, making the whole endeavor much less profitable in the long run.

 

Longer preorder windows with Print on Demand for limited editions would be ideal, however. Have a first wave with author signatures, then continue to a PoD-phase, ideally for around 1-2 months (with 6 months to the general hardback release being the typical delay nowadays). Ship out in waves, when either enough orders arrived for another batch, and the final batch as the window closes.

 

But most importantly: They need to bloody well make sure that the general release editions actually are that: General release, with more than 5 copies in stock and then byebye til a paperback reprint in the next year, if even that. If the run is no longer between "super rare limited edition or super rare hardback" but "super rare limited edition or hardback I can actually reliably purchase", scalpers lose momentum like crazy.

[LemartestheLost]

5 hours ago, Nagashsnee said:

 

1) GW has shown many many times that they rather make slightly less money and have no stock hanging around then ever go back to the days of piles of boxes in GW stores/warehouse hanging around for years. 

2) Telling the stockholders that you are ramping up production because HC & Amazon MIGHT in X years time make a show that MIGHT be a hit that MIGHT bring HUGE numbers of people who have not heard of the IP ( tho between the animations, books, audiobooks, wargame and PC game who these people are in these large numbers who have never heard of the IP i dont know) is a great way of getting the sack.  Just as likely its a rings of power situation where you gain nothing but medium to bad press. 

3) Its 2023, and while many people dont like it Ebooks exist, a large % of the population uses them ( plus audiobooks), you can always make a second  and as we have seen with their popular book lines, third and even fourth printings/editions. But as to why they wont double down on wave 1 production see 1+2. 

4) TLOTR, when the trilogy come out GW jumped on the hype train and it went pretty well for a time, they have shown they know what they are doing, and things like the tlotr and warhammer magazine collection have shown that when they want to do cheap mass market stuff aimed at newbies they can and will. But they also learned the wrong way that you need to know WHEN to get on and off hype trains, and 2 years BEFORE pre production (best case?) for a show that might never even be made is not the time to get on the non existent train. 

 

Plus in the EU at least neither the box or the HB have sold out so...

 

 

 

 

So I agree with your points, you make a series of very good ones. I should’ve mentioned that I’m posting this from the States where everything is gone. But what I will say is that increasing production doesn’t just happen overnight. We know that it’s close to an 18 month gap from completion of a book to preorder day. Now I don’t know what % of prod. capacity that CPI group is dedicating to BL currently but I wouldn’t imagine it’s very much. GW already can’t meet demand and if they want to capitalize on the potential boom they have probably 18-20 months to rectify things. I do recognize that their status as a PLC also complicates things as they HAVE to show profits to shareholders or they’re in trouble so increasing spending when they already spend A TON of their revenue is difficult pill to swallow.  But regardless, the American capitalist and shareholder within my soul cries out for more risks and more reward. Again, just a rant. I don’t expect them to do anything, it’s frustrating as hell to think about all the people that will turn away from the hobby because the aspect they care about the most is not supported.

[LemartestheLost]

7 hours ago, Nagashsnee said:

 ( tho between the animations, books, audiobooks, wargame and PC game who these people are in these large numbers who have never heard of the IP i dont know)

Let me introduce you to the average American high schooler. I know some people might not enjoy the consequences of this, but once the “in crowd” (jocks/ mean girls) at American high schools and colleges see a well done Eisenhorn or Cain show on Prime (and you’re right, there’s a big if on quality atm, we’ll just have to wait & see) there will be a massive craze that GW will probably not be able to support. A lot of high schoolers (especially the popular kids) won’t want to be seen as true “nerds” and so they won’t pick up models (they can’t afford them and lack the patience to paint anyway) but they can pick up paperbacks like nobody’s business while they ride to sporting events/avoid doing homework. It’s dangerous to ride the tides of what’s “cool” with high schoolers but if GW doesn’t provide ease of access at the time of the show’s release, then what should be a boom could turn into more of a thud. All speculation, but it’s a topic I think merits consideration on GW’s part.

[cheywood]

23 minutes ago, LemartestheLost said:

Let me introduce you to the average American high schooler. I know some people might not enjoy the consequences of this, but once the “in crowd” (jocks/ mean girls) at American high schools and colleges see a well done Eisenhorn or Cain show on Prime (and you’re right, there’s a big if on quality atm, we’ll just have to wait & see) there will be a massive craze that GW will probably not be able to support. A lot of high schoolers (especially the popular kids) won’t want to be seen as true “nerds” and so they won’t pick up models (they can’t afford them and lack the patience to paint anyway) but they can pick up paperbacks like nobody’s business while they ride to sporting events/avoid doing homework. It’s dangerous to ride the tides of what’s “cool” with high schoolers but if GW doesn’t provide ease of access at the time of the show’s release, then what should be a boom could turn into more of a thud. All speculation, but it’s a topic I think merits consideration on GW’s part.

Being nerdy isn’t nearly the social death sentence it once was, but in my experience a very small proportion of high schoolers read for pleasure, especially boys. They’re busy with school work (which includes a lot of reading) and a high pressure social environment that puts a ton of stress on the mind. Videogames, tv, even manga/comics are a lot less mentally demanding than reading a book so those options take precedence. Same goes for the general population to a lesser degree. A good TV show will inevitably increase 40k’s popularity, but I think the effect will be seen in videogames far more than books or models. The only books I can see really blowing up in popularity are those that get adaptations, like Eisenhorn or Cain.

[Bestkeptsecret]

Any news on Chris Wraight's Lords of Silence book 2? Where can I find Chris Wraight on social media since he has deleted his Twitter account?

[Ubiquitous1984]

I initially missed out on the Leviathan SE pre-order.  I knew we would have a queue on Saturday so I pre-planned and had two ipads and my iphone with different connections at hand to maximise my chance of getting access to the website before it sold out.

 

It was a complete fail on my part, all three devices had 'over an hour' wait at 10:00.  At about 10:40 someone who had gained access posted on the Nutters fb page that it had sold out, so I gave up.

 

What really bugged me was I wasted all that time when it was such a sunny day...

 

Anyway, after posting about missing out on the Nutters page I logged off for the day as I had the small matter of my football team being in the champions league final that night to focus on ...

 

I logged back in at bed time to find a PM from a kind soul who had got an extra copy and he is selling it to me for RRP.  The exact same thing happened with the Lion LE as well that I missed out on.

 

I just feel so grateful to these people who go out of their way to help fellow BL fans.  

[cheywood]

10 hours ago, Bestkeptsecret said:

Any news on Chris Wraight's Lords of Silence book 2? Where can I find Chris Wraight on social media since he has deleted his Twitter account?

As far as I know Twitter was Wraight’s only social media account. His website is still active, but it hasn’t been updated since 2019. Thus there’s been no updates on his books since he left.

[aa.logan]

7 hours ago, cheywood said:

As far as I know Twitter was Wraight’s only social media account. His website is still active, but it hasn’t been updated since 2019. Thus there’s been no updates on his books since he left.

Though his profile picture, usually a good indicator of what he was working on, was the Battlefleet Gothic cover art when he deactivated, I think.

[DukeLeto69]

On 6/12/2023 at 8:17 PM, aa.logan said:

Though his profile picture, usually a good indicator of what he was working on, was the Battlefleet Gothic cover art when he deactivated, I think.

A fair few BL authors left Twitter when Musk took over and started making changes.