I know it seems a little bit like I've been knocking Barnes & Noble all week. In reality I've been railing against the returns system prevalent in our industry and Barnes & Noble happens to be a part of it. For better or worse, Barnes & Noble is the most visible retailer out there right now, and so its name factored into my discussion more than it would have otherwise.
But when it comes to Barnes & Noble in other respects, I am quite fond of them. They are, by far, my favorite chain and one of my preferred booksellers in general. I would not have put in 20-32 hour weeks when I worked there if it was otherwise. (In fact I wouldn't have worked for them in the first place if I hadn't liked them. The picture is of me with some of the author and illustrators and contest winners when I edited Summer Shorts. We are at, yes, Barnes & Noble.)
And let's face it, Barnes & Noble is CBAY's bookselling best friend. With the exception of BookPeople and Powells, no other bookstore has carried CBAY books on their shelves as consistently as Barnes & Noble. And although I love my indies, B&N has a greater nation-wide reach.
So, I thought I'd throw a little love Barnes & Nobles way, and they have made it so very easy. When I was perusing all the different bookstore sites to check the information on CBAY's upcoming debut teen novel, Dry Souls, I discovered that B&N already has the book discounted when no one else does. I would like to encourage you to head on over there and pre-order now while it's 10% off. I have no idea how long that will last. They've never done it for one of my pre-orders before.
And just so you'll be tempted, I have a pdf of the first 5 chapters (nearly 20% of the book!) for you to whet your appetite on. I've read it in iBooks and Kobo on my iPad, and it should work on the Kindle and Nook, and of course on any computer. To download this free teaser, click here.
