# One of the most outstanding self-published books of the year, says the Guardian



## iansales

*Adrift on the Sea of Rains* has been called "one of the most outstanding self-published books of the year" by the Guardian newspaper. See here.

Available in limited edition hardback (though not for much longer), paperback and on Kindle.

The second book of the Apollo Quartet, *The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself*, was be released in the next couple of weeks. It's currently available for pre-order.


----------



## HareBrain

Impressive reviews on Amazon too. I've just ordered the hardback.


----------



## Nesacat

Congratulations Ian.


----------



## Brian G Turner

Ian, are you going to make the physical books available via Amazon? I can only find the Kindle edition there.


----------



## iansales

Amazon takes a 60% discount for books it sells - no negotiation - and I have to pay postage to their warehouse. Which means I make a loss on every book I sell through them. So for hardbacks and paperbacks, it's best to use my online shop at http://shop.whippleshieldbooks.com/

(After all, I'd like Whippleshield Books to at least pay for itself )


----------



## Gary Compton

Is it not possible to not use their warehouse and despatch yourself?


----------



## iansales

Gary Compton said:


> Is it not possible to not use their warehouse and despatch yourself?



They order the books from the supplier, which is me, and stock them in their warehouse. At present, they only order copies when someone has bought one on their website. If they suddenly decided there were 100 potential sales of *Adrift on the Sea of Rains*, I would have to supply them with 100 copies at a 60% discount and pay for the shipping.


----------



## Stephen Palmer

Nice 1, Ian.


----------



## Boneman

Good going, Ian. Amazon sucks...


----------



## A. S. Behsam

WOW! Congratulations, Ian! I'm so proud of you!


----------



## Juliana

Congratulations!


----------



## JoanDrake

Good going.

It makes one wonder why anyone would market hardbacks through Amazon as it seems to involve considerable financial risk if the book is successful.


----------



## iansales

JoanDrake said:


> Good going.
> 
> It makes one wonder why anyone would market hardbacks through Amazon as it seems to involve considerable financial risk if the book is successful.



I imagine unit costs are much lower for the big imprints. They can probably also negotiate better discounts than Amazon impose on me.


----------



## Tyler Danann

Well done Ian!  You've got the media a-buzz!

The torsion-field-generator sounds interesting too.
The description on Amazon seemed a little confusion though mate.
It mentions using the TFG to find an alternate world but then wanting to return to earth (which is an irradiated ruin)?  Is that so they can gather colonists??


----------



## iansales

Tyler Danann said:


> Well done Ian!  You've got the media a-buzz!
> 
> The torsion-field-generator sounds interesting too.
> The description on Amazon seemed a little confusion though mate.
> It mentions using the TFG to find an alternate world but then wanting to return to earth (which is an irradiated ruin)?  Is that so they can gather colonists??



I guess you'll have to buy it to find out


----------



## iansales

And now the second book of the Apollo Quartet, *The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself*, has been picked out as one of half a dozen genre releases in January in the UK on tor. com. See here.

Incidentally, *The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself* is available for pre-order here, and I'm expecting the printer to deliver the books tomorrow. The Kindle version will go up on Amazon over the weekend.


----------

