Alright folks, I hope you’re sitting down and buckled in, because today we’re goin’ for a ride! The Black Library Readers Satisfaction Survey has concluded, and it’s time to share the results. There is a lot of ground to cover today, plus we’ll also still have all of the usual content that you enjoy each week as well. As the comics would call it, an action-packed double-sized issue!
A Quick Recap
Last month we kicked off an initiative designed to get some real, usable data to illustrate how the Black Library reader and collector community are feeling about the hobby. When it comes to surveys leading is misleading, so we made the questions as neutral as I could and set them on a five-point sentiment scale.
This is intended to be an ongoing initiative, not a one-time thing. We’re planning to run it back every six months, so we can look at how opinions may change over time.
We received 315 responses, slightly higher than my target of 300. In polling 384 is considered the “magic number” because it gives you a 95% confidence level with a ±5% margin of error. Mathematically, having n=315 means we have a ±5.5% margin of error. Not bad at all!
Finally, it bears repeating that this site and this poll are not affiliated with Games Workshop in any way. They may see it, they may not. They may act on it, they may not.
All we can do is what we can do.
If you’re one of the 315 who shared their opinion in the Survey, a huge and heartfelt thank you. If there’s one thing that genuinely amazed me, it was that 169 of you took the time to share your thoughts in the optional, open-ended final question. You know, the “anything else you’d like to share” part of survey, the one that everyone skips. I had zero expectations of getting much content there and you truly delivered. Bravissimo.
Three Key Takeaways
Rather than walk through the results first, I’m going to start with the biggest takeaways from the survey. The full results are definitely interesting and we’ll get to everything, but if you take nothing else from the Survey these are the biggest flags.
1. Preordering is a Concern
When 85% of your most-engaged consumers tell you there’s a problem, there probably is one. One need only spend a Saturday in one of the usual community gathering places to see how frustrating it is for us to try and order the books we want. Instant sellouts, canceled orders, website wonkiness… when the supply of product seems designed to wring every last bit of FOMO out of the customers, all it takes is one tiny bump in the road to derail the whole effort.
It’s important to note that Games Workshop does seem to be making a genuine effort to combat scalping, particularly in the wake of the Era of Ruin debacle last year. But clearly, the community feels that much more needs to be done.
2. Quality is Not Job One
When it comes to collectibles, quality is everything. The feeling of opening up a Limited Edition only to find the medallion has been misglued to the cover (or come off entirely) is deeply frustrating when we’re spending a great deal on these beautiful deluxe editions. The Black Library puts a lot of thought and effort into designing them, but something is getting lost along the way from the factory to the warehouse.
That ‘warehouse’ is an important part of this chain, too, as instances of perfectly good items arriving damaged by careless packing abound1. While many deluxe edition offerings do have an added layer of protection, it’s not always enough.
It’s worth noting that this problem is often exacerbated by Games Workshop’s low-redundancy production runs. It’s not realistic to expect GW to have a zero-defect process (nor- given what that would do to their production costs- would that be something we’d actually want). However, when you don’t have available product on hand to offer consumers as replacements and instead rely on simply refunding them their money, that’s not optimal2.
3. The App Is Not Fully Baked (Yet)
This one’s a bit of a mixed bag. Having a 40% engagement rate for the new digital app only months after launch doesn’t… seem bad? On the other hand, two-thirds of the app’s users register dissatisfaction compared to only 13% that are satisfied, numbers I’m sure GW would prefer to see flipped around.
Personally I started off being very app-skeptical since I don’t love the digital reading experience3, but once I was down in Houston for several days and had forgotten to bring one of the books I was reviewing. Rather than miss my deadline, I re-bought the book on the app and it wasn’t as bad as I’d assumed. Plus, I applaud GW for greatly expanding the range of titles that go on sale each month.
The Survey Responses
Next, let’s jump in to the results for each question in the Survey.
Were I in the prediction business (which I’m thankfully not) I’d have guessed that the red and yellow slices would have been swapped, with most respondents in the Mature category. That’s not a bad place to be, but I’m delighted to see so many people are actively building their libraries!
I probably should have broken this out by one more category. Say, $250-500, and then $500+. Suffice it to say, as noted above we have a lot of active collectors!
Almost 45% of the readers don’t bother with deluxe editions, but over a quarter of readers are heavily into them.
Almost half are dissatisfied with the preordering experience. This comes as no surprise given what we’d seen in the takeaways earlier. It’s a significant pain point for the community.
Only a third of respondents are actively unhappy with GW’s anti-scalping countermeasures.
Here’s where we see that unhappiness with the Black Library app, along with the significant chunk of folks who haven’t (or won’t) cross the digital divide.
This one’s net negative. While it’s true that the monthly sales have definitely improved with the app versus the old Black Library website, one only need look at the insane discounting during Audible’s occasional sales to see where some of the disconnect is here. 66% off an audiobook is great, but it’s not as great as the 80% Audible offers.
Relatively little dissatisfaction here. People are generally pleased with the deluxe editions.
A big win for the Black Library on this score. I would definitely encourage the 40% who don’t buy audiobooks to give them a chance. I’ve gone from extremely skeptical to an absolute evangelist in the last twelve months, and you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced Perring’s Cain or Keeble’s Gotrek.
Another positive here, though not quite as glowing. Most folks seem to think GW is doing a fine job with its communications.
This is a good example of why it’s important to look beyond just the surface of the data. If you just looked at this data point in isolation, you’d almost completely miss the severity of the issue. This question treats all respondents the same, regardless of how many deluxe editions they’ve bought. If you only buy a couple books a year, your exposure to the level of quality is much more limited than someone who is buying every single release.
When we look at the responses of those who are highly engaged in buying the deluxe issues (as we did above), then we get a very different picture. It was Mark Twain4 who noted that there are three kinds of falsehoods: lies, damned lies, and statistics. The above is a good example on how data can sometimes mislead- even when it doesn’t intend to.
This is pretty good, too. Nobody wants to experience a problem, but it’s nice to know that there’s a solution to be found when one does.
Interesting spread here. Lots of folks dissatisfied with the non-Astartes representation- but also plenty of folks who think it’s in a good place.
Less than a quarter of respondents were satisfied with this year’s Celebration. We still have some unanswered questions about this one, like… what happened to the Solomon Akurra miniature? And where did those mysterious Alpha Legion medallions come from?
I goofed here, leaving out the “Strongly Agree” category. I think it’s safe to assume anyone that felt strongly about it was happy to vote Agree, though, so the results should still be valid. I’d have liked to have split this between 30K/40K and Age of Sigmar, but also wanted to avoid making the perfect the enemy of the good in terms of number of questions.
Your Freeform Answers
Finally, the last question invited respondents to get whatever they wanted to off their chest. As noted above, the number of responses here were way beyond even my wildest imaginings.
Google Forms broken them into the following classifications5:
Here’s a selection from each.
Availability and Reprints
“I would like to be able to subscribe and lodge a credit card for limited edition issues to ensure purchase, plus BL will have an idea of future commitments.”
“As a new collector, it is disappointing to see books sell out so quickly. A pre-order doesn’t quite feel like a pre-order as they can sell out so fast. A pre-order should gauge interest for a title so you know how many to order. I’d like to at least have the opportunity to get a cool looking book if I want. But instead It feels like you have to become a part of a club understanding all the ins and outs and weird quirks to have a hope of getting something you want6.”
“Having only been involved for 9 months, the opportunity to purchase special editions has been frustrating. Missing out on Rynn’s World almost turned me off to this in general. Not sure the stress is worth the perceived value of these books.”
“My experience with the Gaunt PODs was excellent. There exists an amazing amount of BL books wildly inaccessible due to the many reasons we all know of. Why is there not a regular (quarterly) POD strategy? I imagine an announcement whereby BL, on an annual basis, arranges for the choice of 10 books per quarter POD, outlining the next 4 quarters in advance so that the wonderful fandom can plan how they want to stay broke?!!!”
“I really want reprints of a lot of older books. I want to suggest a pre-order to print model. Like enough people have to pre-order and pay up front and then when you hit a profitable threshold you print the book for those customers. I would happily give you money to sign up for printings. Even if they took a long time I would happily wait. Its such a shame. I would buy probably $1000 worth of books if the entire catalog was in print.”
Content Diversity and Communication
“I wish Black Library would experiment with more unique offerings, in both format and story. Bring back Horror and Crime, print books like Xenology and Liber Chaotica. I worry that outside of a few standouts, Black Library is becoming too focused on tie in novels to miniature releases. Those are expected, but feel like the focus and it’s taking the life out of the setting a bit. Comms could also use some work, please tell us when we are seeing Pandaemonium!”
“More communication needed especially when things go wrong (like with Hive). Better packing for non-premium editions would be appreciated.”
“The lack of AoS content has been a real downer mostly. For 40k the lack of xenos books is appalling, being in the hobby for years and years I’ve simply grown accustomed to not receiving a consistent stream of content, but I’d prefer an equal treatment to the rest of the factions in the setting.”
“I feel as if the art in general has taken a steep decline, with a few exceptions, most of the art the past year or so has been horrible and uninspiring. Additionally I feel as if more attention needs to be given to other factions than the Imperium. It’s absurd the difference between xenos and Imperium books. I’d love a long spanning series that features exclusively the xenos armies fighting one another, even more chaos xenos would be welcomed.”
“More AoS! More Old World!”
Digital Experience
“Let me use it offline! Biggest and only real complaint. I don’t always have service, let me read offline”
“Please tell me the app isn’t considered finished. It needs a LOT of work to have rough feature parity with my old e-reader, that I can’t use anymore, because you don’t sell files anymore. It doesn’t even hold my page correctly. C’mon, give me search function and chapter breaks at least. Bare minimum stuff we figured out during the 2000s.”
“The Black Library App is honestly the worst book reader I have ever used. It is totally unusable. It does not remember your page half the time, no night mode, gestures to manipulate the book work inconsistently, limited gestures, no bookmarks for quick reference. I will not be purchasing anymore digital books until the app is fixed. Just terrible.”
Other
“It would be good if there was some kind of Black Library membership where you can be guaranteed special editions, but allowed you to opt out of ones you’re not interested in. Similar to Humble Bundle etc.”
“The casting of Shogo Miyakita as the narrator for Scars was an excellent choice and I sincerely hope to see his return in future Black Library productions, as I found his performance to be excellent.”
Product Quality and Production
“Recently quality control seems to have taken a hit. Mis-aligned emblems or emblems falling off the books or wonky gilding. Looking back over the Dawn of Fire special editions I own, they are all perfectly embossed and emblems set perfect too. There is just the one book they forgot to make the spine gilding match the others.....”
“The quality of the writing has increased over the past 2 decades.”
“I genuinely think that the special, limited, and mega editions are some of the best out in the literature world.”
“Please please please improve your quality control, I’ve had 4 orders from your company come in with he exact same damage over the span of 3 years. Whoever you’re printing company is or whoever is running the box cutter along the spines of books needs to be dealt with. I’ve had so many different hard covers that always have the exact same slash mark from a knife and as I not only read but collect books from black library it’s nothing short of infuriating seeing the exact same damage time and time again7.”
Scalping and Website Performance
“I think the biggest issue right now are the scalpers and the fact that the books disappear 5 minutes after going on sale, but I don’t think that removing signatures or numbers is the way to go. I think its better to increase the number of books being printed to 3000-4000. Some books, like recent Mephiston had a very predictable, high demand - those should be like 4000-5000. I think the biggest W so far are the Illustrated Editions though - absolutely amazing”
“The order chaos at the site every Saturday something special is released makes me back away from ordering there and ordering any special releases. “
“Overall I am very satisfied with the black library books I’ve purchased the overall quality of the writing has yet to disappoint me. However my main problems are other factors, as someone who primarily purchases non standard editions I do feel like the prices have risen to much to fast and have added little extra”
“Make all special editions Made to Order. The GW website is clearly incapable of meeting the moment when it comes to keeping LE books out of the hands of scalpers. Thus, the only recourse is to offer the option that makes sure everyone who truly wants one, gets one.”
And Finally…
“This newsletter is amazing. I enjoy the in-depth coverage and the incredible detail!”
Aww, shucks. Thank you, friend!
Well, that’s it for the opening Satisfaction Survey! We’ll be running it back in six months, and see if there’s been any changes in the second half of the year.
Burning Books
There’s no shortage of distressing news out of the Cadia of Europe, but this one hits particularly close to home. On 01 August, the Rhanok Corporation’s logistics warehouse in Kharkiv, Ukraine was hit in another Russian attack. Reportedly, eight million books were destroyed, including 300,000 books and comics from Varvar Publishing.
Varvar is the new official translator and publisher of Black Library books under license from Games Workshop. Nearly the entire print runs of their first two releases, Dan Abnett’s Magos and The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath, were lost in the attack.
“Сьогодні для нас важлива будь-яка підтримка. Ми втратили дуже багато. Але не хочемо втратити найголовніше — можливість і надалі створювати книжки для вас і разом з вами розвивати українську культуру.
Ми не припиняємо роботу.” -Varvar Publishing
While a catastrophic loss, Varvar intends to keep going. Already preorders are open for the next two books they’ll be releasing, Krieg by Steve Lyons and James Swallow’s The Flight of the Eisenstein. Life’s hard enough already in that besieged country without having to lose their Warhammer, but the Emperor Protects, Varvar!
Speaking of Scalping…
Over in the Black Library Nutters Facebook Group, there was a push this week to try and understand the extent that scalping is negatively impacting book availability for us readers and collectors.
Friend of the Wordforge Vyas Sundarrajan pulled a bit of data together to show some of the impact the recent Mephiston: The Box Set had on the secondary market (specifically eBay). While the dollar amounts are certainly eye-watering, the volume on the right doesn’t suggest the problem is particularly widespread. Of course, that only takes into account the number of units sold, not the total number available in the marketplace.
Sundarrajan wasn’t the only one. Andrew Howden shared some data he’d scraped for The Wicked and the Warped’s Special Edition.
Some interesting eBay stats from today’s scalp fest for The Wicked and the Divine.
These stats include all countries on eBay: 65 books sold already for between £80 and £172. Average sold price of £119. 14 current active listings (not sure how many books). Average listing price of £130, prices between £115 and £182.
So what does that tell us?
On the face of it, it doesn’t look as bad as it feels. I was actually quite surprised. If there are, say 2500 worldwide, then the scalped copies amount to around 3.16%.
So if that’s accurate, then it explains why GW don’t care about scalping. Sucks if we miss out, but makes it feel a little better if we’re mostly missing out to fellow collectors.
It seems reasonable to conclude that scalpers in the community fall somewhere in between “existential threat” and “bogeyman under the bed” on the threat scale- these are, after all, luxury good we’re talking about8- but it’s a particularly emotive issue given the intersection of a passionate fanbase, a limited supply of goods, and the influence of money. Big thanks to Howden and Sundarrajan for making a go at trying to quantify the scope of the issue!
What the Neighbors are Doing
Games Workshop is hardly the only company trying to find the sweet spot between “Maximum fan enjoyment” and “maximum revenue generation” when it comes to limited-edition products. It can be helpful to keep an eye on what others are doing to get a sense of what works and what doesn’t.
This week Wizards of the Coast, the HASBRO subsidiary behind Magic: the Gathering, rolled out a new scheme for its Secret Lair product line. For those not walking the planes, Secret Lair is a direct-to-consumer line of reprinted cards and preconstructed decks that are available in very limited quantities and only for a particular ordering window. In other words, just like the Black Library’s deluxe editions (but with an arguably worse ordering experience).
With the upcoming Secret Lair Commander Deck: Hatsune Miku release, WotC is taking an intriguing approach.
A certain number of Hatsune Miku Edition decks are going to be produced.
There will be a 24-hour window where folks will be allowed to preorder the deck.
Orders will be fulfilled from the existing stock. Once that stock is depleted, all remaining orders will be fulfilled on a Print On Demand basis for 2027 delivery.
It’s a hybrid approach, one which gets the product out there in the marketplace quickly for many, but doesn’t leave anyone on the outside of the window looking in ruefully as long as they get their order in during the open window.
It’s interesting to consider what this might look like for the Black Library. There’s certainly going to be a feel-bad for anyone who has to wait for their book to arrive, though I imagine on balance it’s going to be less than the feel-bad for those who miss out on the book altogether9.
Next, let’s take a look at Games Workshop licensee Wicked Brick. I profiled them last month for the Black Library Bibliophiles series, and they have an interesting way of getting concept buy-in from the community: the Display Forge.
Here’s how it works:
Fans get to vote on what kind of products they’d like to see Wicked Brick bring to market. Examples here include displays for vinyl records, Funko Pops, sneakers, what have you. Their progress is tracked on the website, and once an idea gets enough votes it moves to Development.
Development is effectively a preorder. Once sufficient preorders are locked in, it can then move into production. It’s not hard to see how this could play out for the Black Library. Imagine if we could vote on what reprints and deluxe editions we might like to see- and then have the opportunity to put our money where our mouth is up front to help make sure it happens.
Here’s a quick MS Paint job adapting the Display Forge interface10:
Something like this seems to have a lot of upside, because GW doesn’t have to print a single word until they’ve got cash in hand. It’s highly scalper-resistant11, since everyone has a chance to preorder. And there’s a lot of community engagement, since we’re the ones getting to vote on what we’d like to see.
Plus, while author autographs might be a bit challenging after a certain quantity, you certainly could retain book numbering with this method.
What do you think, James Workshop? Worth a spin?
August’s Book Giveaway Winner
Thanks to everyone who entered the Wordforge August Giveaway! You all shared some terrific thoughts about your chase-n’-grail books, as well as some ideas of deluxe editions you’d love to see. I’m not saying I would crawl across glass for a Skavenslayer/Grey Seer-themed Mega Limited Edition, but, uhh… I’m not saying I wouldn’t say it, either.
Of course, there can be only one winner, and throwing everyone into the magic randomizer finds that subscriber “Ravennor” is our lucky prizewinner this month! Rav will get their pick from either the 40K Bundle (Longshot, Xenos), the Age of Sigmar Bundle (Godeater’s Son12, Hallowed Ground), or the Beyond the Black Library Bundle (White Feathers, Crimson Leaves and Thunder’s Edge). As an added bonus, all three come with a copy of the 2018 Black Library Celebration mini-anthology, thanks to friend of Wordforge Periklis Begzos.
Congratulations!
Arrivals & Departures
In this section I look at what’s coming up around the corner (Arrivals) and what’s landing on bookstore shelves (Departures).
Arrivals
The third book in the Horus Heresy Saga arrives this week in a Premium Edition format as Ben Counter’s Galaxy in Flames goes up for preorder. If you’re relatively new to collecting the deluxe editions, I would strongly encourage you to check out my article on it here, as forewarned is forearmed!
Alternately, it will also be available in standard edition hardback with new cover art. The previous Saga book, Graham McNeill’s False Gods, will also be arriving in paperback form. Good time to be getting into the Heresy!
Just last week I was pointing out the lack of Age of Sigmar releases this year, and wouldn’t you know it not two days later the mothership dropped a teaser for Noah Van Nguyen’s sequel to Godeater’s Son. Coincidence? Yeah, probably… but a new Age of Sigmar novel is wonderful news either way! Blood of the Godeater will be available both in standard hardcover as well as audiobook form.
Finally, an unexpected treat here with Witch Hunters: The Omnibus. Not sure all of what’s in here but given the authors it’s a safe bet that this will collect the adventures of Callis and Toll, the Freeguild soldier and witch hunter duo. In a happy little coincidence, just yesterday I finished the audiobook of Nick Horth’s The Silver Shard, the first Callis & Toll novel, and it’s just my cup of gritty fantasy.
Departures
Two new books should be available on store shelves this week. Guy Haley’s Archmagos and The Relentless Dead by Steve Lyons (review) have arrived in paperback!
ICYMI
Here’s what’s been going on this week for Warhammer content!
Warhammer Wordforge
It was a Black Library Readers’ Hall of Fame weekend, which means a new installment of the companion series, The Hall Monitor. This time around we’re looking at GW’s decision to nuke the Old World from orbit… it was the only way to be sure.
Speaking of the world that was, this week’s Wednesday feature was the latest Audio Impressions reviewing Kim Newman’s Drachenfels. One of the earliest novels for Warhammer Fantasy, it was full of surprises.
Finally, for you role-playing gamers players Warhammer RPG Weekly celebrated Cubicle 7’s latest ENNIE!
Tabletop Battles
First up, of course, was the Black Library Readers’ Hall of Fame piece. Six books were inducted from the Class of 2014- including a trio of Fantasy novels!
I also reviewed the Illustrated and Annotated Edition of The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath for Lore Friday.
Warhammer Community
In the ongoing Pages from the Black Books series, this week we visit the Forge World of Zhao-Arkhad, a world brought to compliance by the Thousand Sons.
WarhammerTV (paywalled)
No Black Library content this week. That said, Deep Strike’s latest episode drops Tuesday and it’s focus is the production of the Adepta Sororitas animation Penitence, so I’ll absolutely be checking that one out.
Around the Webway
Arbitor Ian and Mira Manga were partying like it’s 1999 this week, with their Warhammer Book Club zeroing in on the first-ever book for Felix and Gotrek: William King’s Trollslayer.
Jen and Keri of the WH40K Book Club podcast rounded out their review of Dan Abnett’s latest with this take on Hive Part Two.
The Fluffenhammer pod continued its series this week reviewing the issues of Warhammer Monthly, one issue at a time. This week it’s #30, with a focus on Malus Darkblade!
Curious about DK Books’ Age of Sigmar: The Ultimate Guide? Cinderfall Gaming did an unboxing video for it, and they didn’t stop there! We’ve also been treated to reviews of Jude Reid’s Armageddon: Season of Fire as well as Flight of the Kharadron by Tom Huddleston!
That latter book, Flight of the Kharadron, is part of the Warhammer Adventures series, which was aimed at younger readers. Here on Substack, Christian Lindke did a terrific feature taking a look at the series.
It Always Rains in Nuln delivered a review of The Lord of the End Times by Josh Reynolds. Man, Fantasy was just a vibe this week, wasn’t it?
This was a treat: PC Gamer had a short reel this week featuring Toby Longworth talking about doing some voice work for the upcoming Dawn of War IV game. Longworth is one of the narrators for Warhammer audiobooks that has attracted considerable acclaim, so it’s great to see him lending his talents to the game as well!
Cold Open Stories
This week’s featured story is The Bond, by Andy Clark. “At an illegal auction on a dusty, windswept planet, Rycas Velominus watches the sale of his latest prize. A rare carnosaur from the edge of the galaxy, no less. It cost him a lot to acquire it, and he needs a good price to make it worth his while. But illegal auctions in far off places have a habit of attracting strange people, and not everyone is who they appear to be.”
Quick Hits
Gareth Hanrahan (Castle of the Exile, Rites of Binding) has a new novel out this week13, The Dungeon Book. “A young girl is left to die in a wizard's dungeon but finds a new home with the monsters around her in this humorous and heartfelt standalone epic fantasy.”
Josh Reynolds (Neferata: Blood of Nagash, Road of Skulls) wrote a new short story for the Trench Crusade setting. Best of all, you can read it for free right here!
Rob Hayes (Anarchy’s End, No Quarter) revealed the cover to his next novel in his Titan Hoppers series, Blight Wardens. No ETA yet, but keep an eye out!
Not enough cover reveals? Say no more! Juliet McKenna (Fear Itself) showed off the cover to her upcoming novel The Green Man’s Debt. Look for this one on 10 September!
Tacticus Turns Four
Any Warhammer gamers out there playing Tacticus? As part of my Warhammer+ subscription I get the occasional code for bonus goodies and like to pass them along to a lucky reader.
The latest code is: 000RYLJ85VHHF
Using that will grant you a nice little tranche of bonus summons and resources, so have at it! As always, I simply ask that the first person to redeem it leave a comment below so that everyone after knows it’s been used.
Enjoy!
Coming Attractions
Here’s a list of the known upcoming releases from the Black Library based on the available preorder information we have. As always, take all of this with a grain of salt unless it’s Games Workshop-confirmed.
This section will be updated weekly in this column, and anything in bold has been added (or updated) this week.
Upcoming but Undated
Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! (Illustrated and Annotated Edition), by Nate Crowley
Deathwatch, by Steve Parker (Special Edition)
Bjorn, the Fell-handed, by Justin D. Hill (hardcover)
Current PODs in Production
Hive, by Dan Abnett (Special Edition)
Upcoming in 2026
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The Ultimate Guide (hardcover, 8/11)
The Wicked and the Warped, by Robert Rath (hardcover, Special Edition, 8/15)
The Infinite and the Divine, by Robert Rath (hardcover, 8/15)
Bjorn, the Fell-handed, by Justin D. Hill (Limited Edition, 8/22)
Galaxy In Flames, by Ben Counter (Premium Edition, hardcover, 8/29)
False Gods, by Graham McNeill (paperback, 8/29)
Blood of the Godeater, by Noah Van Nguyen (hardcover, 8/29)
Witch Hunters: The Omnibus, by Nick Horth and Richard Strachan (paperback, 8/29)
Raldoron: Revenant, by Guy Haley (hardcover, Special Edition, 9/24)
Words of Waaagh!, by DK Books (hardcover, 10/6)
The Sundering, by Gav Thorpe (paperback, 10/6)
Dropsite Massacre, by John French (paperback, 10/20)
Apostle, by David Annandale (paperback, 10/20)
Master of Rites, by Rob Young (paperback, 10/20)
Death Rider, by Rhuairidh James (paperback, 11/19)
Ghost Legion, by Mike Brooks (paperback, 11/19)
Chem Dog, by Callum Davis (paperback, 12/17)
Ghazghkull Thraka: Warlord of Warlords, by Denny Flowers (paperback, 12/17)
Ashes of the Imperium, by Chris Wraight (paperback, 12/17)
Thanks again for joining me for all the going’s on in the Black Library, and see you next week!
Or, in the case of a certain Black Library blogger, the wrong item was put in the box instead of his copy of Rynn’s World. Still hurts, folks.
In fairness to GW, they are painted into a corner here when we’re talking about numbered editions, which makes the recent moves away from numbered books all the more interesting.
File me under “physical purist” here, though I’ll admit to a growing fondness for audiobooks as well
In his autobiography, he attributed the sentiment to Benjamin Disraeli, but interestingly there’s no record of Disraeli ever saying it.
Man oh man did I go back and forth on this. I’m naturally skeptical on AI, which is what Google Forms uses to power its analysis. On the other hand, there’s a significant difference between AI and generative AI, which is the variety that’s caused such concern in the writing community (and this definitely ain’t that). In the end I opted to use its findings, in no small part because I didn’t want to allow any of my own possible biases to creep in.
They’re not wrong, and it’s for exactly this reason I plug my Guide to Collecting the Black Library every chance I can.
Whoever “Jack the Ripper” is here, he’s gotten some of my books too. I had one book ordered through my FLGS, came in slashed. My store ordered a replacement copy which came in slashed too. Fortunately, Jack much have been on PTO when the third one shipped out.
Typing this almost causes me physical pain. What do you mean, they’re necessities!
For awhile, anyway. I suspect that human nature being what it is, though, eventually the feel-bad of “having to wait, ugh” will simply take the place of “I missed out, damn” in the minds of consumers. As a species, we tend to have short memories.
AI-free art, folks, frame that baby!
But not impossible; scalpers can (and do) buy the print-on-demand product in order to resell later at a greatly inflated price, but we shouldn’t make the perfect the enemy of the good.
What timing!
Amazon link provided for convenience. As always, I recommend ordering through your local independent bookseller
Why doesn't Black Library just do quarterly print on demand runs for older books? Let people vote, pre order, then print based on actual demand, with both hardback and paperback options.
I mean GW gets guaranteed sales, collectors get the books they want and scalpers lose out. I've been trying to get my hands on the Konrad Curze novel in hardback and it's basically impossible without paying scalper prices. Hive has already proven the model works.
I got 3 points to make.
1) who's the 1.2% who voted for "I am satisfied with online Pre-Orders" as strongly agree.
2) You mention in the poll about how people are satisfied with how Black Library communicates and yesterday we were shown off Witch Hunters omnibus and we don't know what's in it, comedic timing.
3) One of the people in the survey talked about the lack of creativity of the cover arts and I went on a rant about this to one of the active members in the black library subreddit in their dm. So many of the current books in the warhammer website is just "main character looking at the reader or looking behind them" covers used to be so much more then that.
Look at Jon Sullivans art for example for the Space Marine Battles series of novels, just go onto the lexicanum page and click on a random novel, they all (i think it's all but majority at least) have the full image on the books dedicated page. You see so much detail Jon Sullivan put into. Like yeah there's some art where main character is right on the screen or a marine is staring at the reader but when you see the expanded image it's so good.
We don't get that anymore. And it's sad. Recently the only novel that comes to mind that broke this rule is, Hive. And it's beautiful looking at the cover art of Hive that I can't really put into words on why.