For those loyal fans among you who’re already pretty certain you’re going to buy THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER when it’s first published, I’d like to ask you to consider pre-ordering the book, if that’s a possibility. Why? Let me explain.

Obviously, a sale is a sale—and of course I’m so grateful to anybody who buys my books, whenever you decide to do so! But pre-ordering a book—that is, placing your order now, even though the book doesn’t officially publish till January—can have a huge impact, for a number of reasons:

• Pre-orders count toward the first week’s sales. The greater the demand for a book before publication, the more attention the book gets from the publisher.
• Pre-orders are a way to make sure the publisher prints enough copies so it doesn’t go out of stock the first week, which can be a huge bummer.
• Pre-ordering from your favorite indie bookseller can encourage retailers to increase their initial orders. It reduces the bookstore’s risk. And it helps with word of mouth, which is so important. A large number of pre-orders can create early buzz within the bookselling biz.
• On Amazon, more pre-orders mean its algorithm recommends the book to more readers. (And we don’t want them to run out of stock, either!)
• And finally, the more we sell the first week, the greater the chance of the book hitting bestseller lists (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and so forth)—or of it hitting an even higher ranking on those lists! Which means the book continues to sell.

The good news is, when you pre-order, you don’t pay until the book ships! And you’ll get it on pub day—January 28, 2005. At the guaranteed best price. So click it and forget it—and help The Oligarch’s Daughter succeed.