Discussion: When Do You Pre-Order?

Photo credit: guzzphoto on Flickr

So I received a very nice B&N gift card for Christmas, which meant I basically went on a pre-ordering spree. In the last couple months, I’ve pre-ordered:

• Trust the Focus by Megan Erickson
• Focus on Me by Megan Erickson
• Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
• Half Wild by Sally Green
• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
• More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
• Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Which is to say I’ve done a lot of pre-ordering. At least for me.

I’ve found that there are two main scenarios that lead me to pre-order:

1. I absolutely love the author and/or the prequel and must have the next book. (This was the case for Trust the Focus, Focus on Me, Half Wild and Made You Up. This was also the case for just about every Harry Potter book after Azkaban and all of the Grisha books after Shadow and Bone.)



2. The book is getting a lot of buzz from people I trust and just sounds friggin’ amazing. (i.e.: Made You Up, Simon vs. and More Happy Than Not). 

I’m curious, however, about what gets other people to pre-order. Is that reserved only for your favorite authors? Are exceptions made for debuts that sound amazing? Something else? What gets you to pre-order? 

Twitter-sized bite: 

When do you pre-order books? Do you pre-order often? Rarely? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)