Terrible Sarah J. Maas Trend Needs to Stop | RANT

Yes, I did get triggered. Let's talk about it.

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[symorla]

I am 100% in the party that thinks certain stores can have their own exclusive covers/ sleeves, but the CONTENT of the book itself should be accessible in all versions. Periodt.

[taylorgayhart]

I never say this, but I hope people pirate those bonus chapters instead of buying a bunch of additions of the same book.

[aerchii]

I think The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer is the perfect example of how to do this right. She also came out with a bunch of bonus stories for the series after it finished, but instead of selling them all separately, she put them all into one book.

[rin]

As a kpop collector I am REALLY advising readers and/ or SJM fans, y'all better NOT give in to this marketing practice and DO NOT buy multiple copies of the same thing to get the bonus stories or whatever. Because IF the publishers look at the sales and see that these different editions with different bonus chapters bring in more sales, it's over his practice will take over everywhere. You must resist with all your might. Because this is what happened to K-pop. There were albums, and then they decided to include a photocard. Then they decided to include a random 1 out of a few versions of a photocard in albums. Saw it increased sales. Then they started making 2 versions of albums and include a random card, and each member suddenly has their own card, in addition to a group card. Once again fans bought multiple versions just to collect all the member cards and increased sales. THEN they started releasing even MORE album versions, and guess what. Each version has their OWN photocard set, so if an album has 4 versions and the group has 8 members there are 32 cards to collect, if we don't count group cards or unit cards. Then they started adding other random inclusions like member postcards and what not, and now we have photobook and cd versions of albums with a bunch of their own versions and random cards sets, digipacks with at times as many versions as there are members and this has their own own card sets to collect, then DIGITAL versions with codes you scan with your phone and liaten to the album in a dedicated app, and this has a random card from it's own set too.. It is madness, and all because fans were completionists and bought it all, despite the content being spread over more and more versions and more and more randomized. Just when we thought this could not possibly get worse they introduced POBs. Preorder bonus collectable cards, where every major music store has their own exclusive photocard set of however many members the group has, and you get 1 random one with every album you preorder from there... Lord help us all at this point. If you want to experience it for yourself, search "seventeen/ exo /nct /monsta x/ album unboxing all versions" on YT, and witness the horror.
So for your own good and good of all the readers, do NOT give into this, because if this marketing strategy is successful, it will become the norm. Pirate the bonus stories, put it on wattpad, and share them, idc, just do not increase their sales. SJM fans are the perfect target for this strategy because just like K-pop fans, they are loyal to a fault and really invested, and a big portion of them young as well.
I also collect manga, and japanese manga has this additional manga paper phenomenon, where the first print has 1 page of a bonus chapter, and you have to buy 8 or so copies of the same volume to piece together that chapter. Capitalizm will eat us alive if we let it 😄

[styxthistle]

Maas has always had an overwriting problem, so in stead of correcting it... they've monetised it! I have to say, it's quite smart, but terribly scummy.

[JinxyDragon]

Buy the same book five times??? Mmmmm more like stand in the aisle of 5 different books stores to read the one bonus chapter. And then walk out…
Also casually saying Bryce and Nesta chapter not realizing how crazy it it for them to have a scene together. IM CACKLING 😂

[SojournistActual]

I worked in publishing for 20 years, and while I can't say for certain where this practice started for Maas's books, most often decisions like these are made by the publisher's marketing department. That said, the author in this case has to be complicit, because she has to write the chapters, and someone of Maas's popularity would have the ability to say no. An unknown author likely would not; that is, if the publisher made this tactic a key aspect of the publishing contract, then a new/unknown author would likely have to either take it or walk away from the deal. Also, if the special edition is created by a publicity firm, then they are likely the ones who originated the idea, and the author would have a say in whether they did it.

And yeah, it's an abuse of readers' loyalty to play a gambit like this.

[Mmm-xifx]

I think Sara J Mass should absolutely be held responsible. She’s the one who wrote all these chapters. She’s the one benefiting and pocketing the money. This has happened enough time to know that she’s on board with it. She doesn’t seem to be doing anything to stand up for her readers and fight back publishers.

[iangubeli]

My wife loves the initial ACOTAR series. Once she finished all the current books, she heard that there was a B&N special edition with an extra chapter at the back. So, we went book shopping and she picked up the book and just read that chapter in store….dude, all it was was a gratuitous smut scene that added nothing to the story. When the majority of those books I smut anyway, that doesn’t motivate me to go out a buy a book with an extra chapter that adds nothing to the enjoyment of the series.

[gizzmowalliss]

I read a series it’s not a popular one but I liked it and the author wrote 400+ pages of bonus chapters and instead of making people buy them separately she actually made them into one book with all the bonus chapters in it I was so glad Because it was much cheaper than buy them separately.

[yolandavandermerwe]

I agree it's unfair because other countries doesn't always get the opportunity to buy special addition or it is so expensive it's unreasonable

[Talking_Story]

I am all about artists getting paid, but this may be too far. I do think a regular special edition can elevate the reading experience by upping the tactile quality of how the book feels in the hands as well as adding artwork. But we as readers have come to expect that. To hold out actual prose and make a fan chase it down? As a comics fan this takes me back to the 90's alternate cover craze.

[FridmanB]

The worst part is that they are preying specifically on their most loyal fans

[TeddyAtTheCreativeNook]

As both a writer & a reader, I find this practice disgusting. Why aren't they put together in a Novella?! I do have a Waterstones edition of the Binding by Bridget Collins which has bonus content (I haven't read it yet, so can't say much about it) but I only got that because it was on sale and the book was published in 2019

[seamusb]

I don't believe in illegally reading 99% of the time but this practice is similar to pay to win practices in gaming. No author/publisher deserves 5 times your money for the same book.

[kellyannaynes]

Wow!!!! I know many readers adore these characters and absolutely NEED those extended chapters! A marketing scam that does not take the readers into consideration! I am not happy!

[janetmorgan]

As I mom who loves to read and who is raising readers this disturbs me too! I have a very limited budget because I am not a rich person and have responsibilities before leisure reading. I buy all of my books and my kid's books used. What Edition I get doesn't matter to me when I'm surfing ebay for the best deal. I also rely on my library and I guarantee they won't be hunting down special editions for me or anyone else. It just feels like such a money grab that isolates people with limited incomes. Reading should be an escape or inspiration... not more salt in the wound. I'm not even going to go into the ecological impact!

[maryhetherington]

I remember this as a chaotic idea from Tumblr-- the idea was about having like five different endings/but not telling anyone/ and watching chaos ensue. It wasn't meant to be about marketing lol Could be a neat idea for low cost short stories, but not for huge books like these

[EmberJune]

I had never heard about this before. This is insane. I have read all of sjm’s books through the library and audiobooks. And since I am late to finding her stories I wasn’t reading the books when they dropped so I never knew anything about additional chapters. I do not think my knowledge of her stories is vastly impacted bc of not reading the additional chapters, but I honestly wouldn’t know bc I didn’t even know they existed till now. 100% it is a horrible practice designed to grab more money out of ppl. I can easily see this causing ppl to walk into stores stand there read the chapter than walk out, assuming it’s possible ordering all the different versions to read them and then return them, or finding a way to get the additional chapters illegally. Also imagine if a specific version with a specific chapter sells out how much money ppl on eBay and Mercari are going to try to charge for the version bc it would be the only way to see that chapter legally. This is crazy.

[ela_mvp]

I just want to add that for readers in Europe it's even worse, because mostly we can't order those editions and even if one is possible, it's incredibly expensive. I found some bonus chapters on Tumblr and I actually hated the Azriel bonus chapter lol
Loved how Holly Black handled her bonus chapter in the cruel prince series. She published it in her newsletter as soon as she was allowed. This should be how it is handled and communicated by the authors!