Surely this can't be right...

[Anonymouse]

...I just looked for the Kindle edition of Frederik Pohl's excellent novel Gateway on Amazon, and I found I could in fact pre-order it...except that allegedly it won't be published until 31st December...are you ready for this...?


...2035!!!


Okay, what? Can anyone verify this? Why are they, whoever 'they' are exactly, making us wait 15 years for a book written in 1977?!

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by Anonymouse

...I just looked for the Kindle edition of Frederik Pohl's excellent novel Gateway on Amazon, and I found I could in fact pre-order it...except that allegedly it won't be published until 31st December...are you ready for this...?


...2035!!!


Okay, what? Can anyone verify this? Why are they, whoever 'they' are exactly, making us wait 15 years for a book written in 1977?!

: Just checked and Amazon is showing

Publisher: Gateway (31 Dec. 2035)

This title will be auto-delivered to your Kindle and you will be charged on 31 December 2035.

that's the longest pre-order period I've ever come across. I could probably book a space flight before then. Mind you the Kindle edition you want would cost a lot less than pre-booking a flight ticket $35000+.

Frederik Pohl died in 2013 and as Gateway was originally published in book form in 1977 I would guess the long wait is due to some form of problem/permission converting it into an e-book. You may have more success tracking down a hard copy through second hand book dealers.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218427.Gateway

[cimt]

It'll be so that people can pre-order it and give them plenty of time to sort out all the rights and have the book converted to e-book or audiobook. If they put it about a year then the book may release even without it being finished.

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by cimt

It'll be so that people can pre-order it and give them plenty of time to sort out all the rights and have the book converted to e-book or audiobook. If they put it about a year then the book may release even without it being finished.

Quite true but 15 years seems a tad extreme.

It means they dont have a proper date, so they just set a placeholder date.