Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 15h

If y'all are not watching Interview With the Vampire, do you know what you're missing? www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr0q...

Extended First Look at The Vampire Lestat ft. Sam Reid | Premieres 2026 | AMC+

YouTube video by amc+

www.youtube.com

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 15h

Absolutely insane times we live in. I've never felt so alive. my face hurts

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 1d

Looking forward to the debut of Childe's Broadway musical, for which they will be reviewed as "the next Sondheim, five stars"

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 2d

Thank you to everyone who did the survey, I closed it down at 526 participants, which is not too bad of a sample size for casual inquiries of science. I'll write up the data in the next couple days -- would it be easier to read as a thread here, or in a google doc?

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 2d

Which to me is a little comforting, on some level? It's not OUR fault as authors, it is just that times are hard for everybody, y'know? And another comfort is that lots of people who say "I don't preorder" add a note that they ask their library to order copies. So that is heartening.

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 2d

Folks also cite the two biggest obstacles to preordering as 1) money and 2) pub date (that is, they don't want to order far in advance bc they don't know if they'll still be living at their address to receive the package delivery)

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 2d

Man, if you find out, let me know. According to the survey, "official info from the author/publisher" and "excitement and discussions from the author are overwhelmingly important, but LOADS of people say they only preorder from authors whose work they already know and like.

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 2d

Any questions in particular you're curious about? :)

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Reposted by Alexandra Rowland

Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

Getting some genuinely FASCINATING results from this survey. I had no idea how many people (23%) aren't interested in reading excerpts before the book comes out! :O

(Also shout out to the 40% of people who report that they preorder from indie bookstores. [fistbump] hell yeah)

Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

There's a lot of received wisdom about what motivates readers to preorder, but I've been wondering if cold hard data can back that up -- so I'm doing SCIENCE!

Got ~20 minutes to do a survey on your preorder habits (or non-habits)? forms.gle/RhfegAyrAWcM...
Please signal boost for sample size! 📖✨

Reader Survey: What Drives Preorders?

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to participate in this survey! As an author, I've heard a lot of “received wisdom” about how preorders work for readers, what motivates someone to preorder, an...

forms.gle

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 3d

Haha, yeah, it'd be an awfully long list of options if I tried! :)

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 3d

That was one of the responses I anticipated people would mention in the "What factors influenced your answer" questions actually :) I designed that question to be open-ended (vs multiple choice) bc there are probably as many factors as there are readers!

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 3d

This is absolutely true, but I will argue: Also sewing machines. Every sewing machine and every printer has the devil in it.

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Reposted by Alexandra Rowland

neongrey @neongrey.bsky.social · 4d

all discourse aside, there is one machine with consciousness. it's printers. they are alive and conscious and they hate you and they'd take your arm clean off if you let them. never trust a printer.

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 3d

Is it the emotional stakes, as in "I got really excited for the book and preordering means it feels like more of a disappointment if the book is canceled"? Or is it the financial stakes, as in "I'm worried I won't get my money back"? Or something else? Really curious about this perspective!

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 3d

I'm also seeing quite a few people mentioning things like "preorders are a risky purchase" or that they "don't want to risk it if the book is canceled," but I'm afraid I'm not clear on what risk we're talking about. Anyone who answered like this who might clarify?

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks for the signal boost!

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Reposted by Alexandra Rowland

The Book Seller @thebooksellergv.bsky.social · 3d

Preordering from your indie (or any indie) is a great way to not only support your local bookshop and favorite authors, it also tells indies what books people want (so they can order more of them)!

Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

Getting some genuinely FASCINATING results from this survey. I had no idea how many people (23%) aren't interested in reading excerpts before the book comes out! :O

(Also shout out to the 40% of people who report that they preorder from indie bookstores. [fistbump] hell yeah)

Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

There's a lot of received wisdom about what motivates readers to preorder, but I've been wondering if cold hard data can back that up -- so I'm doing SCIENCE!

Got ~20 minutes to do a survey on your preorder habits (or non-habits)? forms.gle/RhfegAyrAWcM...
Please signal boost for sample size! 📖✨

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 3d

Aw, thanks for the thank-you, Cheryl! I hope I'll have something useful and interesting to show folks :)

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

(this is with a sample size of 352 responses so far, which would be a bit small for Real Science, but for casual informal science isn't too bad!)

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

To everyone in the free-answer sections who said "Maybe I'm weird, I don't read excerpts" -- bud, you're not alone! You're not weird! You're nearly one-in-four people!

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

Getting some genuinely FASCINATING results from this survey. I had no idea how many people (23%) aren't interested in reading excerpts before the book comes out! :O

(Also shout out to the 40% of people who report that they preorder from indie bookstores. [fistbump] hell yeah)

Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

There's a lot of received wisdom about what motivates readers to preorder, but I've been wondering if cold hard data can back that up -- so I'm doing SCIENCE!

Got ~20 minutes to do a survey on your preorder habits (or non-habits)? forms.gle/RhfegAyrAWcM...
Please signal boost for sample size! 📖✨

Reader Survey: What Drives Preorders?

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to participate in this survey! As an author, I've heard a lot of “received wisdom” about how preorders work for readers, what motivates someone to preorder, an...

forms.gle

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

YESSS his swoopy hair and his unselfconscious joy!!!! I do hold that Sam Obisanya has the most beautiful smile on the show and possibly in the world, though. That boy could light up a room.

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Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

[laughing] Delightful side effect of my clunky attempts to do a little science and gather data. Very flattering, thank you!

Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

Dani Rojas is my FAVORITE in that show, and it was so difficult to decide that because they are all so incredibly lovable.

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Reposted by Alexandra Rowland

Alexandra Rowland @alexandrarowland.bsky.social · 4d

There's a lot of received wisdom about what motivates readers to preorder, but I've been wondering if cold hard data can back that up -- so I'm doing SCIENCE!

Got ~20 minutes to do a survey on your preorder habits (or non-habits)? forms.gle/RhfegAyrAWcM...
Please signal boost for sample size! 📖✨

Reader Survey: What Drives Preorders?

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to participate in this survey! As an author, I've heard a lot of “received wisdom” about how preorders work for readers, what motivates someone to preorder, an...

forms.gle

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