Preorders are, apparently, a big thing. Publishers place huge importance on them.

As far as I can tell, there are three main reasons for this: 1) They are a way to gauge future interest in the book, and therefore inform how much support publishers are willing to give it. Marketing, publicity, all that. 2) They impact the algorithm on Amazon, making the book more visible on the site, and 3) Indicate consumer interest to retailers, who in turn are liable to stock[image error] more of the title.

So preorders ar...