At 12:00 a.m. on January 26th, I will be doing the world’s first and only signing for The Bands of Mourning. In past years some readers have enjoyed camping out at the bookstore to get a low-numbered copy. But at the Shadows of Self release for various reasons, we tried something new: a digital line. The experiment worked well, so for this release we’re using a variation on that. Numbers will be assigned by the order you enter the digital line. Further details from the BYU Store and my signing assistant Kara are below. The entry form will become available on January 15th at 10:00 a.m., and closes on January 21st at 11:59 p.m.

As I mentioned yesterday, because of the extensive tour I did for Shadows of Self (and because I’ll be going out on tour again in February for Calamity), I’m not planning to tour for this book. That’s why the midnight release is the only signing. But don’t worry, if you’re unable to get a signed copy at the midnight release or from Weller Book Works, I will always be happy to sign your book in the future. We will do what we can to make sure that my Calamity tour stops also have copies of The Bands of Mourning (as well as the new illustrated editions of Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians and The Shattered Lens).

Only one submission per person. This is a line! (Duplicates will be deleted.)

You will be required to preorder The Bands of Mourning by January 21st in order to be assigned a number and guarantee that a book will be there for you to pick up on January 25th. Books can be ordered online at byubookstore.com (choose the shipping option “Service Desk Pickup” to get your book at the midnight release party), or order in the store. Books ordered through byubookstore.com will not be charged to your credit card until January 22.

You must pick up your number in person from the BYU Store on Monday, January 25, between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Bring a photo ID and your receipt or proof of purchase.

The BYU Store will reopen at 10:00 p.m. to host the book release party with some fun activities as well as prizes to be given out throughout the evening.

Around 10:45 p.m. Brandon will hold a reading and Q&A downstairs.

At 11:45 p.m., guests will be asked to begin lining up in numerical order in preparation for the distribution of books at midnight.

Once guests have picked up their signed & numbered book, they are free to leave or to get into a separate line to have their books personalized by Brandon.

If you do not pick up your number before 8:00 p.m., your number will be given to someone else. If you show up after this point to pick up your book, you will be given a different number or a refund.

Cash registers will close at 1:00 a.m. All purchases must be made by this time.

Can’t attend? See the previous post about ordering from Weller Book Works, or you can preorder a book from the BYU Store and they will send you a signed and numbered copy of The Bands of Mourning after the Midnight Release Party. You must purchase your copy by January 21st, and the numbers for these copies will be assigned after the event. Please do not sign up for the Digital Line if you’re not attending.

The bookstore has asked me to get there a bit early so I can be finished signing and numbering all the books by 10:00 or so. Once I am done, they will let everyone in and we’ll have a meet & greet where you can talk to me, ask me your burning questions, take pictures, etc. (The idea is that this will help the personalization line move more quickly after midnight.) There will also be things like trivia contests going on during this time.

Based on past events, I should be able to personalize everyone’s books, even if it takes until 3:00 a.m. Since all of the books will be pre-signed and numbered, everyone will get a numbered edition if they come. As I’m local, you can always just come, pick up a book, and leave—then get it personalized at some other signing when things aren’t so crazy. This will probably be a busy event, but it should be very easy to just come, get a pre-signed/numbered book, then buy it and take off without waiting in any lines after midnight.

Now, here’s the important part. It’s hard for stores to judge how many copies to order for this sort of event, and I’m worried that BYU might not order enough. They might run out. Therefore, they are letting you preorder to be assured you get a book. If you preorder, you are guaranteed a book. If you don’t preorder, it’s first come first served. If a lot of people preorder, they will get in more books to make sure everyone who ordered early is covered.

So, for this event, I strongly encourage you go to the website and order your book ahead of time. It will save you money and will make things easier for us. Let me say one more time, however, that you do not get your number based on when you preorder, though you do have to have paid for the book before you can get your number. You get the number based on when you signed up for the digital line. Preordering just guarantees that you get a copy, not that you get a low number. Still—please, please preorder soon so they can be sure to have enough books for the event. They have ordered a ton of copies, but it’s always possible they could underestimate and some readers could go home empty-handed. At the midnight release of A Memory of Light they were able to get a book to everyone only after a dozen people who had reserved more than one copy agreed to put off picking up their second copy until the next shipment came in!

Details:
BYU Store, Provo, UT
10:00 a.m. Friday, January 15th (digital line signups begin at this link)
8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. Monday, January 25th (numbers distributed at the BYU Store)
10:00 p.m. Monday, January 25th (doors open)
12:00 a.m. January 26th Monday night/Tuesday morning (book released)
Preorder by going to the BYU Store website. (For the shipping option, choose “Service Desk Pickup.”) You’ll need to bring your receipt or proof of purchase as well as your photo ID to the BYU Store before 8:00 p.m. in order to get your book number.

Full Details can be found on my event calendar here.