Why Preorders Matter (and Why They Matter To Me)

My goal in publishing a novel has never been sales. The goal is community—readers finding one another through the book, discussing its mysteries, and connecting with the questions it asks.

Still, sales matter. Not as income, but as signal.

For first books, the months leading up to publication determine if and where a book is seen at all. One of the simplest ways readers can shape that future is through preorders.

Preorders support the kinds of books that don’t arrive easily.

When you preorder St. Ulphia’s Dead directly through Regal House Publishing, your purchase has a different effect than a release-day click through a large retailer.

It supports a small press that publishes unusual, risk-taking work: the odd, the experimental, the genre-bending. It helps ensure those books can continue to exist at all.

Preorders shape a book’s arrival.

Preorders are counted together, at the moment a book enters the world. That concentration of early attention influences how confidently a book is stocked, reviewed, and placed.

For a debut, this early signal affects whether bookstores take a chance, whether librarians bring it in, and whether reviewers notice the book at all.

A preorder doesn’t just reserve a copy. It helps determine where other copies end up.

Preorders are personal.

I love how human Regal House’s process is. Every copy ordered through their site goes out with a handwritten note.

I’m also ✍️ signing every preorder via a St. Ulphia’s Dead bookplate, and as an extra thanks, sharing an exclusive piece of short fiction.

You can also 🎁 gift a preorder to someone else. When you do, you’ll both receive early access to the opening chapter.

As preorders grow, I’ll unlock a series of 🗝️ shared extras for everyone—additional fiction, deleted passages, artwork, and a few odder artifacts. These unlock collectively, not competitively. For curious souls, full details live ​here​.

Many of a book’s first reviewers, recommenders, and advocates are the people who supported it before it existed as an object at all.

Preorders help books travel farther.

Booksellers and librarians are constantly making decisions about which books to stock, recommend, and feature. They can’t read everything. But they pay attention to early signals.

Strong preorder activity tells them a book already has readers. That confidence helps a book move outward—to shelves, displays, and hands it might not otherwise reach.

A preorder doesn’t stop with you. It ripples out.

Put simply: preorders buy confidence.

Publishing, especially at small presses, is fragile work. A difference of a few hundred preorders can shape how confidently a book is supported, distributed, and how much attention it receives.

St. Ulphia’s Dead was drafted on a riverside bench in Lyon during my daughter’s naps, then edited over many years, often in the margins of family life. It’s a dark, strange (and funny) story—rooted in neuroscience, folklore, obsession, and love—and it’s taken a long time to arrive. Knowing that readers are already waiting for it is exhilarating.

👉 If you’re considering picking up St. Ulphia’s Dead, I’d be grateful if you’d preorder through Regal House Publishing.

Thanks for helping unusual books find their way into the world. 🙏