## books i will be preordering like my life depends on it, pt 1: LOCAL HEAVENS by K. M. Fajardo

a new series where I review books ahead of their release (bc i read an early copy)

### **what the heck are preorders and why is everyone yelling at you to preorder their book?**

well, let me tell you. (as an ex-publishing employee, book influencer of eight years, and current indie publisher under Bindery Books.)

the publishing industry banks on a few arbitrary metrics to understand whether a book is going to be “successful” or not. one of these metrics is the unfortunate _goodreads_ adds. the other is _preorders_. (i will not at this point get into how this is ultimately a popularity contest of how buzzy you can make your book sound because no one is actually preordering based on ACTUALLY READING your book, because it’s not OUT yet! i will get back to the importance of early reviews tho 😉)

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preorders are essentially what they sound like—you order a book _ahead_ of its release because you are invested in reading it once it’s out. think of it like kickstarter, but for books! the more people who preorder the book, the more confidence there is that the book will _sell_. and there is nothing publishing loves more than a surefire bestseller. high preorders also signals to the sales reps and retailers that there is a lot of interest in said book and this encourages sales reps to sell more aggressively, and retailers to buy more stock (what we call _sell-in_), which in turn, can contribute to further sales because more stock = more eyes on the book when browsing in stores. (we’ve all been convinced by a full table of the buzzy new book at some point in our lives)

preorders also help books hit bestseller lists because the lists will count the number of copies sold during the first week PLUS all preorders _together_ to determine the official sales number for the first week. i.e. if you have high preorders, you can more easily hit a bestseller list on the first week.

**now why are preorders important? and especially for marginalized writers?** well—if you’re an unknown debut author, and a BIPOC author to boot, you are probably working against all the biased forces of the industry and if you fail to scrounge up preorders you are even less likely to sell well. if you fail to sell well within the first six months of your book coming out, then stores are less likely to restock your books. and if your books fail to be restocked, then there’s no reason to print more copies, which will ultimately lead to your book simply going out of print and descending into the ether where most author careers go to die. (i am so sorry for triggering any authors reading this 😭)

but there’s hope! early reviews by influencers and booksellers and industry professionals go a long way to convincing people to pick up a book based on the QUALITY of its CONTENT. but that only works if the people reading early actually POST their reviews and express their excitement.

as a regular reader in the general public—especially one who wants to support marginalized authors—preordering books from authors you want to see more from is SO important to the longevity of their career and of the career of others LIKE them. if you don’t support BIPOC authors now, then when the next one wants to get published and can’t point to any previous successes before them, then they are going to run into a tougher time (it’s an unfortunate reality but it’s true).

all this to say — i recently read [LOCAL HEAVENS](https://bookshop.org/a/10458/9781964721552) and LOVED it, so i need everyone to go [preorder](https://bookshop.org/a/10458/9781964721552) it now.

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## **why LOCAL HEAVENS is awesome, out Oct 14**

[Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/230809549-local-heavens?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_13) \| [Storygraph](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/89dd85b3-ec0b-48f1-a603-7f6ddae30643) \| [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/10458/9781964721552)

ok, beyond the fact that at first glance this book sounds awesome — cyberpunk Great Gatsby with a bi4bi love square?? like come on, that is my fodder 😍 — it also actually lives up to the concept and expertly weaves a compelling new story out of the source material.

in LOCAL HEAVENS we follow the same loose storyline as THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald but with several key differences that make this such an interesting retelling—(1) the book is set in 2075 in a glittering and yet frightening cyberpunk future that seems to be a beautiful echo of Fitzgerald’s roaring twenties, (2) Nick is a corporate-sanctioned cyberspace hacker investigating Gatsby, (3) and everyone is _gay (or to be specific, bi)_, which is probably the best part lol. the one thing that was _not_ changed was the writing style, which Fajardo keeps in an anachronistic tone to the cyberpunk future we’re experiencing, and i think that may have been my favourite aspect of the book. i loved that we got the contemplative tone of Nick’s narration contrasted against this glittering future that was not all that different from the past. the yearning between the characters was so heartbreaking and consuming that i found myself captivated by their lives—especially because i knew, in part, how things would end.

Fajardo also expands on the original text’s themes of elitism, wealth, desire, and desperation, by expertly applying extensions of the horrible futures we’re already seeing come to pass in our current day. Overall, LOCAL HEAVENS finally delivered a Gatsby retelling that lived up to the original (and then some!) and i’m so excited to see what the author does next.

Preorder LOCAL HEAVENS on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/10458/9781964721552) !

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aaaand if you’ve made it this far, then this is my attempt to get you to preorder the second book coming out from my imprint, [Boundless Press](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/) — [BURN THE SEA](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238615737-burn-the-sea?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_18) by Mona Tewari, which is the first in a fantasy duology following the life of one of India’s historical queens as she goes up against the colonizing snake monsters known as the Porcugi. It’s ultimately a story of incredible women who refuse to bow to their oppressors and I cannot wait for it to be out April 2026. ❤️

[Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238615737-burn-the-sea?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_18) \| [Storygraph](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e7384150-b60d-4fbc-9fcc-26ede4528843) \| [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/10458/9781967967063) \| [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Burn-Sea-Mona-Tewari/dp/1967967067) \| [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/burn-the-sea-mona-tewari/1147842742?ean=9781967967063)

_until next time,_  
_jananie ♡