First Look--A Curse or a Blessing?

For those unaware, First Look is a service offered by HarperCollins publisher for member's in the United States to preview books before they hit the shelves. Names are randomly chosen from people who enter, and copies of the book(s) are sent to the recipients. Only just recently, with the release of The Sight and the coming Firestar's Quest, has First Look effected Warriors.

The Sight, The Lost Warrior, and Firestar's Quest are the three titles by Erin Hunter that have been offered on the First Look program. While it sounds great--especially for those who receive the books, what is the curse of First Look, and is it damaging our community?

First of all, First Look is only available to those in the USA to protect copyrights. This is understandable, but still annoying. It takes Canadians, Russians and those in the United Kingdom (three non-US common warriors fan countries) out of the equation, meaning that those people don't even have a chance, despite being equally devoted fans.

Now the real problem--how does certain people getting the books early effect the Warriors community? Not well, as far as I can see. Though people are able to review the books and tell people whether to buy it or not, the devoted warriors fan-base is now filled with spoilers, making discussing warriors treacherous terrain for those wanted to avoid such giveaways, and speculating on the upcoming books a difficult task, especially for those who have gotten the book.

The excitement level for the day the books come out in fantastic--who doesn't love settling down and reading away the book as quick as they can so they can come on and A) Brag about how fast they read it, and B) Discuss it will fellow fans. For those who get the books early, there is no excitement built-up (as it's not sure-fire to get one) and you are now detached from the suspense of everyone else.

On the other side of things, if you don't mind being detected from the speculation, and like spoilers, First Look is a nice thing! It gives everyone (especially those short for cash) a first opinion on whether the book is worth buying or not.

In conclusion, in a non-series or non-fan series, First Look is a great idea, a real bonus for HarperCollins members in the USA. But for a heavily-populated and speculative fandom such as Warriors, First Look turns out to ruin much of the suspense and creates divisions among the community. Think carefully before entering First Look--it's become the opinion of many that the community of Warriors is sometimes more valuable then the read; or at least, certainly an amplifier of the excitement.