The recent Endtimes Book II sold out so quickly that there were a lot of people left out that had missed being able to get the book on pre-order. Of course we all know that then we had copies going to the stores, and for the most part, I am sure many sold out very quickly with people calling around to try and get one before they are gone.
Please note that this is an editorial piece, and is the result of a conversation with a long time friend of mine who works in New York and loves her books. She does not work or have anything to do with Wargaming products from Games Workshop or other gaming companies.
The demand for these books has created a stronger desire than normal, to rush out, scrambling, to get this book, or miss out on the latest and greatest product for Warhammer Fantasy. I will be the first to say, its been a long time since I have seen this kind of demand for a Warhammer Fantasy product. Some of that is just the area I live in, and that fact that my first love is 40k. However, the Endtimes has created what may be an artificial demand for a product with some clever marketing.
A good friend of mine that works high up in a New York publishing company (who must remain anonymous for obvious reasons) had a lot to say on the subject when I was speaking to her on Friday.
To paraphrase, book publishing companies often create a false demand for product by printing very extremely limited quantities of a book about to be released. The purpose is that it feeds into any build up before the book is released, and when it finally hits the shelves, it is quickly gone, and the build up continues, along with additional marketing as a second print run is then scheduled. It creates a false sense of the books popularity,"everyone must be getting this book for it to be gone so quickly", (even though the first print run was purposely small), and drives up the sales of a second print run resulting in increased sales overall.
Of course other marketing ploys like limited release, or limited editions are also used to drive up demand as well for the books, often after a second print run is done. After all is said and done, a paperback edition, or collectors edition is then used to once again market the book, driving additional sales.
Now this comes from a non-wargaming book publishing company, but it seems to apply with many things we have seen lately. Keeping the supply low, does additional things as well, it keeps the product active, in the front of the stores, reviewers, and news.
Now on an interesting side note, marketing books can become quite tricky in this age, and was part of the discussion. Readers that are not made to want or need to read this book immediately can often just wait for a brief time, and local libraries will get copies for people to check out. I myself am an avid library goer, (even heading down there in a couple hours myself), for books, music, and movies for my family. Books have a lot to compete with in this age, and the marketing used to sell them has become very involved, even as books move to digital versions.
(edit) I also want to add that personally I dont think that this is bad in itself. I just really found the conversation interesting, and the power of proper marketing can have amazing effects on how products are perceived and purchased.