I do not understand the workings of some of the automated systems of the book industry.

Every once in a while, a publisher for some reason announces a book that never actually gets published. I’ve done it, it happens. In some cases, these fictional books are always on file, marked with some release date that never happened. These I consider “ghost books”.

There are books that are just as dead as the ghost books, however, but which fall into a different category. They were never released, they are never going to be released, but some presumably automated system keeps moving them forward. Dead buy moving forward? They’re zombie books!

Want an example? Well, if you check Barnes & Noble, you’ll find that you can preorder a book called Peppermint Patty and Marcie which the site says they’ll be able to ship to you this July. Is this a zombie? Well, I’ve told you before not to order this book. When did I tell you? Well, for the first time in November 2001… that’s right, this zombie’s been moving on a few months at a shot for more than a decade.

Now, Amazon smartened up on that book, they no longer list it as a coming soon. But you can apparently order a used copy through them. How much will it cost you for a used copy of a book which never existed? At the moment, a mere $299.83!

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