George R. R. Martin's newest book is officially slated for release in July.

A large number of his fans have been eagerly waiting for this book for 5 years.

I know some people had copies of Harry Potter before the official release date, and so I need to know how people managed to do this.

Anybody know anything?

Books, video games, and many other things are often in-store physically (but not shelved) before their actual release date. Knowing people is one way of getting things early if you are lucky. Bribes probably, but with the risk I imagine you would have to have a decent bribe and be lucky. Working at the actual store. I know some people who manage a Blockbuster who play games before they hit the rental shelves.

Also sometimes these things are stolen in transit and sold before the release date.

At any rate, you pretty much have to be lucky, and I would certainly not count on it.

There are also pretty intense penalties ($, author cut-off, etc) for stores getting caught doing this sort of thing.

EDIT: Forgot, sometimes these things leak when stolen and you can find digital copies. Again, luck, and WAY more likely to happen with Harry Potter than A Dance With Dragons.

This post was edited by cmetc1999 on Mar 19 2011 06:11pm