New Zealand Indie Bookshops Missed the Release Day for Sarah J. Maas's New Novel

Independent bookshops in New Zealand did not have Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Splintered Harmony on its release day, while chain stores did, and booksellers have now written to the companies that supplied the book. The novel, the sixth in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and the first in five years, was under a global embargo for release on Tuesday, October 27. Christchurch newspaper The Press reported that the industry body Booksellers New Zealand has sent an open letter to Bloomsbury Australia and Penguin Random House Distribution.

According to The Press, the letter sets out what a late delivery costs a bookshop, including "lost sales, broken pre-orders and damaged trust," and calls for "a fair distribution system where every bookseller who honours an embargo has a fair chance to sell on the day."

Chains first, independents later

Bel Monypenny, head buyer at Scorpio Books in Christchurch, told The Press that most chain stores received their stock the Friday before release under strict embargo, "but for some reason, not the independents." The paper reported that Bloomsbury had decided to deliver to independent shops on release day itself. Scorpio's 500 copies arrived on Thursday morning, about 20 minutes after the shop opened and two days after the launch. Two other stores shared stock with Scorpio so it could serve the queue that formed on Tuesday.

Monypenny said the Labour Day public holiday on the Monday was not taken into account, and that the plan left no room for delays crossing Cook Strait. "If there is no margin for error, there will be errors," she said. "It's really disappointing, and I hope it never happens again."

Other independent shops reported the same problem. Colette Palmer, owner of The Ink Pot in Dunedin, a bookshop devoted to romance, told RNZ that about 40 customers had pre-ordered the book and that some asked for refunds so they could buy it at Whitcoulls. The Warehouse, Paper Plus and Whitcoulls all had copies on Tuesday, RNZ reported. "It's frustrating because we signed the embargo," Palmer said. "If there was never any intention for us to have it before release day, we didn't need an embargo form, right?"

In Wellington, Aurelia Books owner Brodie Joyce told RNZ that her staff bought copies from larger stores around town so they had something to sell. RNZ said it had asked Bloomsbury for comment.

Why it matters for writers

Release-day stock decides where a book's first-week sales land. When a lead title reaches chains before independent shops, those shops lose pre-orders they had already taken, and a book's launch-week numbers tilt toward a few large accounts. Independent booksellers are often the people who hand-sell midlist and debut books later in the year, so their trust in a publisher's distribution plan carries beyond a single title. The open letter asks that every shop which signs an embargo receive its stock in time to sell on the day.

Sources

• The Press, October 28, 2026: A book that splintered harmony: Independent bookshops fume over late delivery of 'biggest book of the year'
• RNZ, October 28, 2026: A Court of Splintered Harmony order no-show leaves readers in the lurch
• RNZ, October 29, 2026: New A Court of Thorns and Roses book is here: Why romantasy has readers under its spell

Photo: Scorpio Books in the BNZ Centre, Christchurch. Photo by Mike Dickison, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.