The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s Booker shortlisted (and as-yet-unreleased-but-now-sort-of-released?) sequel to her 1985 dystopian classic, is already being developed into a TV show by Hulu, the same home of the current Handmaid’s Tale television adaptation.
According to io9, Hulu and MGM are currently in talks with The Handmaid’s Tale showrunner Bruce Miller on how the sequel “can become an important extension” to the existing Hulu series. It’s not clear whether this means it will be folded into the show, which has already surpassed the original novel’s plot line, or whether it will be a separate production entirely. Since the sequel picks up more than a decade after the events of the first book, this really could go either way.
Here’s the book’s official synopsis, from Penguin Random House:
In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.
When the van door slammed on Offred’s future at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her—freedom, prison or death.
With The Testaments, the wait is over.
Margaret Atwood’s sequel picks up the story more than fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.
Although The Testaments doesn’t come out until September 10, The Guardian reports that “hundreds” of US readers have already received copies from Amazon, which breaks the book’s embargo. Penguin Random House, blamed a “retailer error which has now been rectified,” and provided a statement to The Guardian promising the global publication date will remain September 10.
Although it might seem like just a matter of leaked spoilers and bragging rights for early readers on Twitter, Amazon’s screw-up has much bigger consequences. Astoria Bookshop’s co-owner Lexi Beach broke these down in a thread on Twitter, explaining just how serious these embargoes are and how breaking them can have a heavy financial impact on indie retailers.
Back in May, I signed an embargo agreement on behalf of my bookstore stating that I would "ensure that [#TheTestaments] is stored in a monitored and locked, secured area and not placed on the selling floor prior to the on-sale date."
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
One assumes that all retailers agree to these terms in order to receive their inventory in a timely fashion. That was the case when I was responsible for getting these documents signed on behalf of S&S.
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
Customers are reporting that $amzn has been shipping copies of #TheTestaments already, that many have received their orders today in fact.
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
(The on sale date for this book is still six days and 72 minutes away, Eastern Time, for those whose livelihoods don't depend on these facts.)
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
I do not expect that @Nan_A_Talese or @penguinrandom will pursue any of the theoretical consequences of a retailer breaking this type of embargo agreement.
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
Traditionally, the publisher would then delay shipments of future releases to the offending retailer, preventing them from capturing first day sales. This is the only kind of punishment available, the goal being a level(ish) playing field for all the publisher's customers.
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
But even a publisher the size of PRH can't afford to fuck up things with $amzn. The best I can hope is that this book has a high enough profile that federal anti-trust lawyers will finally see exactly how unlevel this playing field is.
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
I once posted a photo of a SEALED carton of Harry Potter on social media, which was in fact (bafflingly) in violation of the embargo agreement I had signed with Scholastic. I got a call from them on a Sunday morning to take it down, which I did immediately.
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
I was terrified that they were going to punish me through delayed shipments of key titles (which is hilarious, because let's be honest ALL scholastic shipments are delayed).
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
But there will be ZERO consequences for $amzn violating not just the fine print but the entire basis of this embargo agreement some exec surely signed digitally through Adobe Sign just like the rest of us did.
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
The world is crumbling around me right now so this rant is in part a venting of frustration that has nowhere else to go, but it's also 100% factual.
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
And the kicker is that $amzn will make hardly any money selling this book. Books (especially big splashy publications like this) have always been a loss leader for them.
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
Whereas I and many other independent retailers are counting on this release to pay our bills, like the $380 and still rising bill for fixing my air conditioning.
— Lexi Beach (@lexiatwork) September 4, 2019
