I just got offered a WL book that is scheduled to come out in September 2009. I know for certain it is not out in final copy. If the book was listed by ISBN, then it's most likely an ARC. I sent a PM to the member asking them to check the ISBN and confirm if it is the correct book or if it's an ARC. i'm hoping they will respond quickly.

the thing is what will happen if they don't respond or cancel the book on their end? should I go ahead and accept the book so i don't miss my place in line? this book has a really long Wish list so i would be placed at the end if i do.

Deborah, the same thing happened to me recently, but the book turned out to be a copy that was released already in Great Britain.  Hopefully your case will be something similar!

Usually books released in the UK have a different ISBN. I do not know if that is always true, though.

If they don't respond, and you see that they accept the request or the label gets printed, contact PBS.

You have plenty of time before Sept. to work out a problem, though, if it comes to that. If they send it and you have to RWAP it, you will still go back to #1 in line before Sept.

Many books are published and debuted in the UK about a year before they are here.  usually, the UK and the USA ISBN's are different. If it is fiction you can go to http://www.fantasticfiction.com  to check out the books by author and at the bottom of the particular book's page you can find links to the different ISBN's to Amazon - they will also indicate which are USA and UK ISBN's.

Ruth

ETA - we do get the UK versions here in the USA  sometimes, but the ISBN's on the  book will not indicate whether it is USA or UK (unless you closely read the copyright statement on the flyleaf page.

I had the same thing happen to me recently, except--the member actually sent ME a PM saying something like "brand new softcover headed your way." Well...I had wishlisted the HC and knew that the book wasn't due to be released for several months so figured it was an ARC. He was a fairly new member who didn't realize ARCs weren't allowed, nor the importance of verifying the format, etc. when posting. Unfortunately, he had already printed and marked mailed and THEN sent me the PM, so once I got hold of him and explained that ARCs weren't allowed, he had to contact PBS to cancel the order, which they did and it all got sorted out just fine...and hopefully he learned something and didn't do it again...he seemed sincere in our PMs and not just out to screw someone over. LOL

UK books will have a different ISBN if that's what happened with this earlier release--it would be from a different publisher most likely, so either way, they most likely posted the 'wrong book.' The thing is, you can't not accept it because as you say, if you don't respond, you will be booted off the WL. I would also hope they will PM you quickly so you can verify everything, but if they don't, accept and then deal with it afterwards, contacting PBS if need be. Once you accept, they have to at least acknowledge the order by accepting so if they send you the wrong book, you can at least RWAP it and get back on the WL and have some recourse--and since it's not due out til September there'll be time to get it resolved. I was #1 in line for the book that was posted for me, so I woulda been REALLY peeved if I'd had to go to the back of the WL line!

Good luck!

Cheryl