The book biz isn't as bad as movies, which are made or broken by their first 48 hours of box office receipts, but 80% of sales still occur within 3 months of publication (in hardcover, with a similar bounce when the book goes paperback). First-week sales are what count for (a) bestseller list presence and (b) bookstore re-orders based on (a). And pre-orders count towards first-week sales!
With this particular book it would be a safe bet, I've read all his books, even REAMDE twice, which others didn't appear to find as compelling. But I don't like even the concept of pre-orders on general principles, although fiction publishers don't abuse them as badly as other i.e. game publishers (http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/2s6zgz/stop_preorder...) I still prefer not to participate.