Christmas is fast approaching. Hell, the end of the year is fast approaching… With that in mind I wanted to give the final update of the year for Curious King Books (and throw a tiny recap into the bargain).
In all honesty, 2021 has been a great year for Curious King. Whilst it was formed in 2020, it was 2021 that saw us take the first pre-orders for Ready Player One and secure our first title to be published. My only regret this year is that I didn’t get RPO out as quickly as I’d hoped (due to a myriad of factors) but more on that later.
I’ve been blown away by the support and positivity I’ve had from the community and other publishers (Rich and Bill particularly). To go from chatting away in the groups with a modest collection to producing my own books has been an unreal journey, and I consider myself very lucky to be in this position.
Next year will be a big year for the business and I hope to deliver on all expectations for RPO, The Blade Itself and beyond. Now for some specifics :
The Blade Itself
I am currently in the process of having prototypes made for all three states. I don’t think i’m that far off being happy with all “concepts” as such, but still some work to go on case design e.t.c. One of my favourite parts of the job is visiting Rich and Paul at Ludlow’s to discuss my design’s and how to improve on them and make them a reality.
Another very cool part of the job is working with Joe and Tommy on the art. Tommy is the ultimate professional, and obviously one of the best artists working in the genre. We’ve been going back and forth on the all important standard edition dustjacket image – and it’s going to be really badass. Having Joe’s input is fantastic and I largely feel we’re on the same page when it comes to imagery, which makes this whole process a lot easier.
As soon as we have that first image completed in full and three prototypes I’m happy with, then we can go to pre-order. I’m expecting that to be mid-Feb at the moment, but will know more as the weeks go on.
Ready Player One
It’s nearly here. Or it’s moving closer… at least. My last trip down to Ludlow I pressed Paul on when we can expect to see RPO and his original aim was to get it out before Xmas. It looks however that January is a more likely date for shipping due to projects being moved back across the board – that and Christmas post of course.
Unfortunately the industry in general has taken a massive hit this year and i’m sure all collectors will have noticed lead times and expected delivery times increase. I’m hoping The Blade Itself will have a much quicker turnaround, and i’m working on timescales as we speak.
CK in 2022
So what does next year bring? It’s definitely going to bring RPO to life and into the hands of their owners. It’s also definitely going to bring The Blade Itself, but you knew that already.
Well, there’s something else I can say for sure. There will be another title/series to announce in 2022, and sooner than expected. I have the contract, and i’ve just agreed on the artist too – I genuinely believe this is going to be huge. Both series and artist are incredible.
It may be a few months before I make any official announcements, but i’m confident it lives up to the most recent announcement.
That’s all for now. I’m very much looking forward to next year, it’ll be make or break for CK and I’m excited to see what it will bring.
Until then.
