It’s update time! There has been plenty of movement on nearly everything in the last month or so. Without further ado the production updates are below:
The Blade Itself
We aren’t far away from The Blade Itself now with Tommy handing in the artwork. We had a little snag with the printing of the interiors, they were originally printed the wrong way down the grain which is very important when it comes to binding. The issue was rectified and the interiors sent to Ludlow at the start of August.
Shipping date isn’t 100% clear at the moment, looks like it may slip from the end of September to October unfortunately. The head honcho at Ludlow’s is back next week so I should be able to get a more accurate update. I have been offered the option of shipping in stages as they are complete or waiting until they have all been finished. Whilst it would be great to get some out the door early, I also feel it isn’t fair to those who have to wait, and no doubt I’ll have a thousand emails from people asking where their shipping notification is, so I think it’s sensible to send all at the same time.
I’m also producing a limited edition bookmark to go with this title, which should come with every single copy.
It’s been a very long road to get here with multiple delays, which is very frustrating for my first published book so I can only thank everyone for their patience so far, and I am very sorry for how long this has taken and I take full responsibility for it. It’s been a learning curve this process and I have made the relevant changes to ensure a wait this long from Pre-order to shipping never happens again. I promise you it will be worth the wait as I’ve handled each of the finished items and they’re stunning.
Sit tight, not too long now.
The Fifth Season
The art is coming thick and fast on this title and the interiors are looking great. Once this is in hand we can move to binding which is very exciting and hot on the heels of The Blade Itself. I’m unsure at the moment whether the delay in binding with effect getting this out the door before Christmas but I’ll update everyone once I’ve spoken with Ludlow’s.
I’m currently having another set of agate engraved, so hopefully these come out better so they can complete the lettered edition boxes. These are nearly finished which is very exciting.
The amethyst stones used in the lettered and numbered covers have been sanded down for a neater fit on both. These are key parts to the binding and it’s great they’re done.
Also the Roman Numeral Lottery is currently underway and I’m contacting the winners to complete payment and rights ownership.
Hyperion
The interiors are complete! The final proofing is being done as we speak and then I can move to plate-making for the letterpress print process. Jaime’s interior artwork is simply stunning, and I’m totally in awe of his work on this book. I’m feeling very positive about how the book is coming together now and think there will be some happy customers.
I’m still finalising the prototypes at the moment but that should be complete by the end of the month with the aim to info drop in October. Pre-order will likely be later that month, or possibly early November. I’m hoping to pre-order on all tier’s (Numbered, Lettered and Roman Numeral) at the same time, but RN may slip a bit later depending on the R&D I’m undertaking. To confirm there will only be a Roman Numeral edition for the first book, not all four in the series.
If all goes to plan then the printing and interior tip-ins will be done by the end of January with binding immediately afterward. I’m still saying H1 2024 for this, but that’s to take into account any issues along the way.
I’m also happy to say that Jaime Jones will be doing the art for The Fall of Hyperion. He won’t start until he finishes his colour images on Hyperion, but he’s been great with deadlines so far.
I had originally planned to produce some carved Shrike Busts to go with the series, but alas merchandising rights are firmly held with whichever movie studio owns it. Shame.
As a little tease, please see one of the 23 pen and ink illustrations by Jaime Jones. The immovable Corporal Kassad.
Future Titles
Counting down the days now until Gary Gianni can start on the artwork for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. He’s planning to start in November and the process should take about a year, give or take. This production will have it’s time taken over as it’s literally one of my holy grail books and it needs to be perfect.
I’m toying with the idea of offset litho printing the Standard Editions for a few reasons. It’s a much easier binding process with a block printed that way, but the main reason is the market for letterpress printed Standard Editions has taken a bit of a dive.
Any feedback from the community would be great. It would allow the price of the Standard Edition to be greatly reduced to. Perhaps to around £125ish (I haven’t got all relevant quotes, so it’s a ballpark).
Regarding other titles it’s too early to even mention them to be honest. But a title may jump ahead of THGTTG, art is already underway.
I’ll also be updating people on the future of the First Law in the next month or so. The plan is to speed up the process on these so people aren’t waiting years for books 2 and 3. More soon!
