This is the last update of the year for you all, as after checking the calendar it’s apparently mid-December… What a year this has been for Curious King, and the first full year I’ve worked full time on the press – and I’ve genuinely loved being able to make that jump.
I’ll save the soppy round up of 2024 for New Years, as we don’t need the final production update riddled with how amazing my collectors are and thanking everyone and their dog.
It’s been a really busy quarter, and as such has flown by. We pre-ordered on The Fall of Hyperion and The Hitchhiker’s Guide and also managed to Hyperion out the door! Not including all the work going on behind the scenes on future titles, I’m absolutely knackered…
The publishing industry largely closes down in between Christmas and New Year and I’ll be taking some much needed time with my wife and young kids, so please don’t expect speedy responses to emails over that period.
As usual, here is your update on the current books in production. We’ve got a couple very close to going out the door, and also a few small delays on others. You always get full disclosure on what’s happening on CK, so you’re consistently in the know where things are!
Updates below!
Prints
You thought I forgot didn’t you? Well, maybe I did for a little while… Some will remember I promised to release the cover images of my books as signed limited prints, and we released The Blade Itself cover by Tommy Arnold last year. Well next up is The Fifth Season’s cover by John Anthony di Giovanni! I caught up with John recently regarding The Obelisk Gate and we pushed the button on the TFS dustjacket print.
We had hoped to get it out by Xmas, but that was a little ambitious so it’s looking like January. Like the previous print it will be 16inches x 20inches (I’m so sorry Europeans… US printers). Beautifully giclee printed on Hahnemuhle “German Etching” 310gsm acid free paper, it looks stunning.
We’re also increasing the run to 75 copies this time, as it looks like 50 wasn’t enough on the first cover. Priced similarly to the previous print, and I’ll finalise that when I’ve had the bill from the printer. I will also move onto the Hyperion endpaper print-runs following TFS in Q1 25.
Hyperion
The Deluxe and Lettered have all shipped out now which is great news, so thanks for everyone’s patience on this title. I hope you all feel it was worth the wait as I threw everything into this to ensure it was as good as I could make it – personally, I’m very pleased with them! Jaime Jones did a phenomenal job on the art, and the printers and binders really came through to make the concept work.
We’ve still got the Roman Numeral to send out, which is very close I believe! Understandably these editions take more time than the others, but it’s not far off now!
Before They are Hanged
Next to leave the bindery is BTAH and the pages have been with Ludlow for a few weeks now and they are whizzing through the folding/gilding/tip ins currently. The interior art, limitation pages and frontispiece are also at the bindery, so no delays there!
We have had a little snag, as it looks like we were short 70 copies of one of the book sections, but Nomad have jumped right on it for us and will be with the bindery this week.
This is still on track to go out before the end of January with Ludlow doing their thing. I will of course let you know if that date isn’t looking likely.
As usual we should have a few copies of the Standard/Deluxe available to purchase once the first batch has gone out. We will let you all know with fair warning via social media and newsletter when this is, so don’t worry you’ll miss it.
Legend
Next up is the LEGENDary novel from David Gemmell. Incredibly excited about this edition as the interiors look fantastic and I’m really happy with the design of the bindings.
This one has gone backwards from our original schedule, this was due to our artist having a very upsetting personal situation which quite understandably delayed the art. However, I have spoken with Justin Sweet and he’s back working on the rest of the colours now!
Hand & Eye Letterpress are printing this one, which is actually the first book they have done for Curious King! Phil and Robert have made some necessary improvements to their workshop over the last 2 months and will be printing this in January/February. This will go straight to the Ludlow Bookbinders to work their magic.
Hard to say when this will actually ship at the moment as there are too many unknown’s. Optimistically I’d like to think it will start to ship in March/April but could well be May. I will of course keep you updated each month, and again, thank you for patience – I promise it will be worth it!
The Fall of Hyperion
Book 2 in the Cantos is coming on really nicely, and after the response to Hyperion I’m very excited to see this one come together. The legend Jaime Jones has finished his inks to complete the interior layout, so it will be ready for printing.
I’m also having the prototypes updated to include the full title of the book (facepalm), so when they’re ready I’ll share the images with you all. Another thing to mention is the prototypes used an off the shelf leather with the colour I wanted, but like Hyperion doesn’t have the contrast of blind stamping. We will be ordering the production leather soon which stamps the way we want to, so I’ll ensure that goes on a new prototype.
Shipping still planned for Summer 2025, but this all depends on the queue at the letterpress printers. I think most people know that competition for printers has increased recently, especially with the introduction of a “big 5” backed new entrant with big plans… I’ll just leave that there.
On that note, worry not. I’m always looking for solutions to these situations to ensure I can release my books in a timely manner.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
It still feels surreal when writing that title on my little production updates… The dust has settled on the release now and I’m incredibly pleased with how it went and how the prototypes came out. The interiors are also looking phenomenal, Marcelo and Gary have done a fantastic job on this, and it’s very nearly finished. It will be our most illustrated book when it is shipped out, and on a title that genuinely deserved it.
This is also the first title where the art isn’t tipped in, which is really cool. To achieve this, we’ll be using Gomer Press to print the colours offset first, then the pages will be moved across to Hand & Eye Letterpress to overprint the two colours of type across it’s 276 pages. Then, you guessed it, it goes to Ludlow to bind the buggers.
Currently planned to go out Q3 2025, but will know more as the months pass by!
