Nearly forgot about this one! This month has been what one can only describe as a “BLUR”. It has flown by at a rate comparable to the (pre-decommissioned) Concorde. For those living under a rock, we released the pre-order for Red Rising and it was an insane release to say the least… Myself and Fio have been flat-out since way before the New Year and we aren’t stopping any time soon!
The higher tiers went in under a minute I think, which is a new press record! But worry not, The Artist Edition is STILL available until April 10th and is not limited by numbers, just by when you can order. This is the first time we’ve done a tier like this and we think it looks incredible and we’ve crammed as much as possible into the AE for what we think is a great price too.
But this isn’t just about Red Rising, this is about Curious King and our upcoming books whether they’ve pre-ordered or are on the horizon! So read on for an update on your books and where they are:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Verrrrrrrrry close to shipping this absolute TITAN of a book. Unfortunately, we had some issues in production and had to change the marbler last minute, but Ludlow Bookbinders are getting very close to finishing these books now.
Having spoken to the bindery just this morning they estimate they will be ready for our collection w/c 20th of April. Unfortunately this has gone backwards from the last update, but they seem confident they’ll be ready then. We should have the Standard and Lettered ready at the same time with the Deluxe to follow early May I assume. The bindery have only just received the marbled endpapers from the previous marbler so haven’t been able to get the blocks painted.
The good news is we are trialling our new packing solution from our economy distributor, which is very exciting. Bigger and stronger boxes as well as foam inserts should keep these books (particularly overseas) in good condition. It is costing us literally 4x the previous solution, so we hop you appreciate it.
Last Argument of Kings
The final book in the coveted The First Law trilogy by Lord Grimdark and Literary Sewer (his words, not mine) Joe Abercrombie! This will be an immediate follow on from Hitchhiker’s at the bindery and should be fairly straightforward to get out the door. We have all the pieces, including signing sheets, maps, interior artwork etc so it is READY.
I’m hoping we see this one leaving the bindery in July perhaps? I never get these estimations bang on I’m afraid due to all the moving pieces and schedules etc, but it’s based upon the information I have at the time.
It’s also worth bringing back up that the Lettered Edition of LAOK will be coming with a matching portfolio of 12 prints (unsigned) with selected pieces across the whole First Law release. We’ve also decided to increase the number of portfolio’s we produce and put some up for sale to the general public. We’re thinking of doing 100 in total, so there would be 74 of these going up for sale when ready to ship. I haven’t worked out the price yet as it’s dependant on paper, printing and cost of the portfolio itself. But thought this might excite a few people.
The Martian
Motoring away nicely. We needed a reprint from Gomer of the colour chapter heads which pushed things back somewhat. This should be with Hand & Eye next week so they can start putting the text onto these interiors! Very exciting indeed.
Not only that we’ve had in the marbled endpapers now by Nat Maksimovic in her beautiful suminagashi style. This has actually pushed the production cost of the Lettered up by £50 a book but it’s something we’re going to swallow.
Later this year is when we should have this one bound. Too early to tell with the schedule at the bindery and their efforts to increase output of these beautiful books. But as you well know, you cannot rush something like this!
Assassin's Apprentice
Printing is done. Finished. The pages are now sitting at Ludlow Bookbinders looking handsome as hell! Now she waits, for the talented binders at the bindery to get to it. I’m sincerely hoping it’s out this year, we just have to monitor the progress at the bindery.
We’ve also made a change to the interior of the Lettered box. We changed the brown lining to a dark green one and had the marbled endpapers made to match this. I definitely think it pops way more and looks better – I was going to go for green originally too.
We’re also getting a new die made for the Deluxe Edition slipcase as the spine wasn’t lined up quite as perfectly as we wanted. So this will be redone for a perfect pattern design. We like to ensure things are as accurate as possible here y’know!
The Obelisk Gate
The Lettered boxes are in production now and we’re fine-tuning the stone used on the front. We wanted something a little better than the prototype box and should have something to show you guys soon. These will also need engraving like the first box too.
We’re also having the marbled cloth done again by Freya Scott of Paperwilds as she did the first book’s design and wanted it to run through. So whilst she is rather overloaded we’re having the cloth for this and book 3 done in succession so we’ve got it in hand.
There’s quite a few pieces that need to come together on this one and we’re pulling them all together as we speak! Updates as the months go by. This is one of the most beautiful series we have done so far, and can’t wait to see how they look when on the shelf. I’ll share pictures of what all 3 look like on the shelf once we start prototyping The Stone Sky.
Endymion
The third instalment of the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons (RIP sir). We unfortunately lost Dan Simmons last month which was a huge shock and shame as it’s been a real honour to work on these books. Dan was also very impressed with the work we did on Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion which warms my heart to the core. For those wondering, we had all signing sheets for book 3 and 4 signed a few years back, so our release of the Cantos will be flat signed by Dan himself.
We’re still making good progress on this one and the interiors are nearly finished ready for platemaking with Nomad Letterpress. We had custom chapter heads and a dropcap designed for this one like the previous two as well!
Red Rising
Aren’t you fed up of Red Rising yet? Of course not! It is statistically impossible to ever be fed up of this TITAN of a series. We’re still in shock and awe about the pre-order and want to say a huge thanks to everyone who has supported this release!
We understand there was some valid criticism regarding the timing of the launch, after the Del Ray Deluxe Edition and before Red God has been finished. As the main publishers hold the cards, we were told to delay our launch until after theirs which we of course obliged. Pierce is of course working away furiously on Red God, believe me. He left our first night dinner at Dragonsteel Nexus to finish more chapters/words for the publisher – incredible really as the event was supposed to be a break for him.
As we still have a couple of weeks left on The Artist Edition we won’t be able to give updated estimates as to when these things will be out in the while. Once we know the number sold, the materials and paper can be purchased for the AE and get on the press (the interior and art is all finished).
So, watch this space (opera) guys!
Future Titles
We’ve got stuff cookin’ as usual. We’re still planning to release A Wizard of Earthsea next for CK, and hope to have this one for pre-order in June. I’m pretty happy with the concepts so far, which is a good sign indeed.
What else? We’ve made a start on Best Served Cold, as Last Argument of Kings should be out this Summer. Lixin Yin is working away on the interior art for Royal Assassin. Mythago Wood is still on the cards too with Jaime Jones.
Have we got anything else up our sleeve? Why yes, I’m so glad you asked. We’ve got a couple of huge things in the pipeline. We’ve been wracking our brains as to how we can tackle more series without relying on handbinding and letterpress printing, and we may have cracked it. In what way? Well, you’ll have to be patient to find out more…
That’s it from me I’m afraid to say. There are some really cool things coming, all book-related. Hopefully have a big announcement or two later this year. Hint? Antidisestablishmentarianism.