News
GUNS OF EMPIRE Update & Price Drop
by
This is one of those good news/bad news situations. To get the bad news out of the way first, my US publisher, Ace/Roc, has decided not to do a MMPB (mass-market paperback) edition of The Guns of Empire. This means the hardcover will probably be the only physical edition.
The “why” is pretty simple: with sales overwhelmingly in ebook anyway, there’s just not enough sales potential for a paperback run. It’s not a decision I have any control over, and for those of you collecting the series in MMPB all I can do is apologize.
However, here’s the good news! The price of the ebook edition has dropped to $7.99, which is where it would be for a paperback. So if you’ve been waiting to pick this up, now’s the time.
For those in the UK, I don’t believe anything has changed — both hardcover and trade paperbacks of the UK editions are still available.
And, of course, we’re still on track for the hardcover release of The Infernal Battalion in January!
Don’t forget to update your site. 🙂 Under the shadow campaigns, the guns of empire isn’t listed.
This is just all bad news. Part of the joy of reading a book is actually to feel the pages and not have a light shining in my face. On top of which if I new ace was going to screw over your fans I would have been buying trade paperbacks from del rey and head of Zeus. Please pass that along to ace next time you talk to them.
Sorry you’re unhappy, and I wish there was anything I could do. I definitely told my editors there that people would be mad, but ultimately it’s not in my control. HoZ makes a good TPB, so I hope you enjoy those.
I think it’s a raw deal that they stop mass market paperbacks in a series that’s more than halfway over. I would have been buying trade paperbacks from England had I known this. The notion that everyone LOVES ebooks is a crock. Screen fatigue is a real thing and nothing beats curling up with actual paper to delve into a different world.
Let’s not bury the lead either. This isn’t about not enough people willing to buy the paperback but rather the nigh 100% profit publishers make when all they have to do is transmit some data instead of actually producing a product. Yeah, everyone will get ebooks if there is NO other choice and even if they lose half the readers they still make out ahead because there is no overhead for an electronic copy of a book.
British trade paperback it is, Ace can suck it.
Django, my anger is definitely not directed towards you but rather ACE publishing. I figure you still get paid regardless of which publisher i buy from so I am waiting in great anticipation for my copy from jolly old England to arrive next week. Love the books by the way. May have to end up getting the first 3 in British trade paperbacks one day but well worth it. Like Primanti Brothers sandwiches or O fries. Yep, I lived in Oakland too, go Panthers. 🙂
A few years back I picked up the Thousand Names and was on the fence, saw you went to CMU and was like “sold”. Took it as a sign and i have not been disappointed. Keep up the great work.
It’s really not that difficult to get the English trade paperbacks shipped to North America. There is at least one company I order from that ships with free delivery from England to North America.