So a buddy stumbled across this. Pretty sure the sophisticated French commentary is identical to the plain English back cover blurb, unless my high school French has completely abandoned me. (I had to make the video tiny to make it fit in this column, so you should definitely expand it to the full screen. It loses a lot when it’s only the size of a postage stamp.)
File under Can’t Believe I Haven’t Posted This Yet. Below are pictures of Night Angel: A Trilogy. It’s a 1392 page omnibus (3 books in 1) of, obviously, the Night Angel Trilogy. I’ve posted the following info before, but then I didn’t have my own copy, so I couldn’t post pictures. This is only available through the Science Fiction Book Club (US) or SFBC Canada which are analogous to those old CD clubs. I know a few people who are members, and they’re all happy with SFBC. It’s $15 for current members, or 20 cents if you choose it as one of your introductory books when you join. Sorry, not trying to hawk my wares, I’ve just had a lot of questions about if it’s possible to get the trilogy in hard cover.
The term “best-seller” used to mean something.
It meant some pencil-necked rube working for the New York Times liked your book. But these days everybody and his dog has a best-seller list. Some of these people try to actually base their lists on actual books sold. The nerve.
Locus Magazine, the venerable SFF industry mag, compiles an SFF best-seller list from numbers reported to them by Borders/Walden, B&N/B.Dalton, Bakka-Phoenix, Borderlands, McNally Robinson, Mysterious Galaxy, Pages for All Ages, St. Mark’s, Toadstool, Uncle Hugo’s, and White Dwarf. The latest issue of Locus reports that The Way of Shadows is the #2 best-selling fantasy paperback. Woo hoo! Shadow’s Edge rolled in at a respectable #6. Beyond the Shadows was a conspicuous no-show (the data was from November, before BtS was published, so one hopes that had something to do with it). The online edition isn’t updated yet, but this link is to the previous month’s list.
Not sure how to reconcile the three–could the indies be moving a lot more copies of my books than the big bad Joe Foxes of the world?–but I don’t show up at all on the latest Barnes and Noble/B. Dalton SFF list. And Borders has Charlaine Harris absolutely dominating their list, still. She has SFF paperback spots 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8. I did sneak into the middle of all that southern vampire lovin’ to take spot #5. I thought they said if I wanted my books to sell like mad, “you should show with BO,” so I swore off deodorant immediately.
Have a show with HBO. H B O.
On Wednesday, February 11th at 7pm PST (3AM GMT), I’ll be doing my first live interview for the Blog Talk Radio program Geekerati. Details and call in number HERE, along with a nice reminder feature if you want to tune in. They do field a couple of phone calls depending on time, and it looks like each program lasts about an hour. I’m just glad I’m not famous enough to get my own “You Know” counter. Ouch. But if you are interested in listening to the “you knows,” “ums,” and “likes” (or even the gibberish in between) but you miss the live version, you can also catch the podcast after the fact through the links above or in the iTunes stores (search Geekerati). They also have some other, more impressive folks you can listen to. More info about Geekerati on their blog HERE.
No, it’s not my high school French coming back. It’s the French release of The Way of Shadows, coming on the 19th of February from Bragelonne. Here’s the amazing cover by Frédéric Perrin. C’ést magnifique, non? (I’m pretty sure that’s French for “It kicks ass, huh?”) There’s also an interview HERE. Yes, it is in French. But if you haven’t discovered it yet, you can use the cool Google Translate feature. The whole page (automatically translated) is HERE. It does translate “The Way of Shadows” as “Shadows Lane.” Nnniice. Some parts of the interview are totally incomprehensible, but that might be the fault of the interviewee rather than the technology. I guess we sad monoglots will just have to make do.
(Click to enlarge. I had to make it pathetically small to fit WordPress. It deserves to be seen larger.)
Who is/was wildly popular in odd places, BUT I am taking eastern Europe by storm. Well, by squall anyhow. Okay, it’s light drizzle–but with fiercely overcast skies. Last week, we sold the Polish rights to the whole trilogy. Mag Jacek Rodek will be publishing The Way of Shadows within 24 months. Then, this week, we sold the rights to the whole trilogy to the Czech Republic. Not sure which publisher, but most likely will also be out within 24 months, as well. Woo hoo!
As always, huge thanks to agents Don and Cameron at DMLA, and this time a double thank-you to Milena at Prava i Prevodi!
The Night Angel Trilogy will now be available in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Russia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. This weekend I will post the French cover of The Way of Shadows, its release date–and a new poll.
Fictionwise, Stanza, and Ereader have ironed out their issues, and will be selling The Way of Shadows for $1, but only until the end of the month! (Joining Amazon and Sony — where I’ve got the #1 best seller!
So yes, this means you can now read my book on your iPhone. Just read fast. That battery dies quick.
Oh, and if it helps… A fan writes in, “The Way of Shadows was written in Oregon! And you know how they write quality books in Oregon!” [Insert more breathless shilling here.]
I’m happy to announce I’ve signed a deal with Eksmo Publishing (Эксмо) to publish The Way of Shadows and Shadow’s Edge. And of course I hope we sell well enough that they’ll buy Beyond the Shadows as well. I’d hate for a reader to never get to read Beyond after SE’s ending. It’s just cruel. (But it’s not a cliff-hanger. Really. There’s a satisfying ending. It’s just that there’s a big twist in the epilogue. Don’t peek!)
I’ve also had lots of queries about what’s next. I’ve addressed this on the forum, but you don’t want to pick through posts on some forum, your mouse-clicking finger is tired, you just want the deets, man. Fair ’nuff.
I’ve signed a new three book deal with Orbit. I submitted an outline, and so much happened in the story, they were like, “Looks like three books to us, but do what you think is best. We just want your next three books.” Sweet. “And we want them fast. Your deadline is a book each November.” Gulp. So the trilogy is (extremely) tentatively titled Black Prism. I’m working as fast as I can, and I’m really excited about what’s forming. It’s set in a new world. Think more 1500 Mediterrean Sea, rudimentary fire arms and magic together. Woot. But don’t worry, it’s not a pirates-and-their-peg-legged-mateys book. Cross my heart. But there are awesome characters, lots of action, much cooler magic this time out, secrets, lies, betrayal, and butt-kicking. You know, the good stuff. After this trilogy (if it is indeed a trilogy), I will be returning to Midcyru with a new series. And yes, numerous of the important characters who actually survived the end of the Night Angel Trilogy will show up. 🙂
Next week, I hope to be able to announce another foreign deal, announce the pub dates of the foreign deals we’ve already got, and maybe post a cover or two…
So, I still haven’t been mentioned by the New York Times or Oprah. Go figure. But, I now have my reviews and interviews page totally up-to-date with a total of 57 reviews and 8 interviews. If you think that people who don’t live in New York City and don’t have an eight-figure income might have something worthwhile to say about books, you can CHECK IT OUT. Or click on the big “Reviews” tab to the left. —————->
No! The other left.
<—————- ?
That’s right. Doh! Nevermind.
Complicated. No, really. According to Bookscan (the most accurate measure of book sales available), the best-selling fantasy debut of 2008 in the United States was Russell Kirkpatrick, with Across the Face of the World (excerpt HERE). I came in at #2 with The Way of Shadows–not bad for a book that’s only been out three months! Congratulations, Russell.
In the UK, however, I did grab the big chihuahua. #1 in the land of Shakespeare and Scary Spice, baby. Brilliant!
I have to confess to being particularly pleased by this tidbit from the press release: “Tim Holman said, ‘This year has also got off to a great start for Brent: this week, the three books in the Night Angel Trilogy are the first, second, and third bestselling mass-market paperbacks in the UK SFF market.'” Aside from the obvious (it’s great to be selling well), I like to think that means something. You can fool a reader with a great cover, and I do have great covers. But if what’s between the covers stinks, most people aren’t going to come back for more punishment. Right? Unless people in the UK are such art-lovers that they decided that the covers alone are worth eight pounds. Which is possible. Crap.
In other news, the Great Arbiter of All Things Worth Knowing (Wikipedia, natch), now lists your humble correspondent. (Thanks to you fans who took it upon yourselves to make sure the world knows I exist.)