I have had a number of emails from readers enquiring about publication dates for forthcoming books. So here’s the list for 2008. In the UK The Haunting Of Nathaniel Wolfe will be published by Orchard Books in August and The Mendini Canticle (Book 3 of The Promises Of Doctor Sigmundus) will be published in September. In the US The Cracked Mirror (Book 2 of The Promises Of Dr Sigmundus) will be published in December. (This book is entitled The Gallowglass in the UK.)
When I tell people these dates, they invariably ask why it takes so long for the publisher to release a book. ‘What do they do with it for all that time?’ they demand? It’s a question I used to ask as well. But, of course, the answer is obvious when you think about it. A former editor of mine put it like this. All authors like to believe that they are the only one who matters to their editor, that they are, so to speak, involved in a monogamous relationship; unfortunately, the truth is that all editors are secretly conducting extra-marital affairs. The Other Author is always waiting in the wings.
3 comments:
I have another question, why do the books come out so much later in the US then they do in UK?
They come out later in the US because I am a UK writer and I write them for my publisher over here. They then sell them to foreign publishers, inlcuding those in the US, who slot them into their publishing schedule at a point that suits them. In the case of US publishers, there is a further delay while the book is re-edited for the US market. This means that UK terms like trousers, trainers, jumper and petrol get changed to US terms like pants, sneakers, sweater and gas. Interestingly, when a book by a US author is published in the UK the UK publishers don't bother to Anglicise it; they just assume (correctly) that the public will be able to work it out for themselves.
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